Thanks Mike and Per
More progress, more slow progress today, lots of calculations for the measurements needed before I could start
The cylinder was mounted up in the
small milling vice, which hand to be packed out as the studs are already fitted and levelling up the cylinder had to be done with a square off the port surface.
I have milled the two ends down by the thickness of the cladding so that the cladding will come level with the steam chests. Milled the surfaces for the intermediate pipes so that all the heights match the pipe offsets. Then starting from the HP end drilled and tapped for the studs for the pipe flanges. Making sure that the pipes and their flanges fitted on the way. The pipes still need soldering together - I might use the cylinder as a jig for that
Before taking the cylinder out of the
small vice I took the opportunity to drill and tap for the blow downs, only to find that my 5/32 by 32 plug tap had been hand ground from a first or second and it had not been ground evenly
This is where it comes in handy having an old cutter grinder hiding in the corner as by holding the tap in a collet you can evenly grind it round and finish off with a diamond file to sharpen the edges of the teeth.
I can report that the first side of the first engine has been fully drilled, tapped and milled there is still likely to be a bit of shaping required to get the cladding to fit but enough excitement for today. I get the feeling these are going to take all week
Jo