Author Topic: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build  (Read 19167 times)

Offline AOG

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 730
AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« on: December 31, 2018, 08:59:56 PM »
Back in 2017 I built a steam powered iPhone charger. ( http://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php/topic,7548.0.html) that used one of these PMR vertical boilers.



I was my first boiler build and while it worked it wasn’t pretty. That boiler along with the rest of the steam powered iPhone charger currently live in the center of the conference table in my chief engineer’s office as a display piece. I have been wanting a boiler to test my engines on steam so I figured I would give this one a second shot. I also figured that this would make a good stand alone build log. Being the pack rat that I am I saved the tooling from the original build so please refer to that thread for how the tooling was made. Now let’s get started. The first thing done was to cut the fire tubes and trim them to length in the lathe.



The tubes were then deburred. Now is where experience comes in. The last time I did this I had problems swaging the tube into the end plates because the lathe operations work hardened the ends of the tubes. To combat that I annealed the tubes.



The tube plates come drilled and mostly formed from PMR. All I had to do was trim up the outside to make them a slip fit in the shell.



The next step was to drill a hole for the relief valve bushing on the top tube plate.



So with that done I spent a couple of hours cleaning up the fire tubes and end plates to get them ready for assembly. I’ll leave you with the first family shot of this build.



Till next time

Tony


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Offline b.lindsey

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13860
  • Dallas, NC, USA
    • Workbench-Miniatures
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #1 on: December 31, 2018, 09:57:33 PM »
Nice Tony. I've got that kit hanging around here somewhere so I will be following along closely.

Nice start btw.

Bill

Offline Gas_mantle

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1365
  • North Yorks - UK.
    • My Youtube channel
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #2 on: December 31, 2018, 10:24:39 PM »
I look forward to seeing how you build goes Tony, I'd like to have a go at making one shortly  :)

Offline gary.a.ayres

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1297
  • Isle of Skye & sometimes France
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #3 on: January 01, 2019, 08:40:34 AM »
Time for The Big Heat soon...  :Mad:

 :)

Offline AOG

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 730
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2019, 10:46:53 PM »
Just a quick update this week. I got all 13 fire tubes swaged into the end plates this weekend. To be honest they look better then last time but I still don’t trust them to hold the tubes in. I think I will hard silver solder them in just to be safe.



Of course Murphy’s law being what it is, I’m out of propane so no soldering attempted yet.

Till next time

Tony


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Offline b.lindsey

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13860
  • Dallas, NC, USA
    • Workbench-Miniatures
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #5 on: January 06, 2019, 11:16:19 PM »
Looking good so far Tony!!

Bill

Offline AOG

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 730
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #6 on: January 13, 2019, 04:44:44 PM »
I spent this weekend soldering the tubes into the tube plates. In addition, the bushing and extension for the safety valve were soldered in. I used silverflow55 and tenacity flux. Having learned my lesson last time, I broke out the turbotorch to get enough heat. I don’t know why but I always have trouble with the amount of solder to use. On attempt one I didn’t use enough and I had bare patches. Naturally on my second attempt I overdid it. Here is a picture after pickling.



Till next time.

Tony


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Offline AOG

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 730
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #7 on: February 02, 2019, 09:55:20 PM »
The temperature in the garage was warm enough for me to get some more done on this today. The first thing I did was to glue a copy of the template onto the boiler shell and drill the holes for all of the fittings.



Next I slid in the tube assembly and held it in place with some sheet metal clamps. Then I drilled the four holes nearest the clamps and used my cleco clamps to hold the parts together.



Then I moved the clamps over one and drilled the next hole repeating until I got all of the holes drilled and clamped. The purpose of the clamp to to keep the tube plate from bending away from the outer shell as I was drilling the holes.



With the holes drilled I pulled out my rivet squeezer and put in the top row of rivets.



Here is the current state of the boiler.



Till next time

Tony

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
« Last Edit: February 02, 2019, 11:44:12 PM by AOG »

Offline b.lindsey

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13860
  • Dallas, NC, USA
    • Workbench-Miniatures
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #8 on: February 02, 2019, 11:08:02 PM »
Good to see an update Tony.  Still watching as I have this kit in the queue for someday in the future  ;)

Bill

Offline crueby

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18554
  • Rochester NY
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #9 on: February 06, 2019, 01:35:37 PM »
Well done, those clamps really did the trick.
 :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

Offline AOG

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 730
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #10 on: February 10, 2019, 01:53:19 AM »
Thanks guys, more good progress today. The first thing I did was attempt to drill out the lower holes. That’s when I realized I screwed up. The holes in the pattern were below the tube plate. After checking all of my dimensions and the placement of the tube assembly I realized that I misread a dimension and made my tube assembly 1/2 inch to short. It’s to late to do anything about it now but move the holes. I picked up the marks on the pattern and translated them 1/2 inch before drilling the holes. With the holes drilled 4 rivets were installed 90 degrees apart. I had a heck of a time getting my squeezer on to the rivets. As I started to fill in the rest of the rivets I figured if I cut out the hole for the fire door I could get a better angle on the remaining rivets. First I drilled the  corners 3/32.



Then using a jeweler’s saw I cut out the opening.



After some quality time with my files, we have one completed door opening.



After that, the remaining rivets were installed and the template removed. I also annealed the areas where the rivets were installed.  Here is the riveted assembly cleaned up and ready for the next round of soldering.



Till next time.

Tony


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Offline AOG

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 730
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #11 on: February 16, 2019, 11:56:43 PM »
Today started with a bit of a weather delay due to rain. That gave me the opportunity to clean up the boiler base casting and turn it to a slip fit on the boiler.



When the rain stopped, I soldered up the ends and soldered in the boiler bushes.



Here it is after pickling and a cleanup.



I need to do some work on my pressure testing rig so I’m going to call it for this weekend. Hopefully next week I can get it pressure tested.

Till next time

Tony


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Offline crueby

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18554
  • Rochester NY
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2019, 12:01:53 AM »
That is coming along great. Did you silver solder everything rather than the soft solder pmr uses?

Offline AOG

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 730
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #13 on: February 17, 2019, 12:38:05 AM »
I hard soldered the tubes and used the PMR stuff for the fittings and to seal the tube plates to the shell. On my last one I hard soldered everything and I ended up with problems with porous joints and pinhole leaks because I unintentionally remelted the solder on the tubes while I was trying to solder the tube plate to the shell. I ended up sealing the leaks with the PMR stuff and it worked fine. This time I decided to go with it from the beginning. The only reason I hard soldered the tubes was because I didn’t trust my swages on the ends to hold the tubes. It turned out to work well because the tubes never came close to remelting while I was soldering the ends.

Tony

Offline AOG

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 730
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #14 on: February 24, 2019, 10:02:03 PM »
Good progress this weekend. After replacing the check valve in my pressure test rig, I pressure tested the boiler. I had a few leaks around a few of the tubes. They were sealed up with solder and the retest passed with flying colors.



Then I started work on the top cover assembly. I turned the inside of the base enough to get a good grip. Then the part was flipped and I turned the outside of the top of the casting to allow for a good grip.



The top was then bored to take the chimney.



The casting was reversed and the lower part turned to be a slip fit on the boiler shell.



Then it was over to the mill to put in the hole for the safety valve extension. Because of the angled cut I used an end mill for the job.



Next up was the chimney cap. First I turned down one end to fit the chimney.



Next I step drilled and then bored the inside.



The cap was parted off and reversed in the chuck. Then I used the form tool I made for the first version of this boiler to turn the outer profile.



That’s it for this update. I will leave you with a current family pic.



Till next time.

Tony


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Offline crueby

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18554
  • Rochester NY
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #15 on: February 24, 2019, 10:51:13 PM »
Great progress! Watching this one go along might finally get me to build my kit of that boiler thats been collecting dust.  I hope! 

 :popcorn:

Offline steamboatmodel

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 185
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #16 on: February 25, 2019, 12:09:47 AM »
Great progress! Watching this one go along might finally get me to build my kit of that boiler thats been collecting dust.  I hope! 

 :popcorn:

You had better check. My Elves were mumbling something about waiting for a boiler kit from the south, that they had traded a red sled (which they had borrowed) for.
Gerald.
Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors--and miss. Lazarus Long

Offline crueby

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18554
  • Rochester NY
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #17 on: February 25, 2019, 12:15:11 AM »
Great progress! Watching this one go along might finally get me to build my kit of that boiler thats been collecting dust.  I hope! 

 :popcorn:

You had better check. My Elves were mumbling something about waiting for a boiler kit from the south, that they had traded a red sled (which they had borrowed) for.
Gerald.
Those little....    :facepalm2:

Offline AOG

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 730
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #18 on: March 03, 2019, 07:29:56 PM »
I got a little more done this week. During the week I cleaned up the door castings and filed the latch so that it would close. The frame was drilled for the hinge pin. Then I drilled the mounting holes on the door frame to tapping size.



The door was installed and held with a clamp. Then the hole for the hinge was drilled using the door frame as a drill guide.



The frame was mounted on the boiler and the holes transferred. The boiler holes were then tapped.



The holes in the door frame holes were drilled out to clearance size. The door was installed, the hinge pin pushed through and the  end peened.



Next I transfer punched the mounting holes for the top cap. The top cap was then drilled and tapped.



The top cap was assembled and it and the door mounted to the boiler. That is as far as I can go with the boiler itself until the Bix burner I ordered comes in so I started work on the ancillaries. I already have a one of the PMR premachined hand pumps allocated for this build so that’s sorted. That leaves the water tank. I am using the PMR water tank kit. I started by cleaning up the tank on the lathe and drilling the hole for the outlet bushing.



The base was soft soldered in and then the bushing mounted and soldered in. After soldering the tanks was pickled and cleaned up.



I took the base casting and machined the end flat.



The base was flipped in the chuck and turned to be a slip fit n the tank.



It was then over to the mill to drill the four mounting holes.



I cleaned up the flashing with some file work and then I deviated from the plans for mounting the tank to the base. Instead of drilling holes and using mounting screws, I JB welded the tank onto the base. I will finish this update with a family shot taken while waiting for the JB weld to set.



Till next time

Tony


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Offline Ye-Ole Steam Dude

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1571
  • Deep East Texas on Sam Rayburn Lake
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #19 on: March 03, 2019, 07:41:55 PM »
Hello Tony,

Sure looking good and very nice work.

Have a great day,
Thomas
Thomas

Offline b.lindsey

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13860
  • Dallas, NC, USA
    • Workbench-Miniatures
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #20 on: March 03, 2019, 07:47:26 PM »
Great progress Tony. It's starting to come together nicely now.

Bill

Offline crueby

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18554
  • Rochester NY
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #21 on: March 03, 2019, 07:52:39 PM »
Great progress!

 :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

Offline AOG

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 730
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #22 on: March 17, 2019, 09:05:50 PM »
Let’s close this one out. My Bix burner came in so the next task was to fit it into the base. I milled a slot into the base. Along the way, I forgot to tighten the vise and marked up the part when it slipped.



I cleaned up the base in the lathe and here is the base with the burner set into it.



Then I transferred the mounting holes from the boiler to the base and tapped them.



The base was mounted to the boiler and the boiler shell filed out to fit the burner.



That completes the boiler so it was on to paint and plumbing. Here are the components painted and ready to be fitted to the base.



Here are some final pics of the assembled boiler plant.







She’s ready for her first steaming once the thread sealant dries.

I think that’s it for this one.

Tony


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Offline Robert Hornby

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 488
  • Terrigal NSW Australia
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #23 on: March 18, 2019, 06:05:22 AM »
Beautiful work there Tony, it brings back memories from my boiler build for the Columbine. I like the black finish and i am thinking I may do the same on the parts not lagged.
Robert
Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill

Offline Gas_mantle

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1365
  • North Yorks - UK.
    • My Youtube channel
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #24 on: March 18, 2019, 09:49:31 AM »
Great stuff Tony, I look forward to seeing it in action  :)

Offline Ye-Ole Steam Dude

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1571
  • Deep East Texas on Sam Rayburn Lake
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #25 on: March 18, 2019, 11:01:33 AM »
Hello Tony,

Very impressive and neat and clean unit, looking forward to a video. :ThumbsUp:

Have a great day,
Thomas
Thomas

Offline AOG

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 730
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #26 on: March 18, 2019, 02:28:07 PM »
Thanks everyone, I ran my S-50ish with it yesterday but I forgot to take pics/video. It worked but my bodged together connection leaked like a sieve. I need to get some fittings and make up a proper tube to connect them together. I’ll take a video then.

Tony

Offline bent

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 790
  • Wet side of Washington State, USA
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #27 on: March 18, 2019, 06:31:38 PM »
Nice work Tony!  What kind of paint did you use, that doesn't look like barbecue flat black?

Offline AOG

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 730
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #28 on: March 18, 2019, 09:23:16 PM »
What kind of paint did you use, that doesn't look like barbecue flat black?

That would be because I used barbecue semi gloss black. I couldn’t find it locally so I just ordered it from Amazon.

Tony

Offline b.lindsey

  • Global Moderator
  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 13860
  • Dallas, NC, USA
    • Workbench-Miniatures
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #29 on: March 19, 2019, 02:11:19 PM »
Looks great Tony and a very neat and tidy arrangement of things on the base too. Looking forward to the video as well.

Bill

Offline Robert Hornby

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 488
  • Terrigal NSW Australia
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #30 on: March 19, 2019, 08:38:57 PM »
Tony, what surface preparation did you make on the boiler prior to the finish coat i.e. any etching or primer?
Robert
Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill

Offline AOG

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 730
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #31 on: March 19, 2019, 10:32:02 PM »
Tony, what surface preparation did you make on the boiler prior to the finish coat i.e. any etching or primer?
Robert

I originally sprayed it with etch primer but I was concerned that it wouldn’t take the heat so I removed it and sprayed the barbecue paint directly on the boiler.

Tony

Offline bent

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 790
  • Wet side of Washington State, USA
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #32 on: March 20, 2019, 05:10:56 PM »
Thanks Tony, didn't know you could get high-heat paint in anything but flat.  Will have to browse amazon...

Offline crueby

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18554
  • Rochester NY
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #33 on: March 20, 2019, 05:48:44 PM »
I have had very good results with this paint, a ceramic engine paint, up to 500F, no oven bake required to cure, goes on thin and dries quickly. Seems to take abrasion/handling quite well too, I have been using it on my steam engines and also RC boats. It comes it a bunch of colors, including semigloss black. Lots of auto parts stores carry it.
https://www.jegs.com/i/Duplicolor/318/DE1635/10002/-1

Offline bent

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 790
  • Wet side of Washington State, USA
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #34 on: March 21, 2019, 04:37:20 PM »
Thanks too, crueby, engine paint I've heard of, but bbq paint implies temps up over 500F.  Rustoleum Hi-Heat paint for instance, goes to 2000F.  And comes in gloss/clearcoat versions, which is news to me.  The high heat stuff does require a high temp. cure (600F). 

https://www.amazon.com/Rust-Oleum-Automotive-260771-11-Ounce-Degrees/dp/B006ZLQ0JI/ref=pd_bxgy_60_3/133-0141963-4579607?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B006ZLQ0JI&pd_rd_r=8cfd01ec-4bf6-11e9-a258-1dc4cbbc6958&pd_rd_w=ok5SU&pd_rd_wg=kpjHg&pf_rd_p=a2006322-0bc0-4db9-a08e-d168c18ce6f0&pf_rd_r=CZ5MHEFQ3RQQ5J6XTX5F&psc=1&refRID=CZ5MHEFQ3RQQ5J6XTX5F

Yuck, that is one huge link.

Offline crueby

  • Full Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 18554
  • Rochester NY
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #35 on: March 21, 2019, 04:44:32 PM »
Thats he nice thing about the engine paint, if you dont need use above 500F anyway, it cures are room temperature, and I have found it goes on in a thinner film that is more durable. If you need the higher heat range, then the other types are needed.

Offline gary.a.ayres

  • Full Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1297
  • Isle of Skye & sometimes France
Re: AOG’s PMR BLR-1 V2 build
« Reply #36 on: April 01, 2019, 10:12:24 AM »
Great-looking boiler.

Congratulations!

 :cheers:

 

SimplePortal 2.3.5 © 2008-2012, SimplePortal