Developing a Small Steam Plant

[gary.a.ayres]

It appears to be green at this end of the planet too.



Duralac Green. Preventing Corrosion Between Dissimilar Metals. In a Shed. Near You. Now.

Another handy tip (one of many) from MJM460.

 

[gary.a.ayres]

A bit of progress today.

Yesterday the original flat brass handle of the water pump was glued into the slot in the new steel shank with Loctite 638. Today, I drilled two cross holes and tapped them M5. Two M5 screws were then secured in these holes using Loctite 2400 Threadlocker (blue in colour):



Tomorrow or the day after, when all the adhesive has set, I will cut off the ends of the scews and grind them flush with the shank. After that the plan is to machine a brass sleeve just long enough to cover this joint and fix it in place witth 638.

A locating ring for the water reservoir was machined, and this was fixed to the base board, as was the steam separator/feedwater preheater. The undersides of these (which directly contact the board) were smeared with silicone to prevent water from being drawn under the parts by capillary action. All points of contact between dissimilar metals (aluminium, brass and stainless steel screws) were treated with the ghastly green goo. Where the part fixed to the baseboard is brass, stainless steel screws were used, and where the part  is aluminium, the screws are brass. Just for the contrasty look. Having a couple of the main elements fixed to the board feels like a real step forward:

[propforward]

Some beautiful work in this thread Gary. Nice job.

[gary.a.ayres]

Thank you very much Stuart. Very kind of you.

gary

[gary.a.ayres]

The finished pump handle. The two cross-screws were sawn off and ground flat, and a collar (turned, drilled ad reamed from a piece of 'scrap' brass) was slid down the shank and secured in place with lime-flavoured Loctite 638. The grip was then fixed to the top of the shank with blueberry-flavoured 2400 'Threadlocker'.

All in all I'm pretty pleased with the result, even if progress has been slow due to winding down work for the year and winding up the seasonal celebrations. Many thanks to JC54 above for emboldening me to stick with my original aesthetic:



Hope you are all having the Coolest of Yules and a Fabulous Festive Season.

gary

 

[propforward]

Nice work Gary! All the best of the season to you!

[gary.a.ayres]

Cheers Stuart - you too.

 

[gary.a.ayres]

A slight digression into seasonal gifts received. These were from my Daughter (of whom Keith Appleton would be proud):



And these were from my Good Woman:



How did they know what to get for me?

They must both be developing mind-reading skills...

[propforward]

Very nice. I'm sure you dropped just the right amount of subtle hints. Catalogues left open on the kitchen table with convenient circles and arrows drawn on them on such..............

[gary.a.ayres]

.... sort of thing. And e-mails containing links to suppliers with 'get me this!'.

 

[gary.a.ayres]

The first stage of the pipework is now done. Intrigued by MJM460's explanation about the practical benefits of a square format in full sized oil refineries, I decided to go for that (or as close to it as I could). I aslo thought it would contrast nicely with the curved shapes in the engine and elsewhere:





Overall I'm pretty pleased with the look, but there was a setback. I plan to test run the plant to ensure that the separator works before I go as far as lagging the pipes. However, when I was machining the tee connector that links the displacement lubricator into the system (according to Keith Appleton's advice - see video above), a moment's complacent inattention at the lathe mangled the tee, cracking the metal and rendering it useless. Pretzeled, as some of you gentlemen from across the ocean might say. The highest level of enpretzelment was attained. I just put it into the system in its sorry state for the sake of the photos (in which it looks ok but isn't). This was on New Year's Day and I'm now waiting for the replacement to arrive. The good news is that in all other respects the modification of the tee went smoothly and the threads match those on the lubricator nicely. Patience...

Have a great 2020, you all!

 

[crueby]

Bummer about the tee, the rest of it is looking great, looking forward to seeing it run!

[gary.a.ayres]

Cheers Chris.

It always seems to happen when I get too pleased with myself. Bet I'm not alone in that...   

The new tee will arrive soon, though the need to earn a living looms large once again and time to play will be curtailed...

 

[propforward]

Looks wonderful Gary. Pity about the Tee, but you'll get past that. These things are sent to try us and all that.

And no - you definitely are not alone in that. Pride cometh before a fall. Why I have to keep learning that lesson I do not know.

[gary.a.ayres]

Thanks Stuart.

Yes, it seems to be a fundamental principle...