Julius De Waal Corliss steam engine

[deltatango]

That is great progress Pieter! The parts look very good.

For picture hosting I use Microsoft OneDrive space that comes free with Windows. There are others...

David

[pieterb]

Hello everybody,

Some progress made in making the bearing covers al little more elegant.

I also started on the cilinder tuesday. Squaring the block went perfect. I got the feed on one side perferct. I continued today. Turned the block around and started roughning, and then............disaster........apparently my quill lock was not on.......

The mill dug in the part some 1,5mm to much. I will round over the corner but then will the error will not be gone. The edge of the error will end up just on the edge of the cilinder cover.

Any ideas on the repair of the part? Can I take of 2mm more and shorten the cover 2mm (same stroke and position of stroke but how about the position of the valves)?
I make the round corners first and put the rest of the error straight and solder on a small piece of cast iron? Can you solder cast iron anyway?

[pieterb]

Almost forgot: I promised to take some pictures from the split oil rings.

[Admiral_dk]

I have honestly never tried it, but many hear swear to a two component epoxy, called JB Weld.
The main reason besides it's strength, is its ability to withstand high temperature.
So you could put some of this on the end gone wrong. Let it cure for 24 hours and then mill the part like you would have done anyway. As long as you end up painting it afterwards - no one will know ....

Another option I can think off - mill enough off to make it flat again. Silver Solder (the high temp stuff) another bit onto the end. Pickle it (clean away the flush, etc. in a bath/solution).
Mill it to size again - on all five sides (the sixth is still the same) - and as this also will be wissible -> Paint.

I might have forgot one or more other options.

[crueby]

I've used JB Weld on parts, would say its fine for fixing a cosmetic boo-boo, would not use it on something that will have a part moving against it. Good for a mating surface that is just having a gasket and another part pressed to it too, just not quite hard enough for a bearing surface. Also there are several varieties of JB, the Qwik version sets up fast, but is not as strong. And it is not quite thick enough to stay in place on a vertical surface till it sets, it will sag some. I usually put a bit extra on then file/sand it down flush with the surface, great for filling in a hole that shouldn't be a hole, a gouge in a surface. Careful using it, any on your finger will transfer to 18 other things!!

[Ramon]

I guess it's time to put my JB Weld hat on a again.

I'm not going to repeat what I have posted before Pieter but if you care to look here https://www.modelenginemaker.com/index.php?topic=7688.135 and scroll down to post 136 you will see the thoughts and practical tests I have done to prove it's suitability and strength.

My apologies in advance for posting pics on your thread but you may also find the following of interest to your build.

This was the first time I used it on cast iron both for cosmetic reasons - fillets etc and for bonding parts after previous use on model aircraft silencers.




And yes the engine is still in fine working order today but it has only run on air though.


This on the other hand is built from seven pieces of cast iron simply JB welded together the only screws (2 x 8BA) being to assist in holding whilst curing. This has run on 60 psi in a steam launch









You may not have seen it but all the pipework on my corliss engine was done with JBW as opposed to silver soldering and I have just begun another marine compound which again will have the major items made from composite parts JB Welded together. A slight mistake, smaller but identical in format to yours, has quickly been resolved with it too.

The comment about slumping is a relevant one - - there are two ways of dealing with it - leave the mix for an hour or so before applying it as fillets or filler (use it as mixed for bonding) or mixing some colloidal silicate in with it which turns it into a thixotropic mix that stays where you put it. Use the Standard not the fast cure and I've found it's best to leave it a good 2 days before machining it.

Hope that helps with your build - Tug