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Hi Marinus,Good looking boiler, should do the trick. That timber lagging should provide plenty of insulation. Just wondering why you chose steel instead of copper, which small boilers are generally made of? Perhaps it was due to availability. It's not stainless, is it?Cheers, Hugh.
I don't want you to take this the wrong way Marinus, but I have a few concerns with your boiler. You have done, from what I can see, a good job of putting it together BUT that 2mm wall thickness is a real worry, While that might well fall within theoretical spec for 40 psi there is absolutely no allowance for wasting or corrosion and would be good for only a few steamings at best.Also, if you do get a piece of suitable copper pipe, please make sure that it is SEAMLESS as the common plumbing type pipe is just not adequate for the job.As far as I can discover there are no regulations covering model boilers in South Africa but readers from other places should be aware that most countries do have such regulations and they really do need to be adhered to.Might I suggest getting hold of the Australian AMBSC boiler codes and adhering to those for any future builds. Boilers built to these specs have a generous safety allowance, I know that some folk consider that they are over cautious, but this is not the case - your safety, and the safety of other must come first.Also, there are any number of good books on the subject - quite a few of then available for free download on the net. Be safe, my friend, and live to play another day!
Quote from: tel on July 13, 2013, 11:23:36 AMI don't want you to take this the wrong way Marinus, but I have a few concerns with your boiler. You have done, from what I can see, a good job of putting it together BUT that 2mm wall thickness is a real worry, While that might well fall within theoretical spec for 40 psi there is absolutely no allowance for wasting or corrosion and would be good for only a few steamings at best.Also, if you do get a piece of suitable copper pipe, please make sure that it is SEAMLESS as the common plumbing type pipe is just not adequate for the job.As far as I can discover there are no regulations covering model boilers in South Africa but readers from other places should be aware that most countries do have such regulations and they really do need to be adhered to.Might I suggest getting hold of the Australian AMBSC boiler codes and adhering to those for any future builds. Boilers built to these specs have a generous safety allowance, I know that some folk consider that they are over cautious, but this is not the case - your safety, and the safety of other must come first.Also, there are any number of good books on the subject - quite a few of then available for free download on the net. Be safe, my friend, and live to play another day!I know that this boiler won't last long for real jobs but it wont be steamed often. It has only been steamed twice now. The live steam locos here in SA's boilers are made out of steel, but very thick steel. I made this just as a steam toy. I've seen toy steam boilers that has been made out of 30mm dia and 1mm thick wall steel tube. We have a boiler code here in SA and I have a copy of the boiler code on my computer.
The gauge glass isn't actually neccesary. I've seen plenty of boilers without a gauge glass that has been factory made. When I am going to build the copper boiler I am going to make a drawing of it and then consult one of you if the design will work.