steam-boiler

I had made several mini steam engines before so I decided to make a boiler to power all of them,
I was living on St. Maarten, an island in the Caribbean, so my supply of raw material was rather limited at the time.
So I had to make all my copper plate and brass rods.

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I start with the base.

Then I add the sides all round.

I had some brass tubing but it had a couple of dings in it.
Also, I had to make some copper plates for the top and bottom.

So I cast some plaster of paris into it so it would not deform and I skimmed it on my lathe.

Making copper plate.

Rolled it out and cut it to shape for the bottom and top of the boiler.

Then I domed them.

Fitting the dome.

Soldering it in.

This is the heat transfer tube that goes through the middle.

I needed thick wire to go through the heat transfer tube, so I cast some copper. Because island and no supplies.

Which I drew out to the correct thickness.

So these rods pick up the heat from the flame and then transfer it to the water.

This is the contraption that gets soldered into the brass cylinder.

All the tubes that go into the cylinder.

Before the solder.

The bottom and the center tube are soldered in.

Then I drill the holes for the side tubes.

Like this. I flare the end so it makes for a stronger joint.

Soldered in.

So now I built a gas burner. This required a bit of experimentation, but finally I worked out this design. Soldering the sides onto the base.

Drilling the holes for the gas.

Then I made the gas jet and the air intake.

I used a soldering pad for a gas diffuser.

Here is the completed unit.

It burned with a nice bright flame.

So I set up the boiler with the top still unsoldered.

Just to see how quickly it would bring water to the boil. It was suprisingly efficient.

Now it was time to solder the top on.
The tapped threads are for screwing the various gauges and taps in.

Once everything was soldered closed I tested to see if it held pressure.
One is supposed to test with water, because if there is a bang, the water just runs out.
This is because water cannot be compressed.

I made a pressure gauge.

I drilled decorative holes.

I soldered copper rivets into it.

I bought a commercial gauge and fitted it into my casing.

The back of the pressure gauge.

I like the steam punk look.

I made two frames like this to mount the pressure gauge and the filling tap.

I forgot to take decent pictures of a lot of this build. I am stupid like that.
Anyway, this one of the attachments for the gauge.

Like I said, the pictures get a bit shitty from here on.
This is the top to neaten thing up a bit.

Extending the base for the burner.

I made a bunch of supports and chimney and a pressure relief valve.

I forgot, I made the water level gauge glass.

Here is the completed level indicator.

Installed.

I cast the chimney top things. First carve them out of wax. I don't know what I was thinking, because these days I would just make them out of solid stock.