Resurrection of a CFEI 100 KVA Induction Furnace

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awemawson:
So this morning it was just a case of 'rinse and repeat' - make another frame like the first - simples !

. . . well yes simple if you clamp the first corner the right way round - I had the two bits in the wrong orientation - the short bit should be a stretcher between the long bits, not the other way round. Of course I only noticed when I'd welded it :bang: Never mind, the work of a couple of minutes to cut the weld, grind back and glue it back together the right way :clap:

After that all went well - I had a bit of an issue getting the last corner to join, and had to resort to extreme measures welding dogs to the table and using wedges, but I got there in the end.

OK so that is two frames made, and this one is remarkably square. The next thing to do is to weld another set of six stretchers to make this last frame into a table like structure - I just need to work out how I'm going to jig and clamp them to get everything mutually at right angles.

It may just be a case of holding it, tacking it, bending it square and finish welding :scratch:

AdeV:

--- Quote from: awemawson on May 02, 2020, 05:52:20 AM ---...resort to extreme measures welding dogs to the table....

--- End quote ---

I bet the dogs weren't thrilled about that!

awemawson:
We don't take prisoners here Ade :lol:

So the forecast for this afternoon was fine for once so I decided to do the 'outside work' of intercepting the land drain and connecting the over flow from the bore hole to it.

Very tentative scratching away with the JCB 803 eventually exposed it without ripping it apart - amazing how quickly the tooth of an excavator bucket can do a lot of damage to services :bugeye:

Then spade work exposing enough to inset a 45 degree branch for the overflow, surround in pea shingle and back fill - fairly simple but awfully sticky wet and muddy!

Once that was done, it was back to the bore hole to cut a slot in the two top courses of bricks to receive the new pipe. I was very surprised how hard and resilient the bricks and mortar were - took far longer than I'd expected.

Then I pumped the well down a long way to give the mortar that I was fixing the pipe in with a chance to go off without being swamped. No doubt I'll have to run the pump a few times before the mortar is reasonably hard.

The outer farm yard is now a bit of a mess and churned up - it all needs to dry a bit for the scars to clear!

. . .but I do now have a nine inch length of blue land drain :clap:

awemawson:
So I did go out at about 8 pm last night and re-started the pump - level was no where near the mortar but might as well give as much free board as possible for overnight.

I noticed that the suction hose was curling under water so not as long as it could be (at night with a torch you can see more down the 'hole' than in the day time) so I gave the hose a shake to straighten it and was just walking away when I saw that the pump, with it's vibrating engine, was walking towards the lip of the bore hole and quite likely to plunge to it's doom pulled by the weight of the 2" suction hose :bugeye: So I pulled it back a bit (loosing suction hose length) and baby sat it for a bit.

This morning the mortar is rock hard - I deliberately made a hydraulic mortar (IE excess Portland cement) so I'll let it fill back up to level.

I was very pleased to find that the 90 degree welding clamp that I've been using will accommodate a 'three ways meeting' of box section - only two ways are forced to 90 degrees so a large square was used for the third axis.

The six stretchers that will be horizontal when the chassis is stood upright, are now welded to one frame. I now need to lower that to the floor with the stretchers horizontal, and offer up the second frame for welding, but that probably will be tomorrow. It's getting blooming heavy !

awemawson:
Today I assembled the 'table' part of the frame and the second frame, pulling them into alignment with various clamps including three sash cramps borrowed from the woodwork shop.

Having got the upper joints welded and the lower ones tacked I then rotated the frame to present the lower joins as 'in position' welds. This zinc tube is awful to weld at the best of times, especially 'vertical up' for some reason, and it pops and bangs all over the place.

Once all welded I got my ever helpful CNC Plasma Table to cut me some plates to take the original castors off the previous chiller. These were welded on, drilled and tapped, and the castors bolted on.

A bit of grunting and it was set on it's castors ready to be fitted out with it's equipment. I'll do a 'dry fit' of everything, then break it down for spraying before final assembly.

Quite pleasing that as it is now is entirely made from re-cycled materials.

So next I need to make a base plate onto which the tank and Grundfos pump will mount, and sort out how I am going to mount the heat exchanger and other bits and bobs.

Meanwhile the Manhole Cover and Frame got a coat of black bitumastic paint to keep the rust at bay.

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