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| Building a Boiler for a 3 1/2" Gauge Locomotive |
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| P.J:
--- Quote from: sbwhart on April 27, 2010, 02:33:46 PM --- Stew Who knows that "drilling soft copper can me tricky" :bang: --- End quote --- Not sure it's possible given the shape of the plate you'r drilling... But you can try clamping the copper plate between two thicker pieces (1/4") of aluminium and drilling through all 3. This usualy results in a perfectly round hole with nice crisp edges when working with soft or thin materials.. allthough marking out and making sure the hole ends up where it's ment can be a bit of a pain.. Maybe it's possible to turn a 1/4 plate with an OD fitting the ID of the copper cap, mark out on the alu plate and clamp the whole contraption to a second alu plate, drill the holes and Bobs your uncle? :) Keep up the good work :clap: /PJ |
| shoey51:
Hard luck there Stew but I think you have it sorted now. soft copper has always been a pain to drill. keep up the great work mate :thumbup: |
| Artie:
G'day Stew, this thread is particularly of interest to me because Im gearing up to do the same for my build. Im at the stage where I need the boiler soon as its the mount for the cylinders and crossheads. Im watching with interest :wave: I like your attention to detail, its going to pay off in the end, it always does. I dont know what your silver soldering skils are like but if you havent dont much the ruined plate could be a bonus. I would get some scrap tube and practise on it before you attack the real thing... it can be a bit tricky at times. I am of the opinion "drilling soft copper can me tricky" :bang:, the method mentioned by PJ is a sure one. Youve already got the formers why not drill them and use them as drilling guides? You just need another piece to go behind them (simple flat square) these wont need to be drilled...... Also, if you can repair and resize the end plate, I think you can make a new one from scratch... seeing what you have done to date...I have faith in your abilities.... I cant believe how much the kit cost, amazing, talk pressure vessel and you start adding zero's to the end of a normal price range... ridiculous... Looking good. Cheers Rob T |
| Rob.Wilson:
Hi Stew :wave: Very interesting build :thumbup: ,,,,,,,,copper can be a real pian to drill :bang: i have posted the way i drill copper and other sheet material on another thread as i did not want to spoil yours http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=3042.msg32719#new Keep up the great work Cheers Rob |
| sbwhart:
Thanks for your tips and input guys between us we will get this job done. :thumbup: Thanks Rob I picked your drill thread up, I'm going to have a practice grinding some drills like that, my Dad was the charge hand in a little shop that refurbished tooling for a large production shop, he use to grind drills up like that all the time, he's still with us but no longer has the faculties to show me how to do it. We're going over to Buxton today with a diversion to maccmodels https://www.maccmodels.co.uk/ so that I can pic up some copper sheet, my Boss doesn't know it yet :D Thanks again Stew |
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