Boiler

December 28, 2005

The gearbox had started working on my nerves so I picked up another job. The boiler as I obtained it was already partially worked on. There was a lot however that didn't meet my own standard of working. So I set off disassembling some parts, the stack and the headlamp, some of the piping.

Then I spent quite a lot of time deburring, filing, sanding and smoothing and finally polishing the boiler. For polishing I use a Dremel like tool (Proxxon) with a polishing disk and polishing paste. It works well on metals. (Note: in hindsight I should not have polished the metal: it makes it harder for the paint to attach to the surface and it makes the sharp details somewhat fuzzy).
The metal of the MDC Shay proved to be a lot harder than the white metal of the DJH Model Loco kit I've built. I wonder if it has a higher melting point as well. It is isn't very important because this kits needs little soldering.

The original boiler. Note the cast burr on the center which had only partially removed. Also note the grooves left behind after filing

Result after some hard labor on the boiler. The sand dome still shows a cast burr. I only saw it on the photo!! By now this burr has also been dealt with.