Beautiful locomotive photos!
Too bad about the lathes, they certainly were beauties!
Yes, all of my lifting arms are pinned to the shaft with taper pins. I got all of my taper pins and reamers from Ebay. These items are quite cheap from Ebay, and can be had brand new. I cannot believe how much money this has saved me. The piston shaft is pinned to the cross head with taper pins.
All of my straight reamers are also from Ebay, brand new, very cheap. Many of my threaded fasteners are also from Ebay.
For the steam passages, I just drilled them and then used small files to open the passage into an oblong slot.
The Simplex boiler is only about 3mm (1/8") thick. It can all be done with a single large Sievert torch. Th boiler barrel on the Super is 5" and for the Simplex I think it is 4-1/2". Yes, your torch must be large enough to put heat in faster than the copper can radiate it. You must build up a hearth with fire bricks. Do not use the type that are in fire place, but, the type that reflect the heat back into the work, like the bricks used in a refractory. The bricks are light weight and are very fragile. Stack them on the floor and all around and on top of the boiler. It can be done. My boiler was certified in May of this year, all silver soldered with a single Sievert propane torch.
My flanged plates were all done over wooden formers. I used poplar and hard maple. Unless you are going into production, there is no need for steel formers. In fact, my formers could probably make several more sets, as they are hardly worn or beaten.
Since I don't seem to be able to put text between my photos, here's a little text describing the attached photos:
Photo one - This is a closeup shot of the piston rod pinned to the cross head, it is attached with taper pins put in at an angle. Large end of the pin up, so if any thing were ever to loosen, the pin would not fall out!
Photo two - Close up of the cylinder face ports being machined. Everything was layed out on the face just for reference. These cuts were all made by reading the numbers on the hand wheels. I used carbide cutters for this operation.
Photo three - The steam passages were simple drilled holes. The holes were then connected sideways with a small round Swiss file to create a nice oblong hole.
Photo four - I relieved the cylinder covers where the steam passages meet the covers.
Photo five - Here you can see the main parts of the cylinders. You can just barely see the oblong steam passage in the cylinder end.
Photo six - This is the copper boiler kit from Blackgates. Yes, it was expensive, but, it was all the correct type of copper, all in one place, and was actually a good value. If I had it to do over, I would go this way again.
Photo seven - Here you can see a flanged plate next to its former. The former is made of hard maple and could probably be used several times over. What I like about wooden formers, is that they are very easy and quick to make.
Photo eight - When is comes to heating the boiler, I completely covered it with refractory bricks, except for the area where I was going to solder. I started with the boiler uncovered for a pre-heat. When it was quite hot, I stacked the bricks on top and then concentrated on the area where I was going to work.
