Rather than hijacking another thread, I thought I'd start a new one *discussion*
It's been over a decade since I acquired this vertical boiler. A while back I thought I'd take a closer look at it and see if it would hold water and hydro the thing. To make a long story short, water leaked out of the tubes at city pressure.
A short description: The boiler is just the vessel, no firebox and smoke box, stands about 38" tall, 16" in diameter and has 41 tubes swaged into it having an id of about 1.125". Stampings on the boiler say it was manufactured in 1969 and it has an "M" stamp.
To start with, I'd like to remove the tubes. I bought some thick 1" diameter cutoff disks and mandrel which will fit inside the tubes (from McMaster) but my Moto tool doesn't spin fast enough to make a dent in the tubes (probably steel). I also lack an air supply for my air tools to try my die grinder (does 20K rpm). Can anyone recommend cutting tools to take out tubes? ???
Second thought is to retire the boiler, considering its age (for the sake of safety). I thought I'd hide a small air tank and compressor in the gutted out boiler. Outward appearances, the remaining tube would look like a boiler, but provide compressed air for air brakes and a steam whistle.
What do you all think?
George
It's been over a decade since I acquired this vertical boiler. A while back I thought I'd take a closer look at it and see if it would hold water and hydro the thing. To make a long story short, water leaked out of the tubes at city pressure.
A short description: The boiler is just the vessel, no firebox and smoke box, stands about 38" tall, 16" in diameter and has 41 tubes swaged into it having an id of about 1.125". Stampings on the boiler say it was manufactured in 1969 and it has an "M" stamp.
To start with, I'd like to remove the tubes. I bought some thick 1" diameter cutoff disks and mandrel which will fit inside the tubes (from McMaster) but my Moto tool doesn't spin fast enough to make a dent in the tubes (probably steel). I also lack an air supply for my air tools to try my die grinder (does 20K rpm). Can anyone recommend cutting tools to take out tubes? ???
Second thought is to retire the boiler, considering its age (for the sake of safety). I thought I'd hide a small air tank and compressor in the gutted out boiler. Outward appearances, the remaining tube would look like a boiler, but provide compressed air for air brakes and a steam whistle.
What do you all think?
George