Hi Bill; It's getting there. Always seems to be 'one more thing' to do. You know!
Making the door that goes over the cutout area on one side of the firebox where the burner slides in.
I laid out for this on a piece of 1/8" brass sheet, then cut it out with a jewelers saw.
I've never been really good at this, even though I've done it a lot. I always end up with lots of file work.
After the piece was mostly finished off with the file I made a small bushing that will allow the
door to swing to the side when it's mounted. Some flux and a small piece of 45% silver wire, and
it was ready for the heat.
The wire on the bushing is holding it down so it will stay flush with the back side of the door.
Another piece is cut out for the door handle, and finished to the correct shape with the file.
The piece is clamped to the door, and again, flux and a couple of bits of 45% silver wire.
I did just this end with the 45% wire. The part in the middle and the end at the top of
the door next to the bushing was done with 56% wire. Using the different silver alloys
I don't have to worry about the bushing at the top falling off when I do that end, since
45% wire melts at a higher temp than 56% wire.
The 45% silver wire is called BAg-5. The 56% is called BAg-7. That is, if you're in the U.S.
After getting the door handle brazed on, the piece was put in the mill and the back milled flat.
The heat had warped the piece a little and the milling was to surface the back so it will
fit flat against the firebox.
I milled down the front a bit too, partly because of the warp from the previous brazing heat, but
also because I goofed when doing the last heat on this piece. In order to get heat to the back side
of the piece I had tilted it up at an angle, with the eye at the top of the door quite a bit higher
than the bottom of the piece. The 45% silver stayed where it had been on the end of the handle, since
it didn't get hot enough to flow, but when the 56% got to flow temp, a good deal of it ran down to the
bottom of the door and made a puddle. That all got milled away.
When the silver alloy ran down, it also left a visible groove where the handle edge meets the door.
I admit to being a little frustrated at what was a simple brazing job, and ready to be done with it,
I decided to just run a line of regular solder over the visible groove. Then it was filed and sanded.
That's one more piece done, and the last thing on the prints. In the next few days I hope to get a
pulley made for the crankshaft, and a small fan built that will run off the pulley and cool the fins
on the cylinder. I'll have the finished pics at that time, along with a video of the thing running
in its completed state.
Hopefully just a few days to go.
Thanks again for checking in!
Dean
Super job Dean!!
