Krick Model 2 two cylinder marine steam engine...Part III, soldering the boiler...

Going...


...going...


...going...


...done.


I've always been one to over solder...you'd think after the hundreds of brazes and solders I've done in the trades over the years, I'd have it down.

This had me as nervous as a school girl, the finish being a prime point on these things. Some like them ratty, others like them with a good patina and still others like them sparkling bright. I wanted this one bright brass and a good soldering job is key. Fortunately, I was able to clean it up enough to be presentable. I did tin each side first, the next time, I'll have some steel wool to brush up the excess while still molten.

I use a polishing paste called Maas, I wish I had it in Army basic training, the stuff is a beast on tarnished metal. Unlike Brasso, it took very little effort to get to this level of polish. There actually is a difference in the finished tone of the metal between the two polishes, enough that I had to go back and redo what I had already polished. The Brasso finished with a copper tone, the Maaz more gold.

All in all, I don't feel too bad for a first time job on a model boiler.

John 3:7-21

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Atlas N scale turntable modification...

Freebies are good, but sometimes they come with bugs that have to be surmounted. This one was working fine actually, the bug being built into it by Atlas.

The table's wiring is very simple, each rail has a spring loaded brush that contacts a plate underneath that is divided for track polarity. As the table spins, the polarity is corrected automatically for the roundhouse leads, so that locomotives travel on and off the table without have to worry about direction of travel. A simple and effective device, its one flaw being the location of the dividing point. In this case, the location placed two of my five roundhouse leads with polarity opposed to the track on the table...


Undaunted, I fearlessly drilled the rivets, thinking I will just rotate it 90 degrees and all would be right in the world...thinking being the key word here...sigh...


Alas, those rivets carry current to the contacts, so another plan was devised...by replacing the strip contacts underneath with wires, reattaching one and relocating the other (noted in green), I was able to remount the contact plate...


I then soldered jumpers to the original breaks (in yellow) in the plate, and cut new breaks (in green) in by scoring the metal with a knife. This placed the circuit in a way that powered all my roundhouse leads properly, so that the locomotives could roll onto and off the table with the necessary polarity issues straightened out. I made sure that none of these new connections interfered with the path of the sprung brushes...


Speaking of those brushes...


...the best way I've found to reinstall them was to put them in their respective holes...


...and...while holding them in place with a piece of paper, carefully flip the table right side up, place it into the pit circle and, while pushing down firmly but carefully on the table, slowly slide the paper out. This ensures that the brushes remain assembled and in place when you secure the table to the pit ring...

Love for Jesus is the great test...

We ought to pity as well as to blame the man who does not love Jesus Christ. Alas, poor soul, into what a state has he fallen that he should not be able to love him who is “altogether lovely;” nor to admire him who is the “Chief among ten thousand.” I met not long ago with a lady who had lost her taste and smell — a somewhat singular affliction. The fairest rose in the world cannot salute her nostrils with its pleasant perfume; the most dainty flavour that ever delighted men’s palate has no charms for her. She is dead to those pleasures, and I could not but sympathize with her in her loss. Yet after all this loss of pleasurable sensation is a trifle, it will only last for a few years, and when brief life is over she will possess every desirable faculty.

But what a terrible thing to be unable to perceive the fragrance of the name of Jesus, which is as ointment poured forth; unable to taste the sweet flavor of the bread of heaven, or the richness of that wine on the lees well refined, which makes the saints of God so glad. I had rather be blind and deaf and dumb, and lose my taste and smell, than not love Christ. To be unable to appreciate HIM, is the worst of disabilities, the most serious of calamities. It is not the loss of a single spiritual faculty, but it proves the death of the soul. It evidences the absence of all that can make existence worth the having, for he that hath not the Son hath not life, and the wrath of God abideth on him.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Love To Jesus The Great Test," delivered October 3, 1875.

Soldering a Wilesco vertical boiler..the adventure begins...

Wet towels to keep from overheating other joints...check...


New pencil flame propane torch from Amazon.com that can be used in my work to justify the cost...check... Note to enterprising sprite who felt it worthy of a one star rating because of its small flame--DUDE, IT'S A PENCIL FLAME TORCH???!


LIFT OFF!!!! Check out where the leak was at the left end...either the previous owner ran it dry--yikes--or, he ran it like this for a while, the leak zone is easily almost 3/4" wide...



Clean the joints...and I mean spotless. I found my small flat and curved files, as well as my 3/4" fitting brush worked best--the Dremel was a great disappointment here.







Big, fat, blood thirsty mosquitoes drove me indoors before I could finish, so you'll have to wait 'til next time...