Today's work involved more smokebox plumbing for the snifter and the blower. The blower line and lost wax cast elbow on the outside of the smokebox was checked for blockage incase it was a dummy, but all is clear. Some of the plumbing and soldered unions in the batch of pipework with the loco has found to be blocked with solder or corrosion so it's always worth a check.
The transition taper inside the blast cap was machined smooth as it was stepped. A homemade tapered reamer was used as well as a boring bar set to a few different angles.
During machining the tapers I'd wondered whether rifling the blast nozzle to put a spin on the steam may give more entrainment. There are many different types and shapes of blast nozzle, 3D printing and lost wax certainly gives us a lot more options! Just need to design a replacable blast nozzle and find a suitably poor steaming loco for testing!
A couple of rings for the spark arrestor were made up as well. They will have a couple of struts to make a coned frame to easily attach the mesh.
We've been talking to Adam Cro from crofittings.co.uk about the Britannia's needs for valves and detail parts. He's got castings and ready made options, be aware he's a man in demand with these and there is a wait time! We are looking forward to getting the manifold, clacks and injector steam valves as ready-made. Have a look at his website, he's setting the bar high! They are works of art, especially his fully functional vacuum brake valves!
Happy steaming!
Nigel
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