Boiler Insulation (Lagging)

[@RonCovell]

Quinn - you did a great job with all the delicate little details required for this job. It definitely requires some tricky fitting for the teeny wood strips, and the bands that hold them. Bravo!

[@DaaGoddy]

As a jeweller I can tell you: that air dry clay is not what I use :D Gypsum or plaster of Paris works really good, just heat it up slowly so the moisture can evaporat. The good thing about plaster is that it withstands and conducts the heat to a certain level and allows for a even joint. The air-dry clay just burns up and ruins your joint with its ash. But way more often i use two steel wires, twistet together tightly, and wrap the parts together with them. The twisting counteracts the thermal expansion. Oh and we use bigger torches :D from tiny needletiped microburnes for soldering close to a set stone up to big oxyacetylene/oxypropane torches for melting and casting we us pretty much everything :) Oh and before I forget it: I follow you quit some time now and I really like your work and editing style. Keep up the good work! :) Greetings, Daniel

[@thijsrikkerink6333]

I was soldering a small tube onto a big tube yesterday, and had indeed seen someone do it with thin steel wire. Tried it myself, and it worked very well indeed!

[@LaddGardner4]

Looks absolutely fantastic, Quinn! Love your ability to noodle things out, along with your refusal to edit out mistakes, letting us learn with you. This channel is a gift to the community, full of integrity and humor.

[@bradlotsberg6930]

1" = 1/135 Citroën.... Instant increase in Quinn's eccentric nerd cred 😁 My dad is a major Citroën fanatic so I've driven a few of them (mostly DS19). Nothing like lowering the suspension to the lowest setting, going through a restaurant drive through, then raising the car to it's max height when you get to the window and watch the cashier's expression LOL

[@bostedtap8399]

First time I saw the Citroen cars with height adjustable suspension was in the early eighties, brilliant when towing a trailer or caravan, ref raise up to engage the ball hitch. I'm from the UK, I was working in Texas, USA, in the 2000s', and one guy was interested in where I was from, he mentioned that someone he knows specialised in working on European cars, and his friend said that the reason Citroens' have adjustable suspension was to accommodate the different footpath or side walk heights in different countries, I hadn't the heart to tell him otherwise.

[@75blackviking]

This video was great. I have worked on large, industrial scale boilers (read: not pretty) throughout my career, and this little guy is by far and away the nicest looking. Love the mahogany and brass!

[@bobuk5722]

Hi Quinn. It's called 'learning on the job'. In a way us hobbyists are all serving a never ending apprenticeship. It's part of the fun. We are generally doing things as a one off as well - never been done before. At least now we have you on KZbin! ..... Cheers. BobUK.

[@rexmyers991]

Your patience is your virtue. I enjoyed watching you solve the many problems. You have a great mind. On to the next project........

[@joshwalton5941]

Looks great for a normal amount of work in the shop!

[@thomsworkshop946]

That's looking really great. An old AC guy showed me when soldering, the molten metal will flow to the heat, so if you have a puddle of solder, move the torch to the other side of the joint and it will suck into the joint in that direction. Look for that on your next try.

[@noodleinspace]

"That was a normal amount of work..." 😂 This might be my favorite video so far!

[@yt66228]

Making and using a third hand works well in holding parts. It is a must in the welding industry.

[@jackhandysides9300]

You can buy silver solder in ribbon form. I use 1/16 titanium filler rod to hold small pieces in place, just bend up a small pointed finger weighted down by a block of whatever, solder does not stick to it and will tolerate the heat.

[@Blondihacks]

Good tips, thank you!

[@sganzerlag]

I am really really enjoying this series on the pm research steam engine. Thank you so much for sharing this! I would love to see a bit more of your cat, Sprocket. Best regards from Brasilia, Brazil.

[@bostedtap8399]

"Brass Squeak", probably the least complained about squeak noise. New clamps look great, wooden lagging tops it out. Great vlog thanks for sharing and best regards from the UK. John Quinn.

[@matttrimboli]

I really love your content and whenever you get to an inevitable confession/realization about cost:benefit analysis you make me cackle aloud, most involuntarily. You offer a delightful vacation from reality while offering countless useful techniques. Onward!

[@jameshodgson1609]

Looks nice Quinn. Very similar to the wood lagging used on the barrels of British traction engines. These are then covered with sheet metal cladding. The lagging has to come off every 10 years for inspection and is usually replaced after this. I use 1 by 1/2 batten softwood done very like yours lots of fiddly bits for rivets, fittings and cylinder blocks etc. I use bungee cord to keep in all together. The boiler bands are very similar.

[@Mr2Xri]

You convert a simpe boiler to a piece of art!!! Many BRAVO!!!

[@50ShadesOfBeige]

Yay! Slaughtered tree chunks!!

[@petem6291]

Quinn that boiler is a work of art , little tip for you if you solder more of these blocks..News Flash your set up was very good. what you can do is flatten the solder with a hammer place it Under the block( Fluxed) the more weight on the block the better just heat it up and when the block sinks the solder pushes out the the sides your done. wipe with damp cloth and you are a rock star ..

[@Blondihacks]

Good tip!

[@joeromanak8797]

I liked the video, as is the tradition. You proved that something that works in the real world can also work in reduced scale and achieve the desired comparable effect. Good job of catching that tiny nut with the point of the scribe. That was just the way I would have done it. 😎👍👀 🌞

[@martinpanev6651]

This is awesome! I really need to do this on my boiler... I made it a few years ago and its worn out already. It is super inefficient but it works ok enough for running little engines :D Thanks for the much needed help on this :D Edit: The oddball fraction of a citroen got me laughing- Im from Europe and it didnt help but my dad being a citroen engineer did the math in his head lol

[@paveloleynikov4715]

For boiler banding... There were old story about Christmas roasted duck. Guy couldn't get whole duck, so he sew one from legs (got carried away and got six legs), accidentally got it dyed blue with food colouring... And story ended with "And I stuffed orange and some celery sticks inside it... Just because I can". I think it is excellent explanation for just about any twisted life choice.

[@pnt1035]

NOW you tell me... some time ago I bought four surprisingly expensive (in the UK) "hobby" brass strips to put banding round an octagonal box. I've just found a 4' length on that well-known auction site for less than the cost of one 12" strip. Kept putting off joining them together, but at least now I don't have to 😊 Win! 👍 Thanks!

[@plm2ajm]

Very nice job Quinn, as always.

[@dragade101]

I like the horizontal banding over the vertical. You get style points if nothing else.

[@JoshuaNicoll]

Sure the soldering isn't good, but that just shows how much you improved when you build your next one, be proud of how far you've come not where you used to be.

[@andrewdolinskiatcarpathian]

Looks fabulous. Well done. 👍😀

[@samcoote9653]

Very Nice Quinn, as someone who did lagging on some (slightly) bigger boilers for about 10 years, you did a great job! Cutouts look awesome, all lines up nice! I never actually knew mahogany was used as a lagging material traditionally so I learned something too :D

[@samcoote9653]

Also, the rubber band trick works on the real big boilers too haha, we would just use truck straps instead to hold everything together ahaha

[@quicklistmovies]

Very nice Quinn! I am really enjoying you building something that I would have loved to have when I was young! Quite excited to see the whole thing doing it's kafuffle.

[@mjm7187]

Your lagging turned out grand! An inexpensive workaround to pricey thin silver solder is hammering your silver solder quite thin and sandwiching it along with flux for an excellent bond, clamping achieved with a well placed scriber. You're an inspiration to modelers and machinists!

[@FlorentinoRebuildingCo.5644]

Very interesting video. Thank you for posting Blondi.

[@haramanggapuja]

That is plain & simple stunning! The wood looks marvelous, the brass makes it really look more like sculpture than a boiler. Really sweet work!

[@christtophek9487]

definitely the best series on saturday evening, soon on netflix. keep on boiling !

[@steampower1015]

An old timey method for cutting sheet metal is with a vise and cold chisel. Clamp the cut line at the top of the vise jaws then set the chisel so one edge bevel is level with the jaw surface. Angle the chisel some so it's just off 90 degrees to the sheet and tap away. Heck, it will even curl the cut strip so you don't have to... ;-)

[@terrytopliss9506]

Interesting job Quinn.👍👍

[@mkegadgets4380]

Boy that really turned out looking beautiful. I like the rolling of the brass with a piece of scrap and cardboard. I never thought of that I’m gonna have to try it next time. Thanks again

[@earlledoux9824]

Nice work Quinn, good attention to detail with your explanation. I never have any questions of your work. Keep up the good work. I love your videos. Cheers from Connecticut 😉

[@bruceinoz8002]

Re: dinky silver soldering jobs. Can you still get the paste made from powdered nickel silver and the flux. Just paint it on the cleaned surfaces, assemble / lightly clamp and heat as desired. It even works with "semi-stainless" steels with thin sections./ joining dissimilar metals. relative silver content can vary the "degree of difficulty" in such jobs This is a great series: very educational. Thank you for your efforts, they have brightened up my "involuntary retirement" considerably.

[@PerryRT]

02:58 - honestly had to listen to this three times before I realized you weren't saying the Americanized name for a globally popular sport 😂😂😂 Loving going back to your back catalog while I work my way through my MLA-18 kit. Thanks for all the work!

[@richardminor5401]

I love your channel!!!!!!!!! I could never do what you do but I love watching your solutions

[@georgewolf7063]

Oh! Instantly more beautiful boiler! Kinda makes me wanna build a boiler! >.> And as a jeweler, I was always taught to use cross-action tweezers, locking hemostats, and the ever-useful binding wire! (BTW, if you ever want to get mad, try re-soldering glasses frames!) XD

[@robbruno8246]

Beautiful job, nice attention to detail. I wish I had the patience to build projects like this, awesome.

[@mumblbeebee6546]

My, what a pretty boiler you have there! Love the special conversion of measurement - suitable, since you are the goddess of small hobby machining ;)

[@TheKnacklersWorkshop]

Hello Quinn, I like your approach of making non precision parts using precision methods to allow you to practice your skills… smart move… Take care. Paul,,

[@anrew1000]

I don’t know why it’s so satisfying to be one of the first people to watch a video when it’s uploaded.... but it is 😂

[@taranson3057]

If I had more time on my hands I would be the first person to watch these amazing videos 😝

[@brucematthews6417]

I'm just happy when I click "Like" and see the number jump by 1.

[@alextopfer1068]

Fancy! last time i insulated a boiler (for homebrewing) i just wrapped it in a towel Last time i was working with sheet metal on the mill I found sticking the sheet down to a sheet of plywood really helped hold it (cutting 0.5mm brass for rondel dagger guards). I used two layers of masking tape and super glue

[@rescdsk]

That's the most troublesome swell foop I've ever seen, but the end result does look amazing!

[@wi11y1960]

LOL'd on the scriber to catch the nuts. Works for me! Fiberfrax under the wood will add a greater insulation power.

[@rpavlik1]

I have to say an unrelated thank you: etched my first home circuit boards last weekend. I mostly followed your instructions, except I used cheap boards and "dry film" instead of pre-sensitized boards (which meant I could use sodium carbonate - washing soda - as the developer, removing yet another icky chemical, and could also get it cheaper, and be less worried about light since it appears to need some long wave UV - blacklight from university days). Once I realized I needed a reverse-video print in addition to being mirrored 🤦, it all worked awesome. Thanks so much for your great instructions! I can pretty much guarantee I would not have done it yet if I had to buy ferric chloride...

[@RyJones]

Thanks for the pointer on the cheese plate - I’ve been looking for one. $125 is very reasonable and will make lasering stuff easier

[@rpavlik1]

Looks great! Really smart stuff, and the fixture plate does look like a beauty.

[@mikelamuraglia5645]

That came out great

[@kennethdejardin795]

Very nice workmanship

[@Nemozoli]

It seems that I was lagging behind as I got to watch this only now. The mill and the lathe can both testify that I was otherwise engaged! Anyways, nice job! I use a mixture of air drying oils to cover woodon knife handles, it also contains tung oil (and various citrusy oils, smells fantastic!)

[@AmateurRedneckWorkshop]

Regardless of insulation value it does look good.

[@jefffair4540]

Woodworking with Quinn, Sounds like a new KZbin Channel :)

[@vicmiller7191]

That looks fantastic. What a great job. Thanks for sharing.

[@bulletproofpepper2]

yep been on the making something and my boss knows they make it but we need it yesterday. thanks for sharing!!!

[@madcatdad42]

if you lay the wood strips close together cover with thin cloth ,paint with pva and l eave to dry. you end up with a flexible sheet of lagging that you can trim and cut holes in

[@shadowmage36]

Dirty woodworker here, can confirm that this is a viable option. It's how tambors are made for roll-top desks and the like.

[@AP9575-jd]

Looks nice QD.

[@M0UAW_IO83]

I've soldered up things like the boiler band blocks, I found it worked well to squish/hammer the solder flat and then sandwich it with some flux between the parts before applying heat.

[@VoidedWarranty]

Looks very nice!

[@brucematthews6417]

Canola and walnut oils at least do cure or polymerize over time from light and heat. I found that out while running rust tests on steel in sunlight. So if you had used Canola it would have hardened to a varnish like film long before any risk of going rancid. Something to store away for a future time... I'm really enjoying your current series on going over to steam. Lots of good lessons for us beginners.

[@loupitou06fl]

Hi Quinn, I would recommend you finish both sides of the wood strips. if you leave one side unfinished and exposed to heat & humidity you have a very high chance of cracking and making the potatoes strips....

[@kadlerio]

I don't know anything about lagging, but damn if that didn't turn out looking fantastic. 😮 That mahogany took up the oil really nice. Great video as always!

[@justtim9767]

Great tip on the ceramic plate and pins, I just order a 4 X 4 one with the pins.

[@dagwood1327]

That looks very much like wood working. Those strips of mahogany will cut beautifully on the mill. It is basically an expensive router. Large hose clamps will also hold your work in place.

[@Nf6xNet]

I like your sense of humor.

[@OscarSommerbo]

I laughed way more than I am willing to admit to the opening "Nuts" joke. Also lagging is the death scream of 8 year old online players the world over.

[@phildcrow]

Dude. That looks amazing, and +1 for tung oil.

[@rlm98253]

Well done, Quin...again.

[@jeffreylehn8803]

nice job . Correct about keeping skills sharp even when it really doesn't matter .

[@dacostad]

For those small parts that aren’t exposed to a very high temp regular soft solder paste works great and requires way les heat. I use this all the time in my engines, only using silver solder when required.

[@pauls5745]

good job! looks great! ive cut thin steel sheet in to strips running a Dremel cutoff wheel along a guide, flip clamp, deburr

[@elsdp-4560]

THANK YOU...for sharing. Now that was a great idea, looks really nice.

[@burninpwder76]

looks great Quinn I like the look.....Just be careful you don't back into the boiler...We don't want you....Lagging behind :D

[@ChristopherTate]

Quinn: [doesn't say it] Me, softly: tappytaptap

[@randywl8925]

I love the part where you do precision work where it's not needed. I'm not a machinist, I'm a flooring installer. If I do a lot of apartment work where high skill is not necessary, then how well am I going to do when I'm working in a million dollar home with some difficult to work with flooring and sanding customers? I don't care who I'm working for. I do the job with the same methods every time. Do it right or let someone else do it. I can fix what they screwed up and make just as much money in half the time. 👍😁 I love your logic and it's good for subscribers to understand what you said.

[@TheLukemcdaniel]

Kinda neat how the 1/16th in comes out cleanly(ish) to 1.6mm.

[@bryandonahue8302]

Glad to see you're getting into woodworking. ;)

[@Blondihacks]

1/16th of an inch at a time.

[@anthonyrich1592]

@@Blondihacks with woodworker's tolerances? :)

[@JPGuay]

Very well done.. Patience...Patience...Patience...

[@richknudson5137]

Hi Quinn, I am surprised you couldn't find a better selection of strip brass, not counting boiler banding. Hobby Shops usually have K & S Metals displays, lots of choices. Also, on the woodworking side, the KZbinr Stumpy Nubs recently did a vid on tung oil, worth taking a look. Thanks for your work, Rich

[@smellsofbikes]

I didn't see anything in the first tranche of comments, so: jewelers often use something like a Smith LittleTorch, which has an oxyfuel flame about the size of a grain of rice, so it doesn't blow things away anywhere nearly as much. The other thing many do is use a tungsten or titanium solder pick, just a bit of wire sharp on the end with a handle, and a bunch of tiny squares of solder, like 1x1mm. (I get flat solder strip and cut it with scissors.) You point the torch at a solder bit, it balls up, you poke it with the solder pick while molten, it sticks, and then you can place it right on the joint.

[@garrithsmith799]

Wow colour me impressed :D Its really refreshing to see you work! Proper engineering, and I say that because you use proper procedures on all tasks(No shortcuts). Ive only recently seen your videos, just by browsing, and again really impressed :D Look forward to check more videos out ;D Thanks

[@xPixelationNationx]

Looks beautiful

[@johnkinnane547]

G'day Quinn that was very informative I like the lagging around the boiler, thanks Quinn regards John

[@alwaysbearded1]

Not the lagging I was thinking of. I've only dealt with the fiber type. Yours look nicer. Reminds me of all the trim work I need to do around the house.

[@DreamingBearcat]

For the clay fixtures: consider getting some potter's clay next time. Anything that says "air dry" will have other stuff in it, which is why it smelled bad and flaked. You want the stuff that's just refined dirt.

[@Blondihacks]

Good tip! I was told to use air dry, but that was not great advice.

[@Spectral_Penguin]

Even as a hobbyist model builder and cheapskate wannabe sculptor I find air dry clay to be mostly awful.

[@DreamingBearcat]

@@markfergerson2145 Oh, DEFINITELY don't use polymer clays like Sculpey and Fimo. Those are basically plastic and absolutely will not hold up to a torch. They'll probably release really really nasty fumes tool.

[@DreamingBearcat]

@@markfergerson2145 Baking won't drive off volatiles because polymer clay *is* plastic. It'll burn and release really awful stuff, same as any other plastic. You really need just clay here, or something like the special soldering clay that Rio Grande sells.

[@fredscott413]

what a cool project,thank you.

[@Miata822]

That looks beautiful. Unfortunately I use up all my hobby time watching other people's hobbies on KZbin.

[@brianrhubbard]

Looks really good.

[@WhiteWeaseI]

Wow, that lagging makes a huge difference in appearance! Went from belongs in the trash, to bold and brash ;)

[@garyhardman8369]

Beautiful Quinn.

[@hypnolobster]

Usually when lagging is happening it's anything but zen, but this was nice.

[@speedbuggy16v]

Practice makes perfect, I know I make the guy I help with chassis fab work nuts because I try to make everything perfect. But aim small miss small! Someone needs a stomp shear! or, as an alternative at least with steel and aluminum a straight edge and a razor knife. I have scored and broke a lot of trim that way, not sure if it would work in brass especially that narrow though. ETA, that plate and clamps are very cool! Beautiful work, love the channel.

[@HansFormerlyTraffer]

Very small tipped oxy acetylene torch is what jewelers use...Not a lot of force with them BUT a lot of heat.

[@KarlRosner]

That boiler is now Adorable. I cant wait to see the next one you build :).

[@ParsMaker]

Nicely done , piece of art

[@joergengeerds360]

As an alternative (and much less pleasing to the eye, but faster to install), 6-8mm thick silicone foam sheets are a great insulator (i used it on the inside of my espresso machine to insulate the boiler to get better PiD performance)

[@fredscott413]

love the machine work.