steamman
Private
- Joined
- May 26, 2020
- Location
- Columbus, Ga
Best Friend of Charleston--looks like it was riveted together. Metal rivets go back to the bronze age so was no new invention. Metal rivets had a head and shaft the rivet was heated before use to white hot and was put into the hole between to pieces of metal. One man held the head in place with a bar of metal while the man on the other side hammered the other side until it mushroomed flat against the other side. Rivets would not be replaced until the introduction of high strength bolts in the 1950s.
I see a lot of pieces in this boiler. IMHO some this was due to the lack of wide rolled steel. Some due to the design of the vertical boiler.
A consideration of boiler design is that because the boiler cycles between cold, heating up, hot, cooling down and back to cold, the joints must be caulked with a caulking chisel, hammering between the joints until the metal deformed to seal the joint. This would not change until nearly the end of steam locomotives when welding was used to seal the joints.
I see a lot of pieces in this boiler. IMHO some this was due to the lack of wide rolled steel. Some due to the design of the vertical boiler.
A consideration of boiler design is that because the boiler cycles between cold, heating up, hot, cooling down and back to cold, the joints must be caulked with a caulking chisel, hammering between the joints until the metal deformed to seal the joint. This would not change until nearly the end of steam locomotives when welding was used to seal the joints.