3″ Castings – Help/Advice needed

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3″ Castings – Help/Advice needed

This topic has 5 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 22 August 2025 at 13:15 by JasonB.

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22 August 2025 at 10:03 #813441
Andy Porter 1
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@andyporter1
This is my first post so please be gentle!

I am currently building a 3″ scale Allchin and so far so good, but progress is slow. In an attempt to speed up the build I have given up the idea of scratch building all the parts and bought a crate of castings from Ebay.

Sadly when I checked them, some are indeed for a 3″ Allchin but there are a number which are not. I am too honest to sell them on until I know what they are for – it could be a combination of 2 engines or even more!

I have tried my local Model Engineering club and internet searched to no avail.

I have attached photos of the steel boiler and cylinder casting and would be grateful for any help in identifying which engine they are for….
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22 August 2025 at 12:28 #813462
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
Without any markings on that boiler and I assume no paperwork it is of little value. Even if you got the welds tested then you would not able to show material certificates so unlikely any club inspector would want to test it.
22 August 2025 at 12:38 #813465
Andy Porter 1
Participant
@andyporter1
Thanks Jason

I agree the boiler is scrap, I have a number of other parts/castings and thought the boiler dimensions might help identify the model.

Andy
22 August 2025 at 12:45 #813470
noel shelley
Participant
@noelshelley55608
Sadly I’m with Jason, without any paperwork the boiler will NOT get a certificate ! The welds look good and it may well stand a private test but without proper certificates it could only be steamed in private,ie at home. One could try to get a commercial inspection but this would be costly. There are a few boilers like this about that were built many years ago when things were different,( I have one, it’s a door stop ) the project was never finished, the builder has gone to the great boiler house in the sky and the boiler and other parts are offered for sale. Sorry. Noel.
22 August 2025 at 12:49 #813474
parovoz
Participant
@parovoz
Hmmm,

The cylinder ‘looks’ to be sort of ‘basic Burrel’ in nature. There are a lot of 3″ Burrel’s about, but it’s hard to be definitive. And the bolier…. Unfortunately….. IF there is no paperwork with it, then it really is worthless. For steel boilers to be certificated there needs to be a traceable material spec, traceable drawings, manufacturer info / certification too. This is far less of an issue for copper as ‘copper is copper’ and apart from using old plumbing pipes, it’s going to be ‘normal copper’. For steel there are a myriad of grades of material, the same for welding rods and also the skills / certification of the welder will be unknown. There are some combinations which are quite potentially lethal in terms of explosion. Copper is also more benign if it fails, steel is not… It can go Boom!

Hope that helps a little, but sorry to potentially the bearer / confirmer of bad news on the kettle.

Kindest regards.
22 August 2025 at 13:15 #813483
JasonB
Moderator
@jasonb
Diameter is a bit small for a 3″ A7 Fowler. Post a few pics of the other parts you have as there may be one that is specific to a particular engine.
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