Another small step forwards with my steam-wagon.
I spent the day lagging the boiler.


The string is sisal garden twine, more likely to withstand the heat than plastic cord.
I am not sure what the matting is, only that I bought it from EKP Supplies. I have not yet obtained the sheet-steel for the covers but the odd shape will necessitate fairly involved developments for them, and practice with cardboard or some old galvanised sheet I have.
The two black crinolines on the barrel, one close up to the smokebox, are of thick plywood liberally treated with preservative. How well they will survive remains to be seen… I realised a problem when making them. The smokebox, a slice of standard steel pipe, is significantly larger than the boiler barrel, in fact more than an inch larger diameter than the vertical outer firebox, and this would make the cladding very awkward unless I fit a reducer. This is in the profile of the forward crinoline, but it does not show in the photo.
Yes I know the injector is at a very odd angle. I have now set it right!
The creamy-coloured disc on top is part of a special boiler-lifting cradle, here used to support the flanged sheet-steel, lower cladding support ring around the bottom of the firebox while that is disconnected from the top cladding cover. Both components are spun, using a chunky bronze (or copper?) bar held in the tool-holder as the pusher.
The chassis’ large red plate is a bit preliminary but it or a replacement will become part of the transmission-gear frame.
I found an oddity on the front wheels yesterday, only (harrumph, lots of ) years after making them. The hub in one is drilled and tapped to take, eventually, a Stauffer-type grease-cup. The other should be, and isn’t! I have no idea how I managed to miss that, but it cannot now be provided in the same way. It means the plain bearing can be lubricated only by oiling the outsides and hoping some will penetrate the bearing; but I might be able to remove the wheel and drill a diagonal oil-hole.