A few weeks ago when we made the video about Hot Rivets, which many of you have seen, we also made a video about flexible stay bolts. Stay bolts seem to be a wonder for many new comers to the hobby. The stay bolts video is a simple explanation of how flexible stay bolts and sleeves work. I also explain how we index the threads for tapping stay bolt holes.

If any of our videos raise questions, please send them to us or post them on this thread. We strive to watch the threads and make sure that we answer all questions. Thanks for all of the great comments on the rivet video!

Don't forget, all of you are invited to our grand opening and open house the weekend of May 17,18, and 19, 2013 at our Cheyenne, WY. facility. We will be operating a Brand New Cagney Style class D 15 inch gauge locomotive. Our shop will be open for tours and we will have some free food on Friday at 10:00 during the ribbon cutting ceremony. Hope to see all of you there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sv46LDudXg&list=UUf-wote3etYUSAD3c9SEJDw&index=1

Kindly yours,

John E. Rimmasch

wrrc.us

John, I think version 2.0 of this video would benefit from visual aids -- either pictures or an animation sequence -- while you're describing how staybolts work.

You can show things like the differential stress and bending in staybolts dramatically via that approach.

But THANK YOU for providing this, and the other videos, as information and reference.

(What,exactly, is this 'free food' going to consist of? ;-})

I plan on being there next weekend. Where are you located in Cheyenne?

Ira Schreiber
Aurora, CO

Just a note to say thanks for the video's. Have been a part of a riviting project or two and had a pretty good grasp on what flexables do, but I appreciate the videos a lot. Feel they can be useful and educational to help folks understand better on how a boiler is put together and repaired.

Do have a question about welding flexable staybolt sleaves though. In a former life I was a welder and know stick welding out of position. Was always under the impression welding vertical up was the proper method for strength and penatration. It appears that the welding was vertical down, [which I have done as well in non critical applications]. So I guess my question is, am I looking at this wrong? If not then wouldn't the weld be considered critical enough to weld vertical up? By no way am I trying to criticize or question your companies work, just trying to get a grip on the welding part in the flexable video.

Again thanks and do enjoy your videos. Have a great "Grand Opening" wish I could attend a bunch of things this coming weekend in WY. Cheers, John.

Park at the parking lots on W 15th st up from the Depot or the main parking garage on 16th st, free trolleys will run between Wasatch, the Steam shop and the Depot all weekend.

Mike Pannell

To John Risley,

Our welders are qualified in a variety of procedures. Some procedures are specific to direction of weld, others are not. In the video, you see Cody V. one of our Project Managers and one of our best welders welding in a root pass using E6011, electrode. Cody then (not seen in the video) makes what we call a "hot" or "cover" pass using E7018 and he travels upward on that pass.

The function of the weld on the flexible sleeve is nothing more than to seal the sleeve to the shell. The pressure in the boiler is only drawing the sleeve closer to the shell. As such, it is not an overly critical weld. My guys like to make these welds look great. Cody's down hand 6011 looks almost as good as his 7018 upward pass! A skilled welder can run 6011 either direction and make it look great. By preference, I elect to weld all up hand. I have guys who like to put the 7018 in down hand. So, on sleeves, I say it is welder specific.

Our shop is located at 422 West Parsley Blvd in Cheyenne. Our Grand Opening and Ribbon cutting is at 10:00 on Friday, free lunch at Noon and we will be open all weekend running our New Cagney Class D locomotive. All of you are invited, please mention you watch us on RYPN when you come over. We have special gifts for our followers.

Kindly,

JohnE.

Thanks John for confirming what I thought it probably was, sealing weld.

One of my reasons for interest in replacing flexable sleaves is at one time we had a
UP 2-8-0 where the litterily hundreds of flexables used on the firebox needed to have sleaves and caps replaced do to erosion from wet insulation and jacketing holding the dampness. From the inside of the boiler the flexable stays looked new. The outside wrapper was corroded very bad as well. We {during the 1970's} had looked into ways to try and repair this horrible situation and found no easy way to go about it and eventually the project was halted. The locomotive is now permanently displayed. It was one of the worst cases I have seen for firebox or outside wrapper corrosion. Even though that project is dead and buried I still find the work needed interesting. Again thank you for your informative posts and videos.

By the way I used to curse 6011 when I was younger as it was hard to get that nice looking weld that 7018 gives when going verticle up. But 6010/6011 is wonderful for it's intention. Have actually learned to like it depending on application. Like all things it has its proper place and function. Root pass or filling a gap it works very well. Was certified at one time {Sunstrand Corp} but it was not pressure vessel even though we actually tested some radiators we built up to 100 lbs. This was long ago. Never lost my interest in welding or pressure vessel repair. I certainly do not question your shop or your staff on what or how you do things. Just putting myself into the job and wanting to understand things better, if that makes any sense? Cheers, John.

I was looking at the location on Google Earth and zoomed in on the roundhouse. Does it have a chunk of roof gone? Can't figure out what that is on the roof.