You mention waiting until later to fit the tiny detail parts. I'd recommend doing them as soon as possible. The little pieces that go through the top of the firebox to represent the clamped ends of the bands are quite easy to do, but aligning the washout plugs and clamping them with, say, an aluminium hairgrip, can be quite tricky. In fact, it would have been easier to add these when the firebox was bent to shape but not yet fully soldered to the formers.

I'm also a little suprised to see you soldering the cab front to the back of the smokebox at this stage. Is this what the instructions suggest? I would have thought it would be better to erect the cab on the footplate then tack the smokebox or even the complete smokebox and boiler onto the cab.

I know everyone seems to have a rolling mill these days but you really don't need them to roll boilers. I made my first boiler with a piece of wooden dowel rolling it on a carpet. Since then I've used a length of silver steel rod (10 or 12mm diameter is fine for most small boilers) and rolling on a mouse mat. Taper boilers need a bit of practice but, essentially, it's just a matter of applying a little more force at the narrow end as you roll.

Nick

I agree with the points Nick has made.

I 'discovered' the washout plug problem a few years ago when building a Finney Dean Goods. To help get the heat in the right place I bent the end of a soldering iron bit to about 45 degrees which did make access a bit easier. Recently I've been building a Mitchell 517 and forgot about the problem. Not only are the Mitchell washout plugs much smaller than the Finney ones but clamping was even more trickey with the side tanks in place.

Old scrap printers can be a good source of rolling rods if you know anyone who is chucking one out. Good luck with the rolling.

Nick