My solder finally showed up a couple of days ago, so I got back to the Caille tank today.
I’m sure that there was a dozen things I should have done different, or
could have done better, but it was a learning process for sure.
I tinned the bronze castings, and bolted them to the tank, after cleaning
the area with muratic acid and then fluxing the area.
I then heated the castings up with a bottle torch until the tinned solder
melted, tightening up the bolts as I went, then went around the edges with
a little more solder.
Next I removed the bolts, cleaned the holes out, and went to riveting.
All the rivets were soldered on the inside of the tank.
I’m thinking the Caille factor had a better way to “buck” the rivets.
Next I soldered the side bands to the bottom, then installed the top
and soldered that. My vintage big electric soldering iron worked great
for doing all the seems.
It doesn’t look pretty and I haven’t checked for leaks yet.
I cleaned up the flux residue with lacquer thinner and tried acetone as well.
Not sure how best to make the solder joints more presentable before painting.
Was thinking about using an orbital sander. Any better ideas?
No idea on painting over solder either, nor have a clue what color I’m going to
paint the tank.
Prepare to be boarded!