Hi Royce, How about using a probe to take scraping from the tubes or interior wall instde the boiler? The residue obtained could be transferred to a clean paper and then inspected under a microscope, magnifying glass, or even jeweler's loupe. The quantity and characteristics of whatever you collect on the probe could give you an idea of what's inside the boiler.
Unfortunately once past the age of bifocals it's not possible to put a boiler bushing up your own eyeball and flood the boiler's interior with light through another bushing. Won't be very clear, at least in small gauge 1 boilers. (I did check my own eyes. Looks like my shooting eye can still focus down to 7.5" with enough light. But that's about it.) Here's a wild thought: get a high-quality lens from a front door peep hole and put it against the boiler bushing. Then flood the boiler's interior with light and take a peek through the lens. These lenses are very short focal length and wide angle. Problem is finding a good quality peep hole with a good lens. Might be worth a try. Steve, Duke of Spam On 10/16/06, Keith Taylor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hi Royce, > A G.P. probably won't have and endoscope, but any ear nose and throat Dr. > will most certainly have one. When the Smithsonian Institution was > checking > on the condition of various ship models in their collections, they used an > endoscope from a local medical school to check for deterioration inside > the > holds of 200 year old Admiralty ship models. This was the first time in > 200 > years that human eyes (via the optics and cameras of the endoscope) had > viewd these portions of the models. They were amazed to find them fully > detailed and fitted with scale lading, ropes and crew quarters, even > though > in the completed models, they would never again be seen! Now that is true > dedication to modelling! > The "scope" they shove up my nose would probably fit your boiler....but > talk > about unwanted foreign matter! > Keith > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Royce Woodbury" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Small-scale live steam discussions" <[email protected]> > Sent: Monday, October 16, 2006 3:50 PM > Subject: Re: [SSLiveSteam] boiler inspection > > > > Hi Kevin. At first I thought your response was a wildly funny > > suggestion. However, seeing Keith's response, you may not have been > > kidding. The only "oscopy" apparatus with which I am familiar is the > > kind inspecting the other end of things. FAR too large to get into MY > > boiler. But I might be able to get something only 1/4" dia in through a > > bushing (I only wish the "other" apparatus was this small). > > Would my GP be likely to have an endoscopy scope ? Or would I have to > > go to an ENT or something? I'm not above asking my GP about this (he > > already KNOWS I'm a bit off) but going to a doctor that I don't know > > would just be too embarrasing. > > And Peter, does the LED inspection light have any optics (ie can it see > > around corners?)? I have enough bushings on my boiler to get light in, > > I just don't have a direct line of sight to the area I want to inspect > > (at the bottom of the vertical tube). If so, would Harbor Freight have > > an LED inspection light? > > > > Thanks for the suggestions (and the laugh). > > > > royce in SB > > > > > > Kevin Strong wrote: > > > >>Perhaps bring your boiler with you to your next endoscopy, though I'm > >>not sure if the insurance would cover it. :) > >> > >>Later, > >> > >>K > >> > >>_______________________________________________ > >>SSLiveSteam mailing list > >>Send messages: [email protected] > >>Cancel subscription: > http://postfix.45mm.com/mailman/listinfo/sslivesteam > >>Rules: http://www.45mm.com/sslivesteam_guide.html > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > > > > _______________________________________________ > > SSLiveSteam mailing list > > Send messages: [email protected] > > Cancel subscription: > http://postfix.45mm.com/mailman/listinfo/sslivesteam > > Rules: http://www.45mm.com/sslivesteam_guide.html > > > > _______________________________________________ > SSLiveSteam mailing list > Send messages: [email protected] > Cancel subscription: http://postfix.45mm.com/mailman/listinfo/sslivesteam > Rules: http://www.45mm.com/sslivesteam_guide.html > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://postfix.45mm.com/pipermail/sslivesteam/attachments/20061016/ae18cbb8/attachment.html _______________________________________________ SSLiveSteam mailing list Send messages: [email protected] Cancel subscription: http://postfix.45mm.com/mailman/listinfo/sslivesteam Rules: http://www.45mm.com/sslivesteam_guide.html
