Tonight I started to assemble the excellent CMP Shops Bessemer Converter Kits. I am building both converters simultaneously. The castings are pretty clean overall and only a little bit of sanding is needed. The assembly of these kits aren't complicated at all and the instructions are good, although, I changed a few minor things. One change is that I am using Epoxy instead of CA glue. A presenter at last year's Valley Forge Prototype Meet made a good case for epoxy over CA, notably the longer set time. This allows you to position things better. Plus, five minutes goes pretty fast. On top of this, the bond is much stronger and the epoxy can be sanded easily. The vessel is the first assembly item to deal with. Basically, the bottom and top are glued on, taking care to line up the clamp brackets and to center the spout. Next, the bar clamps are cut from their spues and glued to their respective brackets on the converter bottom and side. After the clamps you need to cut the styrene rod material to fit and resemble the bolts on the upper sides of the vessel.
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