After breaking two pipe ends while reinstalling the mounting plate for the Unit Adding valve, I decided that soldering in new ends would be easier than trying to get a flaring tool into the tight spots under the Monotype caster’s table.
I used my lathe again to thread some spare pipe ends to fit the mounting hardware, and bent and cut them to match the broken pieces I had cut out from the caster. I tinned the ends that were to be soldered to make the solder job a bit easier. I also cut two short pieces of ¼″ soft copper tubing to make connectors. These were a looser fit that I would have liked, but still close enough for a solder joint to work. In retrospect I probably could have used by lathe to swage the tubing to the correct inside diameter.
I cleaned and fluxed the pipes to be soldered, installed the new pipe ends into the valve mounting plate, and slipped my makeshift couplings into position. I soldered the couplings using a small butane torch and finished reinstalling the valve mounting plate and the dummy valve.
You can see the finished solder joints and below and to the right of each the flare couplings that I used to splice in the original pipe repairs I had done.
The Unit Adding dummy valve reinstalled on its mounting plate
There are still two valves left to do: the Quadding & Centering valve and the pneumatic mould signalling valve. I hope I can get them done with no further broken pipe ends!
I edited this item to replace an out-of-focus photo.