The Home Machinist!

FYI. Here is a site that sells lots of steam/hot water related devices.

Some good information

I buy Bell & Gossett stuff for my home heating system from them.

https://www.statesupply.com

I run a small electric furnace for lost wax, and as you can see in the photo, graphite crucibles do wear down. Here is a site I buy my crucibles: https://www.riogrande.com/Product/Rio-Graphite-Crucible-for-Kerr-100-Oz-Automatic-Electro-Melt-Furnace/704037 Of course for bigger stuff I use #30 or #60 ...

Here is something of interest off of the AFS emails that I receive. Does this mean we no-longer have to depend on the Chinese or Russians for such elements that are used in all kinds of metal alloying. Should we dig up all the coal ash that was used for fill on the RR's and other places for reproces...

My Harrison VS 330TR which I bought from REM Corp. in 1994 came with an inspection booklet. Here it is, again, in case any of you want to perform such a detailed inspection. Their measurements are metric. I can only rely on the high reputations of REM and Harrison, at that time, for its authenticity...

In 1966 we bought a Jeep CJ5 and a 60" Mott Towing Flail Mower with an 18HP Wisconsin engine mounted on top. The mower shaft ran a around 3600 RPM, and you had to watch for harmonic vibrations of the shaft at certain RPM's. There were about 168 blades on the shaft, and you would sit cross-legged wit...

Here are two that I buy from. I bought 20,000 10x3/4 SS SMS screws to use as spikes on our RR, and I'm down to our last few hundred, have no idea what the price will be for 10,000 more; I may be shocked. I also bought 15,000 #2 Drive Screws to use as rivets on my Turntables project, I'm building a g...

Back when we were planing our RR we were thinking of something like 1/2" super-elevation, then we consulted with long time friend Don Angerhofer, and he suggested between 1/4" and 5/16", and that is it. We started curve #1 in 2007 with 100 foot radius, 7-5/8" gauge, and 5/16th super-elevation, as se...

I use rocks in the box! Rocks are easier to remove or add. When we bought the L3940, we thought about adding Calcium Chloride to each tire, but Kubota advises against that. Ye olde IH 300U had 400 pounds of Calcium Chloride in each tire. (Sold it for $400 shortly after the photo) Don't have a photo ...

Can't do wrong with metal benches. In the two photos below are: 1. Two of the three metal benches I rescued when the school foundry closed. I could have had them all; the rest were scrapped. Notice all the castings on the upper ledge, they are all student castings, even a "Hall Pass" hangs in the ce...

I have been dealing with Manhattan Supply Company since the early 60's, when they were only located in NY,NY, and had a rather small catalog. As MSC, several years ago they created a presence in my state, and started charging me sales tax; that's when I switched to NY based Travers Tool. Now that th...

When I was a kid in high school, we would "borrow" type metal from the school's print shop, and cast HO parts over the kitchen stove. We made the molds out of Wood Putty, the kind you can still get at many hardware stores, it worked great for making a few parts and was REAL cheap! Worth a try with ...

When I was a kid in high school, we would "borrow" type metal from the school's print shop, and cast HO parts over the kitchen stove. We made the molds out of Wood Putty, the kind you can still get at many hardware stores, it worked great for making a few parts and was REAL cheap! Worth a try with Z...