The Home Machinist!

To answer Harold's question of "How did either of them become a standard?", one needs to understand what things were back in say, 1880. There were commercial producers of designs and castings in 1880 and earlier, as well as lone hands beavering away in relative isolation with little or no communicat...

That's a beautiful model. I know there is 5" gauge in Canada, Ottawa Valley LS, Alberta MES, BCSME, Frontenac, Montreal LS, Saskatoon MES, and Vancouver Island LS to name several. In England (and Australia) 5"ga supplanted 3.5"ga as the most popular gauge a couple of decades ago, so this loco would ...

There are a couple of old-line suppliers I miss . . Special Shapes is one, and Northeastern Scale Models (milled wood shapes.)

I'll be interested to hear if you get a response from K&S. My guess is their angle will be brake metal (bent) rather than milled.

If this was a home foundry situation I could certainly understand, I'd be looking for rotors too, but one of the first things my first mentor (who spent his entire life in aero tool & die) told me was to avoid material of unknown origin and composition. It might be cheaper (or free) but it may not d...

Thanks . . . I like that logo on your shirt.

Interesting project, what grate area did you end up with?

Well, they typically contract with the seller to conduct the sale, for a percentage of the take, (the way it used to be) and then impose the "Buyer's Premium" on the buyers . . . a double dip.

Auctions now commonly impose a "Buyer's Premium" of 10%-15% (to the buyer) on the gavel price, thus taking a commission on both the buyer AND the seller. It might be 20% by now.

A few years ago I helped the family (all daughters) dispose of my long-time friend and mentor's extensive workshop. What an ordeal that was, but the girls received far more than they ever dreamed it would be worth, considering they almost accepted an offer of $500 to essentially "Clear all that junk...

Thanks for passing that along.
R.I.P. Jesse

March 10th . . . #576 pausing during its main rods-off tow across town to its final location for rebuilding. It spent most of the previous day on public display at Union Station Nashville. The information feed has gone relatively quiet for the moment as preparations for the major rebuild get going i...

A boxed set Myford #20/065 lever-operated collet chuck with 19 collets in the following diameters: (Hardinge) - 3/32", 1/8", 5/32", 3/16", 7/32", 9/32", 5/16", 11/32"(2), 3/8", 13/32", 7/16", 15/32", 1/2", 9/16", 19/32", 5/8". (No Name) - 1/16", 7/32", 1/4". This attachment is for Myford "7" series ...