The Home Machinist!

Green coke is also known as uncalcined coke...which is what comes out of the bottom of the distillation towers BEFORE it is put back in to remove all of the volital material. You can Google search it.. .it is readily combustible as opposed to blast furnace coke which is pure carbon and does not bur...

I believe the other reason for beading over the end of the steel tubes was to increase the contact area of the tube end with the tube sheet, to keep the end of the tube from overheating on the firebox end. Seal welding also helps with this. Since copper tubes have much greater heat conductivity than...

Good luck!

Another suggestion: buy one of the inexpensive ultrasonic thickness testers available on the internet, and check the thickness of the firebox sheets. This can be done from the inside of the firebox. Generally, the most vulnerable areas are the crown sheet (top of the firebox) and the side sheets rig...

I have a friend who has a short oval track in the Hattiesburg area, and another live steam friend in Clinton, but I know of no club tracks in Mississippi. Have you been to Eagle Point RR near Chattanooga? Our Spring Meet will be April 25-28.

Re. white lead, if you can find an old tube of artist's oil pigment labeled white lead, that's probably what it is. I've got one that is perhaps 30 years old and have used it for lubing centers and it seems to work. Go to Amazon, and search for "Cremnitz White". You will get several types...

Another way of explaining this is that the rail bender/roller is flexing the rail beyond its “yield” point, so that the rail will remain curved while in a relaxed state. Rail can be flexed, or forced into a curve, but unless it is deformed beyond its yield point, it will be like a spring, always rea...

Would help if you put the size of the gears you need. Assume a 1:2 reduction?

I don’t think there is anything special about these gears. Unlike the skewed gears on a Climax, they are just bevel gears with straight teeth. Plus only two sets are needed on a two-truck loco (whereas you need four for Shay). How much are they from Boston Gear?

The “foot warmer” valve is a new one for me!

Jack, this is a great sermon on the dynamics of human nature and curiosity, and the inspiration and appreciation thereof!

Thanks. With reference to the traditional X,Y coordinate plane and your diagram, the scissor wye would reduce the “horizontal” or X-axis space required, but in my case it is the “vertical” or Y-axis space that is limited. I’ve also seen examples of a really compact wye that uses multiple crossings a...