The Home Machinist!

Had good luck with this process: 1. Wash tender thorougly with Acetone. 2. Take tender to powder coating shop. Ask that it be "pre-baked" to burn off any residual oil. Then sandblast, powder coat, bake. Let the powder coating shop know that you are trying to seal the corners/rivets. They m...

Hi,
Height of the Tom Thumb boiler outer shell is 10".
Tim

Steven,
Nice work!
Are you building the original Friends version or working from Bill Shields New Tom Thumb drawings?
Tim

Zach,
Terrific! I hope you enjoy building the Tom Thumb as much as I have.

We're very willing to share advice/experiences. Bill opened a builders discussion on the LSORR forum as support to their published articles. He'll be happy to answer any questions there.
Tim

H&NERY,
We're using 5" copper for the 3/4" scale version.
Tim

Hudson,
Very nice flick!
Tim

Hi John,
Lookin' great! Where did you get the gears?
Tim

Thanks Jim,
Yes, I checked M-C, Granger and a couple of the other popular small quantity fastener shops on the web. Nothing in a 1/4x32.
I'm guessing that it would cost more in brass stock to make them than to buy them premade if available.
Tim

Hi,
Could anyone recommend a resource for finding a very small quantity of brass 1/4" x 32 tpi set screws?
Tim

Did you guys see that Friends Models just announced moving forward with the Shay wheel castings? Their website News says they're targeting later this year for delivery.
www(dot)friendsmodels.com
Tim

Hi Paperman, I went through the same decision process and still think about it! The ShayLocomotive and the LocoGear Shay are very appealing. However, at the end of the day, my first attempt is a 3/4" Kozo. Still want to build a larger loco but I have a lot to learn about machining and live stea...

Thanks John,
Just sent an inquiry to the Curatorial Division. Will share any response.
Tim