The Home Machinist!

Considering just the locomotive, it depends on reliability of the compressor and if 20-30PSI is enough pressure to give the braking you want. If the compressor is temperamental or 20-30PSI isn't enough then no. The difficulty with most steam brakes is they lack a regulator making them essentially on...

I have a locomotive 30+ years old with brass sleeve compression fittings on copper tube and no reliability issue. A key with any of the tube fitting systems is alignment and support. Don't leave it to the sleeve, flare or ferrule to pull the tube into alignment with the fitting and restrain movement...

We've run a 30w oil in a half bearing on a trailing truck. A felt pad runs against the bottom half of the axle. A couple squirts of oil each run has done nicely.

I have a pair of Super Scale Consolidated safety valves. In 30 years of use one was taken apart once for something caught in the seat. I don't use any sealant. The valves go into good bushings finger tight in the morning and come out by hand after the boiler is blown down. PTFE tape quality varies. ...

As you turn the knob clockwise the plunger is depressed. Counter clockwise the pluger is released.

The original shoes engine and tender were machined from Micarta which is a fabric resin composite. They seemed to work fine until needing replacement. On the locomotive I installed cast bronze shoes and on the tender relined using McMaster 6090K21. Stripes were epoxied onto the shoes using the wheel...

I also set the stand height to match my truck tailgate at 33-1/2". It is a convenient height for me if standing or sitting on a roll around stool. It is inconvenient when working underneath on brake rigging for example but that is not very often.

Any enterprise suffers from theft. It is not unique to the postal service. The USPS has cautioned against using their blue street side boxes when mailing checks and not to let checks set in your mail box at home. Mail theft and check washing are on the rise.

As I approached mounting my drivers on their axles, Tom Briggs (an excellent machinist) suggested a shrink fit as a better option for those reasons. With the kitchen oven turned up as high as it would go and the axle ends packed in dry ice it went pretty well. One driver locked up just short of bein...

The website says 1-3 weeks.

There is a book with the Clishay build articles. Very few castings. With either you have some instructions to go with. Kozo's information from what I see is more detailed. I think the A3 has to be scaled up to 7-1/2" gage. Off the cuff they are equally accessible. There are other small locomoti...

1)What skills are most important in building a live steamer, Machining is at the core of building a locomotive. How to measure accurately. How to read a drawing. How a locomotive works. Welding for example is something many people seek help with. and what projects should I embark on to gain those s...