The Home Machinist!

Some years ago, I bought a quantity of regular 4140, before I learned about the 4140HT, and still have it on hand. Guess it will make nice axles.

The 4140 steel is also available in a pre-hardened state, which is machinable with hss and would avoid the need for subsequent heat treatment.

There seems to be two camps here, with diametrically opposed opinions. Demulsibility (readily separates oil and water) is the exact opposite of emulsibility (oil & water easily mixes together.) I thought the whole idea of a displacement lubricator was that the incoming steam would condense in th...

My understanding is that this type lubricator should only be used with non-emulsifying oil (?)

Back to back dimensions are concerned with track and switch clearances. With no flange, the only issues are with the chassis, rods and valve gear, right? unless the track has guided frogs :) A guided frog (AKA "self-guarded frog") would be a good reason for the extra width on blind driver...

The best type of ball valve for throttling applications would theoretically be a v-ball valve. I have found manufacturers of such valves, but not a retail source. Does anyone have a suggestion?

Soot n' Cinders wrote: ↑Thu Nov 23, 2023 8:30 am Only thing is forming stainless and tightening down the compression ferule is a lot harder with stainless than standard copper tube and brass fittings.

Is there any reason not to use a brass ferrule in a stainless compression fitting?

I've noticed copper tubing has a limited lifespan in a smokebox, particularly with coal burners. It makes a big difference whether the copper tubing is directly in line with the combustion gas flow through the tubes, or off to the side. The cinders come through the fire tubes at a pretty good veloc...

There is a wealth of information in old editions of the Locomotive Dictionary and Locomotive Cyclopedia, which were periodicals issued every three or four years, and on-line copies of these books can be found on the internet. The problem is that appliances such as headlights were proprietary designs...

Already gift-wrapped for Christmas!

Also depends on the type of valve gear. With Stephenson’s valve gear, you need to get in between the frames. With Walschearts or Baker, everything is on the outside.

I had a turn at running Charlie’s engine again. He really got the boiler design right. This boiler has a very deep firebox and a large grate area for the size of the cylinders, compared to other steamers. It steams well on wood, good coal, or bad coal, and very little use of the blower is required. ...