The Home Machinist!

I was postulating about the same amount on another board....$200k at LEAST, if you do a lot of the work yourself in a shop so equipped. I think it might be desirable to chuck the boiler and have a new one made to current FRA specs, which is where most of the money would go. In any case, you should h...

I've found that lots of cutting oil and very sharp tools are best for cold rolled. It's a night and day difference the sharpness of the tool has on the finish. Not sure what size your machines are, but my little 9x13 lathe has a lot less rigidity than a larger lathe, so I have to take it easy, not t...

For someone who is new to machining, I suppose it was a good introductory challenge. The shiny wheels are now oiled up and put away, awaiting the axles, which ARE stainless. :) The use of stainless can prove to be troublesome as well, although for very different reasons. As you alluded, it is nice ...

I had the misfortune of following Kozo's guidelines and used mild cold rolled steel for the tender wheels on the A3. If I had to do it all over (and several A3 builders agree with me) I'd use stainless or some other free machining steel as mentioned. I did get a very highly polished finish on the co...

Ok...so full sized 0-4-0 for around $50k, or 1/8 scale 2-10-4 for the same price. ( http://www.discoverlivesteam.com/forsale/1_2-10-4/index.htm ) Granted, the smaller one is 'ready to run' ;) Didn't the guy who owned the Colorado Railroad museum complain about paying more for a brass model of his st...

That'd be my guess. They've been actively advertising on Discover Live Steam recently so it's likely a temporary situation.

I'm a huge fan of vinyl. And you can either do solid vinyl colors or inkjet-on-vinyl as others have mentioned. Vinyl looks great and lasts a long time outdoors. Vinyl cutters have come way down in price, with small tabletop ones available for only a few hundred dollars, which would be suitable for a...

Some folks are having trouble playing the Vuze hi def files. They are now changing the file format so you pretty much need to play it in their player. (.mkv files) Assuming you've completed the download of the clip, in the Azureus client, click on "Library" below the logo in the upper left...

The videos are now up, I have modified the original post with the links. See above.

--Mike

There was a small meet this weekend at Bill Semerau's MG&W near Pearblossom, CA. (The subject of this earlier thread: http://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/viewtopic.php?t=76608 ) Thanks to Pennsyfan for showing us around and giving us numerous enjoyable trips up the hill, and Bill for hosting the...

The Machining test is pretty much as simple as it gets...we give our applicants here a bunch of nasty inside machine work to perform...because that's what they're gonna be doing. Heh. The only part that doesn't sound fun is the hint of annoying bereauocracy within. Like Bill said on another forum..b...

Do let us know how we can see that when it's done.

--Mike

P.S. looks like the average model railroader demographic endures!