The Home Machinist!

Hey Unk, There will be no illegal "liquids" made in this boiler, I promise. Although, if I was to try and make a boiler like that, I will probably need some....John

Ed, I don't know if this is along the line of Shay book you're looking for, but I saw it on Ebay. John
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... tegory=487

Bill, Two cylinder locomotives have their drivers quartered at 90 degrees, this is because there are four "power" strokes every revolution of the driver, 360 degrees divided by four gives us 90 degrees. The Flying Scot has three cylinders, its drivers are quartered every 60 degrees, six &q...

Thanks for all the help, I don't have the cylinder cocks in yet, so I couldn't go that route. I went out and bought a small mini-mag flashlight and that made it a little better looking in the ports. I liked the idea of just positioning the valve for equal amounts of travel each way, and that seemed ...

Thanks Andy, And a happy Thanksgiving to you too! John

Hi Everyone, I'm attempting to set the valves on the Tanker project, and have a question. I've got Baker valve gear, piston valves. I'm having a little trouble looking into the "peep" holes that were drilled/tapped in the side of the valve chamber to sight in the valves, I can see the valv...

Harry, Put me down as a yes vote, I'm always looking for things....John

Hi All, In another thread, Andy Pullen and myself were talking about running-in a new locomotive to break in all the parts. We were talking about piston rings, but everything should apply. What kind of oil do you use to break in your loco's? I don't think steam oil would be a good choice for break-i...

Hi Andy, Yes I'll probably be going to Cabin Fever. When you ran-in your locomotive, was the lubricator hooked up, or did you just keep squirting oil in the cylinders? John

Hi Andy, Nice to hear from you again, I actually have the rings already, I just wasn't sure if I should use them or not. I guess from what you said about running them in, that I will go ahead and try them. How's the 3/4" scale Atlantic coming? John

Hi Everyone, I am now at a point with the Tanker project, where I am making the pistons. I was wondering if anyone had any comments on using piston rings or not. In the past, I have done it both ways some with and some without. I like the extra sealing feature of using rings, but I don't like the ex...

Good post Will, it's always nice to see/ hear what others are building. Back when I was into HO guage trains, one of my favorite sections in Model Railroader magazine was "trackside photos" I love looking at pictures of other modelers layouts/projects, and it gave me many many ideas... Any...