The Home Machinist!

i would suggest as an alternative: Make the steam chest (where the post surface is) out of phosphor bronze. Make the valves out of brass note; ever see a Raritan in native form? (or am i giving away my age???) Brass on brass and nary a lubricator in site.... our steam is generally so wet that it is ...

you do not want to use glass filled anything as a slide valve surface....

do you perchance have a the drill running in reverse (CCW)?

what I do is 1> under cut the thread 2> start with die using tapered 'start' side 3> turn around and clean up to 'shoulder'. no die is fully threaded to the 'back'....generally the closest you can get is 1/2 of the pitch..otherwise the die cannot be manufactured because you do not have enough 'width...

This may seem obvious...but undercut the area to be threaded before using the die

2000 psi, being shoved back and forth by a narrow shoulder will quickly end up with a dimple and lose valve travel.

by all means try it...but don't be surprised if you lose functionality..

nah....mine are as cheap as they come made on this side of the pacific

my blocks must be softer than yours (admittedly from a cheap asian supplier)...

carbide end mills went right through the holes...

or my carbide end mills are better than yours giggle....

I put a carbide end mill through two holes in a set in a couple of hours. Granted they are cheapie blocks..but they serve the intended purpose...to lift a rotary table so that the handle clears the mill table.

purchase a set of blocks and bore out holes as needed

i have several that are in 'new' condition.

Yes, they are 40 years old but have literally never been used.

$25 + shipping (just the indicator..not all the attachments)

Be aware that this PEEK needs to be contained in a frame. You cannot push it back and forth with a spool like BvB designed...hence making a 3/4" scale pump is tough since all the necessary parts will not fit.

The recent design in LSORR is a masterpiece of ingenuity