The Home Machinist!

Notes from the ASME high pressure stationary boiler code: § 14-9.18 Gage cocks. (a) Each boiler shall have three or more gage cocks located within the visible length of the water glass, except when the boiler has two water glasses located on the same horizontal lines. (b) Boilers not over 36 inches ...

The petcocks are the backup for the boiler water level check. Sight glasses can be unreliable in dirty conditions. Hence there should always be a blow down on the site glass to clean it and the boiler tappings out. A plugged top or bottom tapping will give a false reading on the sight glass.

The AMES website is still up and running. Order form is to Godshaw's address. Note the price list is out date but they will notify of any price increases at order.

http://www.americanmodeleng.com/id41.html

If you can get Coal from the Pocahontas coal seam, it is usually some of the best soft coal available. High BTU content and Low volatile content. This means hot fires with less smoke. Only thing the US Navy would buy when ships were coal fired. No one else could meet the specifications. Pocahontas #...

3/8" OD hard copper is not a normal plumbing copper size but is used readily in refrigeration. Check with a supplier that deals in refrigeration supplies. I have bought ACR hard copper for refrigeration use. Basically ACR is type L that has been cleaned and capped with a dry nitrogen purge. I w...

Here is another supplier that ships:

http://www.reboysupply.com/coal.htm

The problem with coal is the shipping. It can get expensive depending on how much and where you have to ship it.

I burned anthracite for a few year in a house I owned and did a lot of research before I installed a coal boiler. Here are the sizes for anthracite: Barley 3/16 X 3/32 Coarse Sand Rice 5/16 X 3/16 Pencil Eraser Buckwheat(Buck) 9/16 X 5/16 Dime Pea 13/16 X 9/16 Quarter Chestnut(Nut) 1-5/8 X 13/16 Gol...

There are more variables than what you are figuring. Find out what pressure the burners you bought are designed to run on. For instance , a orifice made with a #70 drill bit will pass 5470 BTUH of propane at 14" WC pressure (1/2 psi). At 5 psi, the same hole will pass over 19,000 BTUH of propan...

Finger Lakes Live Steamers has a few switches with remote operators to allow an engineer to throw a switch without getting off of the locomotive. They were designed and built by Hank M., who is a club member. They have a pulley at the bottom that pulls cables through a conduit. Stops on the stand pr...

I have purchased bolts and nuts for other purposes from Mutual Screw. Their prices seem as good as anybody and have quick service. 18-8 stainless is the same composition as 304 but not as refined. Like buying gold plated screws. 410 is not a corrosion resistant but more cost effective but still 4x t...

I have a 1" little engines camelback. I burned soft coal from the Pocahontas #3 vein and loved it. It came to the right size and did not need re-work. Try a blacksmith supply for coal sources. Here is where I bought my coal: http://www.reboysupply.com/coal.htm Penn coal offers soft coal from th...

In 1949, Diesels were still the new kid on the block. There just wasn't the fan base yet. Was it really an intent to exclude or simply an effort to ensure standards in the Hobby so all could enjoy? What is really in a name anyhow? While some purist names exist, I have been to different "Rod and...