The Home Machinist!

At one time Barry Hauge of Superscale was experimenting with 1.5 scale brake heads and brake shoe castings. It was one of many experimental projects he worked on that for whatever reason never did reach his catalog offerings. I was able to purchase a set of the experimental castings from him. Not su...

How close is this Fulton design to the Eureka of Dan Markoff?

Front end relationships are important for decent operation and ease of steam production. There are the textbook dimensions that some try to adhere to and then there are dimensions that although not textbook in nature, seem to get the job done. The big issue seems to be the correct blast nozzle diame...

Jack, The pins for the combination lever/union link joint feature some nice little slotted washer nuts. Including the washer with the nut is a rather nice detail that is much appreciated in my shop. I am curious as to what angle was used to create the taper on the outer face of the washer. It would ...

Here is a rare image of the #21 found in the archives of the Denver Public Library that is poorly documented, which makes it hard to find unless by accident. Enjoy.

What sort of things did she make from Barry's parts? I have never heard of her doing this but would not be surprised that she did do such things.

Any photos of her seldom seen work?

Jack, Truly amazing how the plasticizer material makes the mix conform to all of the shapes so nicely. Long ago the SP did all kinds of concrete castings with lettering and dates in their bridges, culverts and tunnel entrances. Often times if it was a big project, they got the rails in the sunset mo...

Jack, In 3/4 inch scale straight pins should work just fine. Not much weight to deal with. A couple of years ago I was tasked with assembly of a full size Baldwin bell. The shaft had been removed and replaced with drill rod as it was worn out from 90 years of use. I had to drill and taper ream the y...

In most cases one wants to have two separate valves to maintain the best control of their oil firing. One valve for the blower which will vary depending on the pressure in the boiler and the pressure needed on the gauge. The atomizer air/steam supply valve is often a fine thread stem for better cont...

Rodents have teeth that continue to grow all their life. If they do not chew on something of substance, the teeth are not kept worn down and once the teeth become too long, they can no longer bite, eat and their life is then terminal. Chewing on tough things is a way of survival for rodents. Biologi...

Disinfecting the well is only part of the battle. Keeping the water in the system constantly moving is another part of the game plan to eliminate stagnant conditions and possible algae build up in the dead areas of the system. Most municipal water systems are designed in a circular fashion so the wa...

Used to be that machine tooling and measurement tools sold real well at our local live steam club meets. Over the past ten years, the vendors have shrunken to one or two at best. More interesting was a conversation with one of the sellers at a recent meet. He had his usual compliment of items for sa...