The Home Machinist!

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...

Jack, Your mention of scale silk flags for the Hudson is a nice bit of detail to be expected on a model from your shop. A few years ago I wanted some scale looking curtains for my caboose. Spoke with a teacher friend who was extremely talented with sewing. She told me to select the material and thre...

Today when most rely on CNC machines to generate such odd shapes as the female die section, one can create the desired shape with ease. Before CNC we were forced to grind form tools for such internal shapes. I would use the closest size ball mill in the lathe to rough out as much of the die as possi...

At least the locomotive in individual parts gives a peek into places where a complete locomotive would be hiding information. What gathers my attention is the box like affair on the front of the forward tube sheet. Is this some sort of throttle arrangement used in the smaller scales? Have never seen...

Jack, Lurking behind the sliding door found on the larger later high speed steamers was a steam cylinder lube oil line to supply oil mid stroke of the piston. Often times there was a choke type of valve that could be adjusted as needed for the correct flow of of steam oil. Not very often does one se...