The Home Machinist!

What Bill said... Have you verified where the source of the leak is? There is no point in rolling tubes if you do not know where the leak is. Your posts are very vague and some might consider it "vaguebooking", to borrow a term from the #1 social media website. If you are just venting, then say so.....

Yes... Take your boiler, fill it with water, and then try to find the source of your leak. I don't know how small your boiler is, but if the leak is in a tube, you may want to use a scope to fish through your leaky tube to find the problem. WFP 535 got new flues when someone decided to get a little ...

There is also a very excellent series of building a LBSC designed "Lion" locomotive which includes a complete copper boiler build. Nigel is now on part 58 of the series and the whole thing is well worth watching, I have been following the progress for about a year now. https://youtu.be/tdBjm5D6jxY ...

Before you go crazy dumpster diving, perhaps you should review the construction book for the Raritan that you are about to receive (or have received). It will tell you what all you need. You may find that you don't need as much material as you initially thought. I agree, don't dumpster dive if you c...

Everything Leo built was top-notch. His most famous work was probably the 1" scale models of the three locomotives involved in the Great Locomotive chase of the Civil War, the General, the Texas, and the Yonah. But he also built a lot of stuff in 1 1/2" scale, 7 1/2" gauge. That's what the above ca...

Can you post a photo of a ruler next to your pops?

I suggest the Eccentric Engineer pops. He can make adapters to suit your specific size. They are actually rather compact, might be the same real estate as your pictured pop, or smaller... And they look GREAT too!

Wouldn't mind seeing a few pages of the instructions for other locomotives if you know of links to them, but I don't want to pay for them. That's a surefire way to get blacklisted from vendors/owners of prints out there... It seems that you are looking for "gimmes" and "shortcuts"... I am not sure ...

AJ Reeves and Blackgates Engineering both offer a variety of sizes, though they are in the UK. I plan to make a purchase in the next year or so for 5.5" and 6" copper tubing for projects of mine. I'm anxious to get moving on these stalled projects again.

My observation with a 1-1/2" scale CP-173 American is that it tends to be slippery because a lot of the weight is on the front truck. For a smaller gauge engine, picking one that puts as much weight as possible on the drivers may be a consideration. Yeah. I could also later re-make the frame rails ...

I think from a learning perspective, the A3 would be easiest to build as you can buy the book and follow Kozo's steps fairly closely and learn a lot along the way. If you already have machining experience, then that opens up doors to other opportunities. While the A3 will still be a high candidate a...

Bill Shields wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 17, 2020 7:54 am

actually...(as a paid author for LS)....once the series is finished, LS has no claim on them. the author can do as he wishes with the material.

copies of the actual magazine are another matter...

Thanks for the clarification. Now I know, and knowing is half the battle!

Not to play devils advocate here, but the description of the ebay listing indicates that the CD has copies of live steam magazine articles... Not scans from Mr. Tanksi's book. If the drawings in the article are the same as that in the book, then that creates a whole different mindset as I'm under th...