The Home Machinist!

Jack, why not use deck screws rather than nails to hold down the ties? They hold better than nails, and are easily removed and re-positioned by using a cordless drill when required.

This is a different driver casting, not the one the OP was talking about, and a different problem altogether.

I went back and re-read your original post. At first I thought you had a cracked “spoke”, but then noticed you said “spokes”. Not sure how many are damaged, but if your repair is successful, I would consider putting a steel tire with a shrink fit on that wheel, as it would increase its strength cons...

Alco, I agree, but I have limited space to work with. I’m trying to fit the whole wye into the narrow valley along a creek bottom. I recognize that all turnouts require some short straight sections where the points and the frog are. I’m expecting that the “tail” of the wye will require an excavation...

Another method to induce draft is to use a vacuum cleaner blowing air into a Y-shaped tube that has a venturi that draws air out of the stack, somewhat like an injector or steam siphon. The advantage of this is that no smoke or hot combustion gas is drawn into the vacuum cleaner. For this to work, a...

Thanks, Tim.

Thanks. I see that Accu-tie offers a #5 frog, but who has a #4 frog?

I am planning to install a 7.5” gauge wye at the end of a dead-end branch at Eagle Point RR. The wye switch/turnout will have 50 foot radius curves diverging to the left and the right. How do I determine the proper frog number for this? I have a chart for the frog number that shows (for a normal tur...

Bill Shields wrote: ↑Fri Dec 22, 2023 2:19 pm
Question...what do you want 4 or 6" pipe for?

Pray not a boiler shell....

Having built an LE American steel boiler, I can guess the answer to this.

Suggest rotometals.com One pound is $16.00 + shipping.

Up until the 1940s or perhaps 1950s, most welding on boilers was not allowed per boiler codes. Joints and repairs were generally riveted. Even seal welding of tube sheets was not allowed until later. Only with improvements to electric arc processes and subsequent certifications of same were electric...

That bronze-ish color on the smokebox really looks good! To me, it reproduces the cylinder oil/graphite combination commonly applied to smokeboxes.