The Home Machinist!

With the horrendous cost of brass it's time for me to start considering building a tender out of steel sheet, possibly galvanized. I have worked a lot with stainless but it's hardly an economical alternative. I've read through the archives and there doesn't appear to be a consensus on sealants. Any...

One word of warning on Shapeways, be prepared for sticker shock. My steam siphon used to be $78 to print in the bronze steel mix, and thanks to their price increases over the last two years it's now up to $150. The situation is even worse for the cone I had printed for my Radley-Hunter stack. That b...

How big is the 2.5in compared to the 1.6in? Though I put my name on the list anyway, those are nice looking safeties and the added wear resistance of the 17-4PH sounds really nice.

I have seen people run on pellets. The more successful option I've seen is scraps from local lumber related businesses. Cabinet shops usually have high quality hard woods, but I've also seen people have good luck with pallet plants and one guy even has used cutoff from a truss plant if you're ok bur...

Cass doesn’t have any oil-burners.(?) Cass Scenic Railroad? Cass doesn't currently have any oil burners, Shay 3 was and still is, though no longer on the property, and Shay 11 was when she first arrived though has since been converted to coal. That being said, Lima had two offerings on front ends f...

I have 1 and 2 myself, along with some larger versions of them and they come in so handy! Here they’re sold as water pump wrenched but they work for so much stuff. They grab so much better than channel locks for me

Hello My Friends I will be making more brake valves, probably this coming summer. There are a couple priorities ahead of them so summertime is as early as I can predict. I will probably be making 2-1/2" scale S6 independent and H6 automatic train brake valves. The H6 will be available as a str...

How do you all feel about Lifting injectors instead of the gravity fed ones? Personally I have two of Anthony's standard injectors mounted in the lifting position on my shay and they work flawlessly every time. They will lift and inject down to about 35-40psi. Though the delivery rate is significan...

Im looking to equip my shay with air train brakes but Im having a tough time finding a brake valve. Im looking to setup a double acting cylinder automatic air system on the train so I need something that can handle that, preferably with a lap position. Im on the list for one of John Kelso's valves r...

If the concern is freezing, I would worry more about the exposed plumbing and cylinders rather than the boiler. If it’s corrosion, I currently use the heater bulb in the firebox with mixed results. Im currently looking at setting up a desiccant dryer for the boiler to keep the internals bone dry eve...

We have a Ulin K27 here and it really doesn't like anything under 60ft. We have one curve here thats closer to 55ft and the mike has caused some trouble there. The problem with a locomotive like that is it likely wont derail in the curve, but it will spread the gauge badly.

I just used some 3/16in MTP checks from PM Research right before my lubricator lines go into my steam chests. They’ve yet to give me any trouble since they use an o ring seat. I’ve found metal on metal tends to leak a little at the lower pressures our cylinders are at and it takes almost no trash to...