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Terry, Your Merlin has been, and continues to be absolutely the most awesome build I have ever seen. Congratulations! However, as one who has seen a lot of real engine failures, your comments on coolant leaks reminded me of a model engine crankshaft I had to remake due to a head gasket failure...

Gordon, Get a compression gauge that has a check valve in it meant to hold the highest reading. Jeff

Gordon, I will try to give you a few things to work on. First I would make sure you can make gaskets that seal 100%. I make a die out of two pieces of .125" aluminum flat stock bolted together. Make the bore hole through both pieces and drill the bolt and water passage holes through with a close...

Niels, My video skills are poor as evidenced by the few Youtube video's that I have done (Bruce- MacBeth electric plant, Bates & Edmonds electric plant, and the Titan 50 hp). I have never taken to time to improve them as there so many other interesting things I would rather be doing. If I do a...

Niels, Propane is a great model engine fuel and I use it on all of my other model engines. The tandem double acting Snow engine, however, requires cylinder, piston rod bushing, and piston rod seal lubrication not easily delivered with propane. Point lubrication of these places isn't feasible in...

Mike, There is fuel drop out in the intake manifold of any liquid fueled engine. In most engine intake manifolds this condensate drop out is flushed through the manifold or re-vaporized by heat. In the original Snow manifold design flushing through is not possible due to the upward travel in the...

Kadora, TonyM has enumerated the problems with slow speed model engines rather completely. I don't think it is possible to duplicate real slow speed engine flywheel performance in any scale model engine, or the friction level, or the breathing performance of the full scale engine. Realistically...

There is a multi-part article in the Model Engineer's Workshop magazine with the above title. The first part is in the current May 2017 issue #254 and covers fuels, torches, harths, etc. MEW is available in most Barnes & Noble bookstores. Jeff

The Snow tandem double acting gas model engine designed by Doug Kelley is a classic among model engines. It is a bit different and as a result attracts attention at model engineering shows. It is a long build requiring attention to squareness and...

Piston_Broke For future reference you must really clean your metal surfaces prior to any plating. By that I mean a pickle like citric acid (canning section of food market) which is cheaper and just as effective as sulfuric acid. Wire brush parts to make sure all oxide has been removed and pickle...

Brian, To run an IC engine on propane I highly suggest you build one according to Jerry Howell's plans. Use it with a Weber "Go Anywhere" portable gas grill LP bottle regulator as show here http://www.model-engine-plans.com/engineplans/bookshelf/demandvalve.htm

Mark, O-rings work on the Snow, however, you will need a very smooth polished cylinder to get any life out of them. I would encourage you to stick with the cast iron rings. They get better with use, but O-rings don't. An O-ring replacement is a big job on the Snow. 3 and 4 cylinders are...

Mark, You have done a beautiful job on your Snow so far. The starting disappointment is a bummer, but it happens more often than not in this hobby especially on an engine as complicated as the Snow. A slight break from your Snow project is a good idea. Does your flywheel have any compression...

Evan, I agree with Steve on the DRO. I have had one on my Sieg X3 for about 10 years. Couldn't live without it now. I decided to get my PM 1127 lathe with a DRO also. After 4 years use I'm glad I got the lathe DRO. These smaller machines don't normally have a direct read cross feed dial. If you...

Terry, I can't say it any better than has already been said.....OUTSTANDING WORK. In the future you can find more color options and much lower prices on Gun Kote direct from kgcoatings.com. I have used it for many years and it adheres to brass and aluminum better than any other finish. Great...

I can't vouch for their milling machines, but I have had one of their 11'' lathes for 4 years without any problems or issues. I did change out the motor speed control to get an electronic brake feature. The variable speed DC motor, and 1.5" spindle bore have come in handy many times. I did not...

Steve, I have never built a flame eater before, but I intend to build one in the near future. If you use a cast iron cylinder and piston do you run it dry, or is any type of cylinder lubricant used? I see you use a cylinder lubricator, but I don't see any oil in it. How close do you fit the...

Very nice looking and an exceptionally good running engine. Could you tell me how the connecting rod bushings are lubricated? Jeff

Hopper, My X3 has been an excellent small-medium sized mill drill for my needs. I have a small shop and it fits nicely, yet it has been a very capable mill for my model engine hobby work. So far, I have had no problems with the X3. I have seldom had need of a larger mill for anything I have...

When I purchased my X3 mill drill 10 years ago I was unhappy with the lack of a spindle lock. I came up this spindle lock idea and it has worked well through a lot of use. It really speeds up tool changes. It involves a simple spring loaded brass locking pin held in by palm pressure to lock the...