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just a note about post 23 (Swifty) on dishwasher powder : the degreasing power comes from the enzymes (from bacterial origin) included in those powders in addition to detergents, lipase that digests lipids and protease for proteins. This is Biotech, not chemistry. It is not recommanded to use...

I do often steel blackening by diping in oil, I use it for protection or just as decorative mean. You can easyly obtain most of the coulours shown on the pretty chart above, but they change rapidely without a dedicated oven. But of course, unwanted effects on hardness may occurs with carbon...

I did get your explanation, I already seen similar set-up in model steamers, in fact it is mandatory here (I believe) to have one during steam meetings, to protect the pond for oil traces...Up to now, i'm not impress by the efficiency, It is true that model engineers are not stingy with oil...

Hi Tony, very nice boiler, thanks for sharing the built. I wonder why the exhaust pipes are lagged with insulating (?) material the white stuff in fact...I would have expected the opposite, cooling the exhaust pipes to condense steam (and oil) ! Cheers

Two days ago, I was doing some repairs on electric Hornby locos (yes tinplate toys I confess) , the sparks produced by the transfomer (20V AC, 20W) easily labeled the surface of most of the pieces of metal I touched. I did a quick test, and in fact, it was not at all easy to obtain a continuous...

I do have many bottoming tap, even if one is enough !

Hi, Without knowing how the reverse command links are arranged, it is difficult to fix it! I'm pretty sure that the reversing valve is not guilty, most probably some sliping in the links or a bent link hinders the valve to be fully moved. post a picture showing this part of the machine Cheers

This lovely collection of engine reminds me the style of blue prints of steam engines and pumps By TW Geary that I've seen in "Workshop Masters and their Projects...". A selection of old papers on model engineering, dating between WWI & WWII mostly, and published in 12 issues between nov 1989 &...

May be I'm wrong, but on this loco the backward run is obtained through a exchange of the steam distribution between admission and exhaust in the piston valve. Either the reversing valve or the reversing lever is not fully working, and stay blocked midway while reversing, not too hard to fix I...

An advice that was given to me recently (ie not yet tested) is to put a small copper wire into the gauge glass, to limit the blocking by air bubbles while filling the boiler. Too sad for this little loco...hey, only one boiler is required, you do not have to do a batch!

awesome thread for a great build. I find that it is always difficult to keep an homogenous level of finishing on every parts, the museum touch. The wood between metal looks smart, is it made of oak ? it looks also whitened (limed ?) or is it the photographs ?

Yes, you have to remove this strip, and make others saw cuts to allow some bending upon tightening the hex bolt. It was also far too stiff on my own lathe, and after 2 more cuts, the clamping is now functional. Hey, its chinese stuff, and needs a lot of tuning !

Great thread Tony, everything seems so easy while reading it. thanks to share. By the way, amongst many, a company such as Regner uses brass for steam fittings, for bushes and even for boilers ! I would be very surprised if a club or a society refuses such high quality products during a show...

why not this one

beautiful, yes conical bearings are not easy to master, so difficult to get the required free movement without too much play...congratulations

I sold on Ebay France a few months ago a small steam engine, the final bid was 360 €, the purchaser, a British, sold it the following month on Ebay UK, with a winning bid of £ 544 , ie the double of the first! this guy, a true steam buff very active in forum and steam meeting knew he could...

How come you did not already built a flame sucker? There is nothing more rewarding for such a small number of parts! They are so funny to watch and listen too. the two best mine have cast iron piston and steel cylinder, they run fairly well but lots of corrosion problems. Don’t build...

too short a rod also increases the rod angularity, making the symetry of the steam distribution and thrust on both side of the piston difficult to maintain for a double acting engine. this effect vanishes practically for a rod/stroke ratio above 5

Blueing or other coloring is an option, somewhat similar to ancien clocks or scientific aparatus, with blued screws. yes, I took some pictures in the museum, but the guards are not very supportive, in addition, many models are under glass. This steam engine is not too different from yours, I...

I did recently a visit in an engineering museum in Paris, "Conservatoire des arts et métiers " (academy of arts and crafts) in Paris, where lies a large collection of historic engines, real and model, very few are painted in fact, just a few touch of black on cylinder laging or some cast...