Member postings for Tomek

Drawings calls for 2 holes 5/32 x40tpi at distance 3/16 from the cylinder end. It doesn't show any groves from the bore side.

Appreciate that you mention this it might save me a lot of head scratching later on trying to work out why the pump stopped.

You're right. As for the bottom holes it wouldn't be a big problem the top ones are going through the valve bore and a bit of excess adhesive could do a mess and affect valve movement.

Tap and thread it is then. Thanks for your help

Thanks Jason. I thought that thread will be a safer option. Wouldn't like to see these little pins leaving holes under pressure and flying towards my face

Hi all!

I'm currently building stuart boiler pump and got stuck on the steam chest. On attached photo you can see that some of the steam passages need to be drilled through from outside and then blanked.

What would be the best way to blank this 1/16 holes?

Steam chest is gunmetal casting. Should i turn small brass pins slightly oversize and push them in? Or should pins have small taper?

Another idea is to tap these holes 7 or 8BA and screw pins in. Would loctite be of any help and withstand the temperature?

Any suggestions please?

First of all hello to all forum members.

I'm new to the hobby with only little experience so far but after successfully completed few stationery engines i would like to try building a steam locomotive. I was searching for answer which loco would suit me the best and i think 3 1/2 gauge Juliet would be my choice. I could run it in my back garden and castings are cheap enough so even if i make major mistake while machining, replacing a casting with a new one won't hurt as much as it would with 5 inch gauge. I also decide to go for Baker's valve and yes I know Stephenson's would be much simpler but I just love the look of all moving parts on the outside, so Baker's it is

I would appreciate if some of the members could share opinions and give a bit of advice maybe.

First question would be: where to buy drawings from?

Blackgates and Reeves drawings are both 7 sheets where GLR Kennions only 6 and only half a price of the first two? Why is that? Am I missing something? Would let say Reeves drawings be more detailed than GLR?

Other thing is where to source castings from? What is your experience about service from different suppliers? Will castings from one be better quality then the others?

And finally is there any book describing building a Juliet? I know about ME articles from 1947 and i'm lucky to own some of them but there's lot of referring to previous builds like "machine part as described for Lassie" or "do something as per Lassie notes" and obviously it would be easier to buy one book than collecting dozen of magazines.

It's going to be a long time project as i can only spare few hours a week, but certainly any advice from forum members will speed up a build so any comments much appreciated.

Thanks!