Re: card files
On Tue, 13 Jun 2000 06:59:31 -0700, you wrote: Phil, I read a post not to long ago that said to throw away your file combs , because they will dull your files. I, too, saw something to that effect. But the source (unknown) also suggested something that works very well to keep the file from getting clogged in the first place. Take a piece of chalk (like for the black board) and rub in over the teeth of the file. Seems to prevent cuttings from clogging (now that's FUN to say real fast!) the teeth and the inevitable galling of the surface being filed. royce Many, many years ago as a young apprentice I was taught to rub chalk on a file when filing Aluminium, to prevent clogging of the teeth. We were also taught when to use different types of files, coarse, (Called a bastard file for some reason,), medium and fine. Bye Old Mikey.
Re: radio control
On Wed, 19 Apr 2000 10:10:46 -0500, you wrote: Jim Thanks for the information. Since I've had no RC experience the first thing I did was go to the only hobby store in town that has RC stuff in quantity and ask questions. They only had two types of systems--one suitable for automobile control (which won't work for locos because both channel controls are self-centering) and one they sold for plane and boat control. (By the way, if anyone wants two high torque sail servos at 75% off, let me know. The shop must be closing them out.) I can only speak for what happens here in the UK, but I think that it's probably similar in the US. Different frequencies are reserved for different types of models. We in the live steam world use the same frequencies as the model cars, (Which we also race in 1/8th scale) The spring return on a model car is necessary as a form of ,"Dead Man's handle" for safety purposes, but obviously not wanted on live steam. The spring return is in fact a tension spring fitted to the joysticks inside the transmitter. For live steam we remove these and replace with a spring ratchet, commercially available, so the joystick stays put when you take your thumb off. We can use either 27 Mhz or 40 Mhz. 40 Mhz is preferable for us because there is less chance of ,"Glitching", i.e noise/interference from spurious sources. 40Mhz also has three channels, one which is used for the throttle, another for the reversing gear and the third for either blower, gas control or whistle. I looked at the RCS system and I don't know what your exchange rate is like but I found it rather expensive when a normal RC set will more than adequately do the job, especially in light of the great deals available from people like Hitec. I reckon the RCS system is overkill, but if you've money to burn, I suppose it doesn't matter. Bye Mike It was because neither of these systems seemed to be what I needed, that I was looking at the RCS Systems equipment. The website says their TX specifically for live steam control has 16 sidebands available, thus allowing up to 4 locos to be controlled on one frequency. That's more than enough to take care of regulator, Johnson bar and blower on just one engine. But, I don't know all the details of the system yet, other than it uses the track as the antenna, the TX uses nothing but a couple of buttons mounted on a housing the size of a cigarette pack, and it's powered by a transistor battery. If people are interested, I'll keep you posted. Victor -Original Message- From: Jim Curry [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Multiple recipients of sslivesteam [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2000 8:34 AM Subject: Re: radio control Victor: I haven't used RC in a Mikado, however, I do use it in other engines. You should only use frequencies approved for ground use - not plane frequencies. Your local hobby store that sells this stuff can set you up. You'll need micro-servers to operate in that small cab. By rights, you'll need a three channel system to control direction, steam and blower. Creative rigging of throttle linkage so that as the throttle is closed the blower is cracked open would mean you could use 2 channel RC. Have fun and let us know! Jim
Re: bear trap stack...
On Mon, 27 Mar 2000 03:27:32 -0500 (EST), you wrote: At least I think that's what it's called. Running the Ruby on blocks today I bent up a small copper tube to deflect the explosively boiling water downward and out of my face. This got me to thinking (yes, my head is still hurting.) Why not make a permanent attachment to the stack in the form of one of these 'cinder catchers' that uses a water seperator to allow the steam to continue upward while directing the water/steam oil harmlessly to the track in front of the cylinder? I need to know if anyone can direct me to good pix/drawings of one of these devices to see how I might be able to make this work. :] Trot, teh fox who's been 'kissed' one to many times by his Ruby... TrotFox \ Always remember, /\-/\ AKA Landon Solomon \ "There is a ( o o ) [EMAIL PROTECTED] \ third alternative." \./ An easy way I use is to crimp the chimmney end of the exhaust copper tube with a pair of pliers, then file a notch in the tube about an inch down, with a needle file. This should deflect any hot water on start up, down harmlessly on to the track, whilst allowing the exhaust steam to rise. It prevents any scalding and messed up paintwork. It may even enhance the, "Chuff", effect. I've tried making fancy ,"Organ - pipe", types thinking that I could tue the exhaust beat, but the above works as well as anything else. Bye Mike
Re: Drivers side
On Mon, 27 Mar 2000 13:18:14 EST, you wrote: In a message dated 00-03-26 19:36:20 EST, you write: If that is true, why did us rebels not copy the Brit Automobile right side driver design? I know this one? The British had very narrow roads with hedgerows on either side. Before the invention of the infernal horsless carrage the drivers of the wagons sat toward the inside of the road to keep from getting thier left (whip) arm snagged by an errant vine along side the road. When they went to automobile design they followed the tradition and placed the steering wheel on the right side. Believe it or not. (take it from an old Swede) Salty Government Health Warning This is a humorous reply - so laugh! It was even more complicated for the French. At one time before world war 2 they had right hand drive, yet drove on the left. Did you hear about the day the Swedes changed over from driving on the right to the left hand side. It was cars at midnight on Monday and trucks and buses at midnight on Tuesday. From an old Englishman with a Swedish surname and Viking ancestors. Bye Mike
Re: Caboose Marker Lights
On Sat, 25 Mar 2000 16:53:05 EST, Salty wrote: Maybe because I am an old sailor I should put the red on one side and the green on the other?? like on ships and airplanes?? Salty I'm an old sailor as well and the rhyme used to be: "Green to green and red to red, perfect safety go ahead." Fine if you've vessels moving in any direction, but trains run on a fixed track. What about red at the front and green at the rear. If you see a green light then you know it's moving away from you and you're safe. Vice versa for red - jump out of the way! Just my five pence worth. Bye Mikey
Re: minimum radius Climax by DJB Engineering
On Sun, 19 Mar 2000 18:49:43 +0100, you wrote: Fellow Live Steamers, A friend of mine wants to buy a class A Climax by DJB Engineering. Normally speaking this would not be a problem but the trouble is he lives under the sea, just as I do... As you can imagine, obtaining a piece of dry land is difficult so we live here like a shoal of fish, all one on top of another so to speak... The largest radius that he managed to sqeeze into his 'garden' is LGB R3 radius. Now the question is: Has anyone got one of these Climaxes or can otherwise verify whether it will run on R3??? For my friend this is critical, so if you know the answer or know someone who has this loco please let me know! Thanks! Zbigniew Netherlands. Hello why don't you telephone or FAX DJB on 01344 423256, plus whatever you need to add/change to telephone from the Netherlands to the UK? Regards mike in the UK
Re: Frank S lighting woes
I am not familiar in detail with the Frank S gas system, but: - Is your gas jet partially blocked? - Are you using Butane, Butane/Propane mix or just neat Propane? - Don't laugh, but if you have a draught problem on light up only, what about trying one of those extractor fans they use for coal and meths fired locos, which fits on top of the chimmney? They are battery powered and create a flow of air through the firetube. Perhaps you could then light it with the smoke box door cracked open. Hope this helps Mike in the UK On Sat, 18 Mar 2000 00:06:13 -0500, you wrote: Paul Huntington published some mods to be made to a K4 Aster. One of the mods was to drill a 5/16" hole in the burner mount where there was only a 3/32" hole originally. Make a plug for the hole with a 3/32" hole in it. Remove the plug when lighting the boiler and after the fire is burning well, replace the plug with the 3/32" hole in it. The larger hole increases the draft to get you going and then the original size is fine. I'm going to put a small wire (1/16") bent in a "L" shape and put a bit of Silicon tubing on it so I can easily remove and install the plug even if it's hot. I'm not sure if the FrankS will let you do this or not. Any other thoughts? Phil.P. Reading,Pa. Everrette's FrankS I have managed to get to steam up just fine. The only problem remains it is difficult to light. I have added warm, not hot, water to the fuel tender bath. I just crack open the valve, and get episodic flame flash without it lighting from the smoke stack. Same results weather or not the smoke box front is open or closed. I read that this is common until the burner warms up. So, I removed the burner and warmed it with a propane torch on gentle flame. Reinstallation resulted in immediate and easy lighting of the burner. I would rather not have to repeat this each time I light Frank S's fire for the first time! Any hints, snide comments, or incredible factual alternate methods of improving the lighting process will be read and either laughed at (some of you are very witty) or will take to heart and try to replicate your suggestions. Eugene is the place for cool wet weather
Re: Osmotor
On Tue, 29 Feb 2000 15:45:25 -0500, you wrote: At 10:51 AM 00-02-29 -0600, Pat Darby wrote: The osimotor (osmotor) is an oscillating cylinder/piston as used on the Mamod, Berkeley Crickit, Geoffbuilt Shay, BAGRS Project Loco, and many other small live steam engines. Cheddar also has them for marine applications. They have no valve mechanisms but rely of the oscillation of the cylinder to alternate between steam intake and exhaust. They are simple and cheap to manufacture. I believe osmotor is a copyrighted name for some manufacturer of the engine. The 'Osmotor' was a self contained two cylinder self starting/double acting oscillator that was produced by Tom Cooper (aka Mr.Merlin). They were intender to fit between the frames of a loco with gear drive off the main crank shaft to the axle, allowing users to gear it down to get the correct # of 'chuffs' per wheel revolution. I have no direct experience with them - I heard them described as being very wasteful of steam, but that is obviously a second hand opinion. It always seemed to me to be a good idea, but since they never 'took off', I'd assumed there were problems with the performance or production. rta, Peter Foley Hamilton, Ontario. I have one of these Osmotor beasties. I bought it second hand and gave up trying to make it work without leaking steam everywhere. Peter is spot on with his response. Tom Cooper said that he gave up making them because they were too expensive to make. Rumour has it that he copied the design from somebody else, but their poor manufacturing capabilities at Merlin couldn't guarantee the quality. He countered criticisms of the engine's leakiness by stating that they needed lots of running in. I have a copy of his original advertisement for these engines. The reason for gearing the Osmotor was to ensure slow running characteristics. The correct name for what I think Pat is describing, (Other than Merlin), is an OSCILLATOR. I use them when I build steam tram engines. Bye Mikey
does anybody know how a Steamlines smoke generator works, please?
Hello Group I have been given what I think are the parts for a Steamlines smoke generator. I think that it was fitted to the Shay. Can anybody please help with advice, or preferably a sketch or image of how it all fits together?? Thanks Mike, in the UK
