> Does it make sense and is it possible to get rid of
> the the initial water buildup at startup by drilling a
> small hole, ie .0010 or smaller in the end of each of
> the steam chambers?
Yep, they're called cylinder drain cocks. I think it was Kevin O'Connor who
added drain cocks to his Ruby, and there was a good article about a
Roundhouse with a similar arrangement in SitG some time back. The easiest
way to accomplish it on a small-scale steamer, from what I've seen, is a
sliding bar on the bottom of the cylinder castings, that will cover/uncover the
little holes drilled into the bottom. This requires milling a flat spot or a groove
into the bottom of the casting, and from there it's just a little drilling and tapping.
regards,
-vance-
Vance Bass
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
Small-scale live steam resources: http://www.nmia.com/~vrbass
