I got a gallon can of good steam oil for free also. By showing the supplier what I had that needed real steam oil (with tallow) he just got a gallon can and gave it to me. (After calling in his staff to look at my 3/4 inch scale engine.) If you are in to constructing your own equipment or shop work take along some samples of what you do and many places will give you small amounts of material or valuable advice. (Even access to some shops "scrap pile" can be rewarding.) A good read for any model engineer or mechanic is "Trustee from the Tool Room" by Nevil Shute (sometimes listed under the writer's nom-de-plume, "Nevil Norway" ) The plot shows how a model builder traveled around the world by showing and demonstrating some of his models. We can use some of his techniques to find small amounts of material where if we went through commercial channels we may end up buying 20 feet of some pipe or tube when we needed six inches or less. A case in point, This year when I went to put the annual hydro test on "Virginia's" boiler I couldn't raise pressure with the tender truck. After some frustration I found the gauge glass was cracked. In earlier days that would be no problem to find 5/8 inch pryex tube. I would just go to the chemical laboratory down the hall and ask if they could spare a few inches of tube. Never any problem (sometimes in their trash can) but in looking on the net now I would have to buy 50 or 100 feet of tubing and pay some fantastic amount for shipping fragile material. (Cole's Power Models came through, thank you -- this is a free plug) John Meacham Littlerock, California 12 inch Atlas lathe, Mini-mill, band saw and a rusty file.
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