Office of Steam Forum for Model & Toy Steam Gas & Hot Air Engines

Thanks for the kind words. I've been doing this kind of work for a long time, so I've accumulated a lot of tricks and tools.

On the insulators, I've lately gotten away from the Garolite G-7 material, in favor of PTFE (Teflon). The G-7 material is brittle, weak, and abrasive, and has a maximum temperature of 425 degrees. The PTFE is non-brittle, abrasion resistant, machines beautifully, and has a max temp of 500 degrees. It's also good for making hi-temp seals, like sealing washers for boiler caps.