[Pete Thornton]

I was wandering around my local Ikea this am, and found a 'spatter screen' near the pots and pans, with a fairly tight mesh (~40/inch) claiming to be made of stainless steel.  And the best news: $2.99   /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/w00t.gif  I have to thank Royce of Quisenberry Station who suggested these as a good source of mesh.

www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10112530

 

[mocrownsteam]

Pete,

Small Parts in Florida carry the SS mesh. You can buy small quantities, a little pricey, but great service.

Mike McCormack
Hudson, Massachusetts

 

[Bill4373]

www.mcmaster-carr.com        get an 80 mesh   comes in 6" x 12" or 12" x 12".  Price is reasonable so is shipping but it'll come in a large box with the mesh in a cardboard envelope.  And they are fast.

 

[chooch]

Pete,
  Keep an eye on $1.00 stores if this works for you.  Sometime they have them, other times they don't.  I've bought a couple from stores around here, but haven't tried to install one yet.  First, the screen is very fine and I don't think it would hold up.  Second, I tried once before to install a mesh to my Ruby poker without success.  There just isn't much room in that small flue tube.  Let me know how it works out for you.  Maybe I'll give it another look.

 

[Pete Thornton]

I actually have a screen in my Ruby made from a coarser mesh than this, that I found at the local hardware store. It cut and folded so easily that I suspect it is aluminum - but it probably won't melt in the burner so I'm trying it for now. The Ikea version is a backup, just in case the first one doesn't last more than 5 minutes.

I'll find out next weekend at Rog's or Cabin Fever.

 

[Pauli]

Pardon me, do you intend to use the IKEA stainless mesh as a wick for alcohol, or "re-ignition" mesh for a gas-burner? (I don't know what burner type the Ruby has.)

In another thread, steel-wool #000 was suggested as a wick material. I'm a bit surprised though, won't it rust away quickly, with the added re-heating of the surface of the fibre surfaces???

By the way, isn't wonderful how one can be steamaholic anough, to see possible live-steam uses for IKEA kitchen utilities?!

I found a small (one dollar) battery operated "whip" for whipping up milkfoam for coffe at IKEA, that I've tried to power a pocket suction-fan, for raising steam, with. This design however, proved extremely poor. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/blush.gif I'm staying with the battery whip however, to try and power my next design, based on a corn-on-the cob tincan... I'll let you know if it work's. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif

 

[Pete Thornton]

Pauli - it is "re-ignition" mesh for the gas poker burner, which is standard in the Ruby.

 

[Pauli]

Thanks Pete! Then I can use the tip for my two Maerklin (Regner) gas fired locos .D

 

[dwegmull]

Hi,
I added a stainless steel mesh to the poker burner of my Argyle Philadelphia (a small 042) with great results: it went from being barely able to pull itself around the track to having so much steam available that it can slip its drivers!
I think I used the thinnest stainless steel mesh available from McMaster...
Considering that the Ruby is about the same size as the Philly and uses a similar burner, I would expect good results from this mod. Please keep us posted on the results of your trials.

Greetings,
David

 

[Pete Thornton]

I tested the mesh-covered burner today at Rog's RGSEast (in a windy, cold 35 degrees) and the loco ran much better than before.  I only had to re-light every 3 or 4 times round the loop (which may have had more to do with the weather than the burner!)

There's an interesting comment about the internal diameter of the chimney affecting the burner in a related thread:
Ruby Burner Problem with Balloon Stack