It is getting very common among engineers to use “hard grease” on the crank pin and main journals, and it will very soon be used exclusively.  With a good grade of grease your crank will not heat near so quickly as with oil and your engine will be much easier to keep clean; and if you are going to be an engineer be a neat one, keep your engine clean and keep yourself clean.  You say you can’t do that; but you can at least keep yourself respectable.  You will most certainly keep your engine looking as though it had an engineer.  Keep a good bunch of waste handy, and when it is necessary to wipe your hands use the waste and not your overalls, and when you go in to a nice dinner the cook will not say after you go out, “Look here where that dirty engineer sat.”  Now boys, these are things worth heeding.  I have actually known threshing crews to lose good customers simply because of their dirty clothes.  The women kicked and they had a right to kick.  But to return to hard grease and suitable cups for same.

In attaching these grease cups on boxes not previously arranged for them, it would be well for you to know how to do it properly.  You will remove the journal, take a gouge and cut a clean groove across the box, starting in at one corner, about I/8 of an inch from the point of box and cut diagonally across coming out at the opposite corner on the other end of box.  Then start at the opposite corner and run through as before, crossing the first groove in the center of box.  Groove both halves of box the same, being careful not to cut out at either end, as this will allow the grease to escape from box and cause unnecessary waste.  The chimming or packing in box should be cut so as to touch the journal at both ends of box, but not in the center or between these two points.  So, when the top box is brought down tight, this will form another reservoir for the grease.  If the box is not tapped directly in the center for cup, it will be necessary to cut other grooves from where it is tapped into the grooves already made.  A box prepared in his way will require but little attention if you use good grease.

A HOT BOX

You will sometimes get a hot box.  What is the best remedy?  Well, I might name you a dozen, and if I did you would most likely never have one on hand when it was wanted.  So will only give you one, and that is white lead and oil, and I want you to provide yourself with a can of this useful article.  And should a journal or box get hot on your hands and refuse to cool with the usual methods, remove the cup, and after mixing a portion of the lead with oil, put a heavy coat of it on the journal, put back the cup and your journal will cool off very quickly.  Be careful to keep all grit or dust out of your can of lead.  Look after this part of it yourself.  It is your business.

Part seven ________

Before taking up the handling of a Traction Engine, we want to tell you of a number of things you are likely to do which you ought not to do.