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Use thread sealing tape to keep screws and bolts from backing out

Dave Farquhar DIY July 8, 2016October 22, 2022Plumbing, PTFE

Frequently I have a problem with self-assemble furniture not holding together as well as I would like. The bolts back out over time the legs in our kitchen chairs get wobbly. Or a bolt from an office chair falls out completely and something that used to work stops working. If I don’t notice the mystery bolt on the floor and the malfunction on the same day, I get other problems. Here’s a trick to keep screws and bolts from backing out while still leaving it possible to disassemble the piece if needed.

Dave Farquhar

David Farquhar is a computer security professional, entrepreneur, and author. He has written professionally about computers since 1991, so he was writing about retro computers when they were still new. He has been working in IT professionally since 1994 and has specialized in vulnerability management since 2013. He holds Security+ and CISSP certifications. Today he blogs five times a week, mostly about retro computers and retro gaming covering the time period from 1975 to 2000.

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How to attach trucks to Lionel train cars with screws

Dave Farquhar Toy trains December 10, 2012December 20, 20151980s, american flyer, hardware store, lionel, lionel train, locking pliers, marx, Marx O27, o27, PTFE, s scale, Tacky Wax

Frequently the trucks (the wheel/coupler assembly that sits under train cars) come unattached. Lionel trains from the 1970s and first half of the 1980s are especially prone to this, though other makes of trains aren’t immune either. And sometimes you just want to change the trucks–some Lionel and Marx O27 cars are just the right size for American Flyer S scale, for example, only the trucks are the wrong gauge.

It’s tempting to try to just re-attach them with a nut and bolt, but as the train runs in circles around the track, the nut loosens and eventually works its way out.

The key is all in the type of nut you use.

Dave Farquhar

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How to disassemble a Lionel 2026 or 2037 locomotive

Dave Farquhar Toy trains April 16, 2011February 14, 2017hardware store, lionel, Lionel Postwar, Lucas Red, postwar lionel, PTFE, train show

Years ago, I tried to take apart my dad’s Lionel 2026 to fix it, and I gave up trying to figure it out. Today I scored a similar 2037 locomotive at an estate sale in fixer-upper condition. To my knowledge, no book has ever gone into detail on how to disassemble this model, so I’ll explain it here. This time I was able to drop the motor out to get at what I needed to repair it.

There are also five additional Lionel postwar-era locomotives, the 637, 2016, 2029, and 2036, that come apart the same way.

Dave Farquhar

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How to fix old Marx locomotives

Dave Farquhar Toy trains November 16, 2010January 11, 2020conductivity, Lucas Red, marx, marx trains, PTFE, radio shack, tin, WD, wd 40

I’ve been noticing that a post I made several years ago about my experiments fixing a Marx 490 train locomotive has been getting a disconcerting number of hits. Disconcerting, because I repeated some advice on how to fix old Marx locomotives from another web site that I later found, by experience, wasn’t all that good.

Here’s how I go about doing simple repairs on Marx trains today, now that I’ve done a few.

Dave Farquhar

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