THE MEN WHO LEARN VALVE-SETTING.
Most of intelligent machinists engaged on engine-work, make it an object of ambition to learn to set valves; and the operation is mastered as soon as the opportunity offers. It has been a practice in numerous shops for those who have the work of valve-setting to do, to invest the operation with fictitious mystery, to patiently disseminate the belief that valve-setting is an exceedingly difficult matter. Cases sometimes arise where the squaring of an engine’s valves is really an arduous task, requiring intimate familiarity with delicate methods of adjustment; but valve-setting, as it is usually practiced in building establishments, in repairing-shops, and in round-houses, is merely a matter of plain measurement.
A man may be a first-class engineer without knowing how to set valves, and familiar acquaintance with the operation will not increase his ability in managing his engine when merely getting a train over the road on time is the consideration; but the method of valve-setting is so closely associated with an intelligent appreciation of the valve-motion’s philosophy, that most of engineers who take an extended interest in their business, wish to acquire the knowledge of how the valves are set.