On Sun, 24 Nov 2013 20:21:35 -0500, "TomR" wrote:

Thanks Metspitzer. Great explanation, and I think that will do the trick.
I have a no contact voltage tester, and I was already doing a little testing
with it on Friday afternoon; but I decided that I should do some more
searching and research first and then get back to it this coming week and do
it the right way. It never occurred to me that the wire on the second 3-way
switch that never gets hot (when doing what you said) would be the one that
is the common. But, that makes sense, and I think it will work.

Here is a tip that might help. On K+T wiring, the ceiling boxes were
almost always the power source. The reason is that back then, lighting
was the top priority. Outlets were rare and few and even those were
mostly for lamps. So, almost all the power source wires went across a
ceiling. The light you want to control most likely has the "source"
wires.

Therefore, both common wires on one switches go to the light fixture
box. One to the bulb, the other to the "source". If nothing else
works, get a multimeter (Walmart for $10) and some cheap wire long
enough to go from both switches to the fixture. Set meter to OHMS, Shut
off power in house, and remove the wires from both switches. Attach one
lead from the meter to the wire going to the bulb. (alligator clips
help). Use your long wire on the other meter lead, and find the one in
the switch box that matches (meter will indicate continuity). Then do
the same for the source wire. Those two are the common wires.

I always have a multimeter and a 50ft roll of single strand automotive
or doorbell wire handy to do this sort of thing. I worked many years
doing handyman work and mostly in old homes that had K+T wiring. Over
the years that wiring was changed, modified, and/or simply disconnected
and even cut off, when a wall or doorway was added or something. Some
of those jobs were a total nightmare, but I always managed to get the
wires to work. What complicated those homes was that some were huge
single family homes that originally had servant quarters and were built
for the wealthy in those days. Then they were changed into multi-family
apartments and supposedly rewired so each apartment had it's own
electric meter. More often than not, apartments had the wrong meter
feeding part of their apt., and tenants would complain that their
electric bill was very high, while others paid nearly nothing. It would
be my job to straighten out this mess, and a mess it was..... I'd shut
off the power to that apt. and suddenly hit a live wire, or disconnect
something in another apt. I recall one huge home taking me over 2 weeks
of 8 hour days to get it all straightened out. But I'll admit now, I
liked the challenge!