  In order to interpret the results of complex realistic star cluster
simulations, which rely on many simplifying approximations and assumptions, it
is essential to study the behavior of even more idealized models, which can
highlight the essential physical effects and are amenable to more exact
methods. With this aim, we present the results of N-body calculations of the
evolution of equal-mass models, starting with primordial binary fractions of 0
- 100 %, with values of N ranging from 256 to 16384. This allows us to
extrapolate the main features of the evolution to systems comparable in
particle number with globular clusters. In this range, we find that the
steady-state `deuterium main sequence' is characterized by a ratio of the core
radius to half-mass radius that follows qualitatively the analytical estimate
by Vesperini & Chernoff (1994), although the N dependence is steeper than
expected. Interestingly, for an initial binary fraction f greater than 10%, the
binary heating in the core during the post collapse phase almost saturates
(becoming nearly independent of f), and so little variation in the structural
properties is observed. Thus, although we observe a significantly lower binary
abundance in the core with respect to the Fokker-Planck simulations by Gao et
al. (1991), this is of little dynamical consequence. At variance with the study
of Gao et al. (1991), we see no sign of gravothermal oscillations before 150
halfmass relaxation times. At later times, however, oscillations become
prominent. We demonstrate the gravothermal nature of these oscillations.
