Garden Railway Forum

What diode did you use? It should be a Schottky diode with a low drop in forward voltage. A standard diode has a drop of 0.7volts. Adding one more solar panel would improve things as well - it is a very small one you have. Having an multi-meter and knowing how to use it is useful when you are playin...

Jim wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2019 9:58 pm
Ossy loco? I thought Dave lives in the land of Kiwi?

Phil

Think "wagging cylinders"

Jim wrote: ↑Sat Jun 01, 2019 9:55 pm
But what does GOL mean

Phil

Gentleman Of Leisure?

As I understand it the device you are using has a built in amplifier but it is not powerful enough? You can't just add another amp to the output. However if the is a line out (pre-amp signal) then you can hook it up to a more powerful amp. If you are limited on voltage then there are DC/DC boosters ...

dewintondave wrote: ↑Mon May 27, 2019 8:06 am I handed in my notice today, I'll be finishing on the 28th of June

Sharp increase in the world population of ossy locos just around the corner then?

You have the dual rate switches on the top/sides of the TX. The reduce/increase travel. The trims are next to the joysticks. All they do is adjust the center position of the servo. If you want to extend travel you need to move the pushrod out one hole in the servo arm (or fit a longer arm).

Ah, I thought it was just the grill with no bonnet attached to it. I could laser cut a whole new grill/bonnet but of course it would still need to be folded and painted.

Cutting most of it out with a Dremel type tool and some thin cutting discs might be an option. Then clean up with files.

Laser

Seriously though, I'd drill some holes and use a scroll saw.

I handed in my notice today but only because I have a new job. Luckily it's closer to home and I won't have to sit in a queue by a tunnel for 15-30mins every day.

I have to work until I'm 69 so another 18 years to go. I don't really think I will ever retire fully though - my retirement plan is to build live steam locos commercially as long as I can manage it. At the moment I'm trying to build up the workshop for it which means buying CNC machines as and when ...

Do people generally not have hobbies anymore? I think they do but they are not the hobbies we grew up with and the interaction is different. I do know a lot that consider watching football on the the telly a hobby although that doesn't really fit my idea of what a hobby is. I have flown model aircr...

GTB wrote: ↑Thu May 02, 2019 11:33 amThe real risk to the future of copper model boilers is that the plumbing industry will stop using copper altogether and suitable size copper tube will no longer be manufactured.

Just roll it from a piece of sheet and join with a strap. I've made boilers that way.

I've got a 10-bottle battery of nitrogen sitting in the yard. 200bar pressure! I'm pretty sure they are less than 6mm wall thickness. How many locos are steamed above 10 bar? 16mm scale boilers are typically run at 60 psi - 4 bar. Granted, those gas cylinders are not subjected to heating but they ar...

It seems a few members took mild offence when I brought up the topic of laser cutting in another thread. I don't want to hijack that thread so thought I would start a separate thread where we can talk lasers and set the record straight. There is some outdated information about the cost and capabilit...

I have a friend who has all the appropriate certificates required to weld commercial boilers. He's often asked why we don't use steel even in our scales. One reason would be that the thickers shell would reduce water volume but other than that I don't see why it is not feasible. Since I don't do any...

Big Jim wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2019 7:17 am
There is much argument going on about this at the moment.

I had a look - the debate has been going on for a couple of decades at least. There seems to be quite a bit of emotion mixed into the discussions which can make it hard to discern the facts.

Cutting sheet metal is a job for a laser! Cutting time on a frame for a 16mm scale loco is measured in seconds. You're kind of missing the meaning of the words 'retirement hobby'....... Not really - even people with lots of time on their hands might find certain tasks tedious or difficult and if th...

Cutting sheet metal is a job for a laser! Cutting time on a frame for a 16mm scale loco is measured in seconds. Of course very few hobbyists have a metal cutting laser but you have Model Engineers Laser in UK that offers cutting at reasonable prices. I can probably do it much cheaper but then there ...

tom_tom_go wrote: ↑Mon Apr 29, 2019 4:33 pm Steel boilers seem to be the thing now in larger scales...

Yes, probably due to the cost of copper boilers. Steel boilers require more maintenance AFAIK.

I suppose when it comes to larger scales versus smaller ones, with live steam anyway the cost of the extra materials required to make a bigger version is almost negligible compared to the cost of the man-hours going into making it which I imagine would be fairly constant regardless of the size- for...