A bit of time in the shed

[Busted Bricks]

Those chassis are really nice. If you get fed up cutting out frames and connecting rods by hand let me know. They wouldn't cost a lot to laser cut.

[-steves-]

Those chassis are really nice. If you get fed up cutting out frames and connecting rods by hand let me know. They wouldn't cost a lot to laser cut.

Thanks, appreciate that, we will see how it goes

[FWLR]

Something for this Steve.

DSCN4059.JPG (415.42 KiB) Viewed 6666 times

Cranks wouldn't be needed really, just the ability to move like front and rear bogies. Yes the ones I have seen are all with the motor pointing up. I want to replace the one in my Railcar with a power bogie. I would be using the motor as is, so it's a question of if it can be done....

[-steves-]

Something for this Steve.


DSCN4059.JPG


Cranks wouldn't be needed really, just the ability to move like front and rear bogies. Yes the ones I have seen are all with the motor pointing up. I want to replace the one in my Railcar with a power bogie. I would be using the motor as is, so it's a question of if it can be done....

I would think anything is possible, but for something that specific I would need the entire railcar at hand to measure and see what would fit. A shame you are not closer or you could have popped over and we could have seen if we could have made something to fit.

What is wrong with the one that's in it?

[-steves-]

Thanks for that. Your description kicked my mind out of a rut. For some reason I had got it fixed in my head when machining cranks to drill the axle hole, then drill and tap for the crankpin and finally drill and tap for the grub screw. Sigh.........

By using the sequence of axle, then grub screw and finally the crankpin, only a simple drilling fixture is needed. I'm waiting on some bits again, so I knocked one up yesterday afternoon.

The photo shows the fixture that I made earlier for machining the quartering flats on the left and the fixture to hold the crank while drilling and tapping for the crankpin on the right. I use a standard size axle for locos, so I only need one set of fixtures for outside cranks.


Outside Crank Jigs.jpg


The only reason they are machined all over is that the only suitable size piece of square bar under the bench was hot rolled steel and far from square, so the surfaces needed cleaning up. I used a fly cutter instead of a milling cutter, as the mill scale on hot rolled steel is as abrasive as the skin on an iron casting and fly cutters are a lot easier to sharpen than a milling cutter.

The axle retaining screw in the quartering fixture is positioned diagonally to use it as a marker, so if it is always facing forward in the vice the quartering flats will be at 90deg when the fixture is changed end for end.

It's a bit hard to see, but there is a flat milled on the 'axle' end sticking out of the crank drilling fixture, effectively it is just a stub axle sticking out of half a quartering jig, but is machined in one piece to maintain alignment.

With a DRO on the mill and a self-centering 4 jaw chuck in the lathe, making these fixtures was quick and easy. I'm not a great fan of jigs/fixtures, so the simpler the better.

Regards,
Graeme

Well my attempt is now finished and seems to work well too. Once set up once for zero it's very quick and easy to pop a new crank on and drill it, it will save me sooooo much time going forwards Thanks for the idea of making a tool for this, both yourself and Ian.

[GTB]

Once set up once for zero it's very quick and easy to pop a new crank on and drill it, it will save me sooooo much time going forwards

My initial idea was similar to that, except it would have located the crank from the crankpin hole, so I could drill the hole for the grub screw. Then I had a better idea.....

Saving time on batches of parts is what jigs are about. I even went to the trouble of making a spindle stop for the lathe, to reduce setup time for turning rolling stock axles.

The finish on the jigs is only like that because of the mill scale on the bits of steel I used. The flycutter could go blunt halfway through a cut and had to be resharpened multiple times for the axle milling jig, so the final cut was always with a newly sharpened tool, just to keep things square......

Regards,
Graeme

[-steves-]

I even went to the trouble of making a spindle stop for the lathe, to reduce setup time for turning rolling stock axles.

Regards,
Graeme

I will be honest and confess I have no idea what a spindle stop is or how it works?

[-steves-]

Hi Steve,
I wouldn't presume to explain but the best one I have seen is here:-
http://www.homews.co.uk/index.html
Harold Hall is quite an amazing engineer particularly in the model engineering field and you will find a large range of gizmos and gadgets that can easily made in the home workshop.
Simply a mandrel or spindle stop allows you to poke a piece of material down your chuck and the hole in the mandrel to a stop so you can repeat the operation accurately on a number of items. Once set for a given component, each component will be the same. its not quite the same as using a DRO to set everything.

Great website, thanks

[tom_tom_go]

Glad you said that Steve, neither did I!

[FWLR]

Something for this Steve.


DSCN4059.JPG


Cranks wouldn't be needed really, just the ability to move like front and rear bogies. Yes the ones I have seen are all with the motor pointing up. I want to replace the one in my Railcar with a power bogie. I would be using the motor as is, so it's a question of if it can be done....

I would think anything is possible, but for something that specific I would need the entire railcar at hand to measure and see what would fit. A shame you are not closer or you could have popped over and we could have seen if we could have made something to fit.

What is wrong with the one that's in it?

Well apparently the wheelbase on the Railcar is a bit to long and it was suggested to try a powered bogie to try and get it to run on curves, it at the moment only needs to see a curve and it starts getting nervous.....

Not to worry mate, I will perceive with it and see what I can come up with. Thanks anyway...

[GTB]

I will be honest and confess I have no idea what a spindle stop is or how it works?

As Ian said, a spindle stop for a lathe is just a gizmo that acts as a position stop for parts held in the lathe chuck (which is why it's also called a chuck depth stop), so parts can be turned without resetting for each one.

Mine isn't as flash as Harold Hall's, but does the job. It was based on a design in David Fenners Mini Lathe book, using whatever off-cuts were around the workshop at the time. I mostly use it for turning axles to length and also turning the axle journals and wheel seats. It also gets used when making frame spacers.

Spindle stop.jpg (50.73 KiB) Viewed 6538 times

Starting from the right, the cylindrical pad is the actual stop and sits in the lathe spindle behind the chuck. It is screwed onto a length of allthread and fixed with a locknut. The next cylindrical part to the left is a spacer that is a sliding fit in the spindle bore, so the pad can't flop around. It also has a locknut. The stop pad is usually up in the morse taper seat, so has to be sized to fit through the small end of the taper.

The three parts on the end at the left make up an expanding arbor that locks the whole device in the spindle bore. The arbor locking bolt is drilled and threaded for the allthread so it can be screwed in and out to position the stop. There's a locknut on the all thread out of sight behind the locking bolt to keep it in position once set.

The only critical dimensions are the o.d. of the spacer and the o.d. of the mandrel as they have to be a sliding fit in the spindle bore.

Since I work on the KISS principle when it comes to jigs and fixtures, it isn't particularly pretty, but you can't see it when fitted in place and it works.

Regards,
Graeme

[-steves-]

They seem to be multiplying, time to get out and sell some, lol, roll on the next 16mm meting

[DonW]

Nice work on those chassis. Were you ever tempted to connect the motor to the jackshaft and drive from there? I looked back to see more and found your little tool to hold the axles for millinfg the end flats. So obvious once you see it like most great ideas.
Don

[-steves-]

Nice work on those chassis. Were you ever tempted to connect the motor to the jackshaft and drive from there? I looked back to see more and found your little tool to hold the axles for millinfg the end flats. So obvious once you see it like most great ideas.
Don

Thanks Don

My initial thought was to connect the motor to the jack shaft, however the motor would end up coming through the bottom of the cab so the only place to put the motor is at the other end. Potentially to make the chassis shorter I could up the angle of the motor so that it went into the engine area and drive it off any of the other axles, but not the jack shaft unless the cab is sealed off to hide the motor.

As you say, most ideas are the simplest ones

The 0-6-0 chassis are an awful lot of work due to the amount of cranks, con rods and hand made bolts / spacers it uses. The 0-4-0 chassis are a bit easier and are shown above with the little diesel bodies, the green one and the weathered one. I tried different shaped cranks on each one, just to see what they would look like and I am happy with the end result of both of them I should point out that the green one wasn't quite finished in that picture, lol

[DonW]

Hi Steve
there would of course be no advantage in driving from the jack shaft it was just a thought. On one of the threads someone is asking for recommendations on a battery loco to use to rescue stranded steamers (pprobably with train). Would your locos be up to that sort of job, obviously with suitable batteries and weighting? I like the look of the 0-4-0.
Don

[-steves-]

Hi Steve
there would of course be no advantage in driving from the jack shaft it was just a thought. On one of the threads someone is asking for recommendations on a battery loco to use to rescue stranded steamers (pprobably with train). Would your locos be up to that sort of job, obviously with suitable batteries and weighting? I like the look of the 0-4-0.
Don

Indeed, I agree, there is no advantage from driving from the jack shaft, but it would have still been nice to if it were easily done

The chassis I make use exactly the same motors and gearboxes as Essel and GRS chassis. They are heavier than the GRS ones as I, like Essel, use brass for the ends of the chassis instead of just sheet steel. They are pretty heavy as the entire chassis is made from sheet steel and brass, with steel turned wheels, steel turned cranks, steel con rods, stainless steel axles, phosphor bronze bearings and plastic gears which ere easy and cheap to replace but last a very long time. I have not tried to use one as a recovery loco, but if a standard Essel based chassis loco or GRS based chassis loco works, then these should work just as well.

I must admit my recovery loco I built used 2 GRS based chassis (before I started making my own) and I added a heap of steel underneath it. From memory I think it came out over 12lbs! (5.6KG)

[FWLR]

I'am first in line for one of them......

[BorisSpencer]

I must admit my recovery loco I built used 2 GRS based chassis (before I started making my own) and I added a heap of steel underneath it. From memory I think it came out over 12lbs! (5.6KG)

12lbs, I'd have to strenghten my track beds, the Comfrey and Geranium only has a Light Railway licence!

More seriously, if your looking to shift some units, PM me a price and lead time. Having followed your build thread they will be more than capable for my needs.

[tom_tom_go]

Have to start charging you commission soon Steve!

[-steves-]

I'am first in line for one of them......

That can happen if you like and quite soon. Would you prefer an 0-4-0 or an 0-6-0 with Jack shaft to start with?

Steve