Disassembly & Reassembling a Fleischmann wheel set

[Javier L]

Hello all!

 

Ive recently purchased a four set of Fleischmann geared wheels for a kit Im assembling. I dont know of any kit conpanies that produce wheels in the US where I live, so I had purchased a used set off eBay. The set is in good condition and I think it will work. My issue lies in that I dont know how to remove the gear off the axle. In fear of damaging the set ive stopped trying to move it. If anyone knows how to safely remive it im all ears.

 

Im unaware of what loco model it came off of, it was listed as steam on the page however.

 

Edit: my plan is to remove the gears off two of the wheels and move one gear to the center of the axle of the third. The fourth I guess will be a spare. The plan is to use a worm gear motor to move the loco in question.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Javier L

[Allegheny1600]

Hello Javier,

That could be a tough one! Unfortunately, those are not wheels I recognise (I do have a fair collection of Fleischmann locos) but it does look to me as though the gears are pressed onto the wheel boss/centre. I can see that they are separate from the wheel as I can see machining marks on the wheel, passing under the gear teeth. NOTE: this indicates the centre hole of the gear wheel is larger than the axle.

If it were me, I would support a wheel vertically in a vice (held between two pieces of plywood*) and attempt to carefully drive a very thin wedge between the gear and the wheel. Maybe start off with a single edge razor blade, the kind with a protective cover over one side. You must drive this right at the join between the wheel and the gear teeth, even though there is no apparent gap.

Turn the wheel a quarter turn in the vice, attack again and repeat until you have gone all the way around the wheel.

IF the gear has moved at all, change over to a thicker wedge, maybe a scalpel blade and repeat the above process.

If you are now creating a visible gap, you can continue with a thicker still wedge. Do not attempt to twist the gear wheel off as I can see that the gear wheel has a knurled or ribbed centre, twisting will cause damage. Also, don't use something like a screwdriver blade as that is too narrow and may damage the gear teeth.

This will be a slow process and I am sure you will need a vice as, without it, you will struggle to hold the wheelset firmly enough to work on it. Needless to say, the vice must be firmly attached to a workbench, table or some other heavy object.

I hope this helps, please do report back if this helps.

Cheers,

John.

 

*The plywood both protects the wheel from the steel of the vice jaws and allows a tiny (but enough) amount of potential gear movement.