Jump to content
 

Scrap Tank - coupling rods

antyeates1983

Entry posted by antyeates1983

335 views

 Share

Having drilled the rods (15 thou nickel silver) at an earlier stage, I then shaped them while still soldered together. For this I stuck on the template with double-sided tape, cut roughly to shape with the piercing saw, then began a reasonably laborious process of filing to shape. Always being very careful not to remove too much material! I find the most useful files for this are a triangular one (to get into sharp corners) and a flat one with one "blind" edge. I held them in the vice for doing this (sorry, no photos of the work in progress).

 

This shows the finished rods separated. If I'm brave enough, I might thin them down a little bit more at a later date.

IMG_1369.JPG.4b2a0527f8eaf22d05bd69734011e233.JPG

 

Then came the process of trying them on the wheels, and opening out the holes a tiny bit at a time (I used a smoothing broach). In fact one of the rods was inexplicably binding, and eventually I tracked the problem down to one of the wheels being wonky on its stub axle. I probably damaged it at some points when putting it in or out of a chassis (I did use this set of wheels previously in some experiments with a Barney 0-6-0 chassis). I managed to straighten it a bit by holding it in the lathe chuck and pressing a tube up against it with the tailstock, avoiding the crankpin. After that, the chassis will roll up and down under gravity with both rods held temporarily in place, although the wobbly wheel means I can't put the (temporary) retaining washer on too tightly. The sensible solution would be to purchase a new non-wonky wheel, but I'm loath to do this as wheels are not cheap...

 

Below you see me trying out the motor. It goes along, although the dodgy wire connection to the motor is not helping. I still need to experiment a bit to get the optimum positioning of the motor, I think.

IMG_1395.JPG.c7a79ec94d89dbf0f43ebafffa6207df.JPG

  • Like 9
 Share

3 Comments

Recommended Comments

  • RMweb Premium
Nick Mitchell
  • RMweb Premium

Don't think of the price of wheels in absolute terms.

Compare it to the hours of effort you're going to put into this loco, and the frustration you'll feel every time you see it wobbling along.

You're making such a nice job of things that an extra few pounds spent on getting it right at this stage will more than repay itself in the long term.

I have learned that to ignore problems like this and carry on regardless is to create more work and frustration in the long run.

My usual solution is to put the offending model to one side and work on something else while I come to terms with the bitter pill I know deep down i need to swallow.

  • Like 1
  • Agree 2
  • Craftsmanship/clever 1
Link to comment
richbrummitt

I agree with Nick. The latest example for me was an eBay 7x16 coreless motor that is no longer in the model having spent out on a Tramfabriek one because the first was unsatisfactory. In this case I bought cheap to buy twice but I think it's a similar lesson...

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...