It will end in tears before bedtime

A familiar problem when fitting commercial parts to a scratch-built model, without checking all the dimensions first

Mr Bedford's W Irons are 24.7mm across when folded, which fits nicely between the solebars that are 6' 3" (25mm) apart.  All the existing W Irons have to be filed away first, leaving just the axle box, springs and spring stops on the solebars.  In this case on a Ratio kit for a GWR Iron Mink.  

The extension of the arms front and back, to hold the spring wire, means that you are best putting the wagon floor in upside down, otherwise they are likely to foul on any cross beams moulded in the underframe detail.

This is a test fit using the Ratio axle box to hold the bearing cups before fitting the sprung carriers to the W Iron.

 

Thanks for posting this, I hadn't seen close-ups of these before. 

Thanks Collett, I was aware I needed to remove the w iron on the kit before getting a proper fit, but I was thinking there still wouldn't be room (of course I forgot I would remove the other W iron on the other solebar as well)... What can I say, It was late! 

 

I'll give it another bash at the weekend, in between finally being allowed to collect my daughter's stuff from her University hall of residence where it's been sitting since mid March.

 

Interestingly, I've just run a caliper gauge over the one I've made up and it's more like 24.9/5.00 so I think I need to be more careful making them up. Perhaps that's part of my problem. 

 

Update 11/06/2020 21:56 - I've (gently) bent the  bottom fold in with small pliers and they're now more like 24.7mm. Thanks for giving the measurement Collett, I wouldn't have thought of that otherwise.

Edited June 11, 2020 by Spodgrim

I wouldn't claim that my measuring (or my brass folding) was perfect by any means, but to fit inside a 25mm gap a spare 0.15mm either side isn't going to be a problem while too tight a fit could be.  If you go for the MJT W Irons or a similar 'rocking' type compensation the distance across the ends is slightly shorter to allow the axle to rock without fouling the solebars either side. 

Edited June 12, 2020 by Collett

18 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Thanks for posting this, I hadn't seen close-ups of these before. 

They do look nice, much finer than the plastic injections which are heavier by necessity.  RCH dimensions for W irons was 3/4" Grade B Iron, that's 0.25mm and injected plastic would not last long at that thickness.

I now see what the problem is... I've run the calipers inside the solebars and it's 23.7mm so the Bill Bedford unit was never going to fit.

 

I think I'll build it rigid and use the w-irons on another kit... except I used my last 4 bearings (I soldered them in to the carrier) and they're on back order Grrrr!

Edited June 13, 2020 by Spodgrim