Gibson fowler tender wheels issues has anyone else had them?

[Simon Moore]

Here is a question for those that use gibson wheels. 

 

Recently I purchased some tender wheels to re gauge a Bachmann tender to EM. I have found no matter how I attempt to mount them on the axles the axle hole in the wheel is too small to fit the axle. It's an extremely tight fit which results in a set of very drunk wheels. 

 

I have tried to drill the hole slightly to open it up some, I have tried to use the gw models wheel press in a vice which gives a nice slow controlled fit & nothing works. 

 

I have not encountered this type of issue with gibson wheels before but I have literally launched 2 axles of wheels out of the workshop window into the field by my house I have got that annoyed with them. 

 

Has anyone else had this issue & how do you rectify it?

[DayReturn]

I rarely post, but time on my hands tonight.  You're an accomplished modeller so you probably aren't trying to fit 2mm axle wheels onto a 1/8 inch axle!  And you've probably checked to make sure the moulding hasn't left a blind hole.  You have probably got a set of mini drills like the box that goes from 0.3mm to 2mm in 0.05mm increments, if not, then that is a must-have.  Try successive drills to get the current bore diameter - check the drill diameter on a gauge - vernier etc.  If it seems plausibly close, open it out to the correct diameter, very gently, very square, because you only get it right once!  - with a cutting broach, NOT a drill.  (e.g.   )

Mark the broach at the depth you reached when it just started to accept the axle, and open the other wheels out to the same depth.  Use your George Watts device to mount the wheels on the axle again - you may need a smear of Loctite to cover overenthusiastic reaming.

 

But if you need to go to all that trouble, it's probably better to give Colin and Pat a call, I'm sure they will replace the dodgy wheels.  (0161 678 1607 for ref, sales@alangibsonworkshop.com)

 

[Barclay]

I have been using some Gibson tender wheels recently and I found that while the wheels fitted the plain axles quite well, the pinpoint axles must be slightly bigger as they, if I had used them, would have been a very tight fit. Having just measured them on reading your post I find the plain axles are 1.96mm and the pinpoints are 2.01mm. Presumably the plain are thinner to make sure they run in 2mm bearings, but why the pinpoints can't be the same I don't know...

[Izzy]

Generally I have found that because of the way they are moulded, face down into the mould IIRC, the the rear often has a bit of flash or the bore is tighter at the lip. In one sense this is good at it provides decent grip, but is also a pain as axles are inserted from the rear and not the front. One solution is to ‘break’ the lip edge with a countersink drill or a very much larger one than the bore size. Then also twist the axles as they are pushed in. This helps keep them concentric.