Michael Delamar Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 (edited) Skalelink produce Romford style wheels but with ABS plastic wheels and nickel tyres. the wheel and flange thickness seems better, offering them up to gibson's they look the same. ive tried a few of the 14mm wheels but im convinced the ones I have are not concentric, I wonder if anyone else has noticed this? ive no way of measuring this at the moment, but its easy to see when running them on a loco. Id also ike to hear from anyone who has used these wheels succesfully in EM. Edited October 10, 2012 by michael delamar Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stuartp Posted October 10, 2012 Share Posted October 10, 2012 (edited) I've used them in OO, on the increasingly ill-fated NBL shunter build in my sig and found exactly the same thing (although I haven't written that bit up yet). Jweallans kindly pointed out early in the build that the Scalelink wheels are a bit narrow back to back compared to Romfords, and sure enough they clouted every checkrail on the layout. I followed Jonathan's advice and shimmed them to cure that, but there was still a distinct waddle. At first I put that down to being pushed along by hand. However, I've just replaced them with Markits and it trundles along as sweet as a nut now so I think there is a concentricty problem with them somewhere. I won't be buying any more. Edited October 10, 2012 by stuartp 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 its a shame, they looked promising, I would use normal Romford/Markits but in EM they are approx .5mm too wide on the tread, not sure of precise measurement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Joseph_Pestell Posted October 10, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 10, 2012 I had heard of a back-to-back problem with one of the other dimensions but not with 14mm. First time also that I have heard of a problem about them being concentric and these have been around for a while now. Have you spoken to ScaleLink? Perhaps a rogue batch? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted October 10, 2012 Author Share Posted October 10, 2012 back to back seems fine on them, but havent spoken to anyone yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzyo Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Have you got a lathe at the club? If you read this before you set off to Barrow bring a set with you. I'll be the bearded one in teal coloured shirts all week end and on the Sunday looking dazed and confused. OzzyO. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 yeah we've got a unimat which was going to be the next option, only slight problem is it will take the nickel coating off. cheers ill bring them along 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozzyo Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 yeah we've got a unimat which was going to be the next option, only slight problem is it will take the nickel coating off. cheers ill bring them along Hello Michael, I hope that we can sort something out before we have to look at turning the wheels. plastic centred wheels and turning them are not good bed fellows. If all goes to plan I'll see you tonight. OzzyO. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 we might be one of the later arrivals tonight. ive got a feeling the tyres are round but it may be the axle centre may not be in the middle, in which case that would affect the crankthrow? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiptonian Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 I am very interested to know how the Scalelink problem is going. If you reach any conclusions, good or bad, please let us all know. Good luck and thanks! -Al. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 (edited) very well, I think the problem was more the axle rather than the wheel, the square not being completley centre, the loco has now gone away for painting. ive just got some new 12mm ones too and they seem fine , arrived in a couple of days with a note saying if any problems return for replacements Edited October 20, 2012 by michael delamar 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiptonian Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Thanks for that, Michael. I can order with a bit more confidence now, and hopefully soon join the "bashers". May also try a Shinohara point or two. -Al. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
benachie Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 (edited) Maybe the quality is a bit variable. I tried Scalelink wheels once and just had to send them back - definitely not concentric. Alan Edited October 20, 2012 by benachie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted October 20, 2012 Author Share Posted October 20, 2012 service was good from them and if theyre openly saying if any problems send them back for replacements (even though they should anyway) just makes you feel better, any more I get In the future ill check with the micrometer as soon as they arrive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Delamar Posted October 21, 2012 Author Share Posted October 21, 2012 one thing I may try using with these wheels are Markits deluxe crankpins, so I dont have to solder on the bush on a plastic wheel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philsandy Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 On 20/10/2012 at 13:47, Michael Delamar said: very well, I think the problem was more the axle rather than the wheel, the square not being completley centre, the loco has now gone away for painting. ive just got some new 12mm ones too and they seem fine , arrived in a couple of days with a note saying if any problems return for replacements Apologies for resurrecting this old thread but I found it whilst doing a search for Scale Link wheels. I have never used them or Romford wheels before, but I would have thought that although quartering is made easier, using an axle with square ends to fit into the wheel increases the chances of the wheel not running concentric. With a conventional round bore wheel and axle, if the wheel itself is concentric then there is no problem. But with a square ended axle you are relying on both the wheel and the axle to be right. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnarcher Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 Can someone who has used these wheels clarify please? It seems from some comments that they are a bit finer than current Markits, if not in the flange then in the wheel thickness - closer to 2mm than the Markits 2.5mm. Is that so? If it is it puzzles me how they can use the usual Romford/Markits axle - surely the threaded bit would be .5mm too long? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
philsandy Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 2 hours ago, johnarcher said: Can someone who has used these wheels clarify please? It seems from some comments that they are a bit finer than current Markits, if not in the flange then in the wheel thickness - closer to 2mm than the Markits 2.5mm. Is that so? If it is it puzzles me how they can use the usual Romford/Markits axle - surely the threaded bit would be .5mm too long? I measured the Scale Link wheel thickness at 2.55mm. The thread on the Romford axle protruded very slightly, so just filed approx. 0.2mm from the ends to make them flush with the wheel hub. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnarcher Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 2 hours ago, philsandy said: I measured the Scale Link wheel thickness at 2.55mm. The thread on the Romford axle protruded very slightly, so just filed approx. 0.2mm from the ends to make them flush with the wheel hub. Thank you. That's a shame, apparently the tread width seems the same as Markits (RP25 100 - 100thou ie 2.5mm). It's that extra .5mm that puts me off them, it seems to make them look a bit chunky, at least in the smaller sizes. Still at least the Scalelink ones would be a cheaper option for testing before putting finer wheels on than Markits. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 On 21/09/2019 at 14:57, philsandy said: Apologies for resurrecting this old thread but I found it whilst doing a search for Scale Link wheels. I have never used them or Romford wheels before, but I would have thought that although quartering is made easier, using an axle with square ends to fit into the wheel increases the chances of the wheel not running concentric. With a conventional round bore wheel and axle, if the wheel itself is concentric then there is no problem. But with a square ended axle you are relying on both the wheel and the axle to be right. Many advise cleaning the read of the wheels from swarf where the axles go in. the wheels then should rotate true 2 hours ago, philsandy said: I measured the Scale Link wheel thickness at 2.55mm. The thread on the Romford axle protruded very slightly, so just filed approx. 0.2mm from the ends to make them flush with the wheel hub. 27 minutes ago, johnarcher said: Thank you. That's a shame, apparently the tread width seems the same as Markits (RP25 100 - 100thou ie 2.5mm). It's that extra .5mm that puts me off them, it seems to make them look a bit chunky, at least in the smaller sizes. Still at least the Scalelink ones would be a cheaper option for testing before putting finer wheels on than Markits. I have just measured some wheels Earlier markits 2.65 mm, Alan Gibson 00/EM 2.35 mm, Alan Gibson P4 2mm The difference between AG wheels and the new Markit seemingly is 0.15 mm. perhaps its the height and depth of the flanges that gives the inpression 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimbus Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 1 hour ago, johnarcher said: That's a shame, apparently the tread width seems the same as Markits (RP25 100 - 100thou ie 2.5mm). It's that extra .5mm that puts me off them, it seems to make them look a bit chunky, at least in the smaller sizes. But do bear in mind that a narrow tyre will become unsupported in a relatively wide crossing flangeway, and drop ahead of the crossing nose. If you followed up the necessary corrections to this problem, you'd end up working to P4 standards (at least)! The Nim. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnarcher Posted October 1, 2019 Share Posted October 1, 2019 Thanks for all the checking. Maybe you're right it's other things as well as the slightly greater width that give that impression. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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