Kadee height checker for O gauge - 3D print

[RobjUK]

Hi,

I wanted a height gauge for setting up Kadee couplers & I though the actual kadee metal block gauge was a bit overpriced - so I did a 3D design that functionally does the same thing.

 

The .stl files are linked at the end of this post.

 

The main body is made to be a sloppy fit in the track side-to-side so it should work on curves as well as straight. The top surface is set to be 0.781" above the rail top, as per Kadee specifications for their O Gauge couplers. On my printer they come out within a thou or so of that.

 

The top bar attaches to the body with two M4 screws and has 1mm pilot positions for attaching the gearbox/coupler. There do not seem to be any published dimensions for the gearbox hole spacing, so they were set by eye and verynears... They do appear to be spot on centres when see through a gearbox, though they look off in a photo due to parallax.

 

The top part could equally be glued to the body, as long as it's tightly clamped until set to ensure it's flat down.

 

I cannot assemble a coupling to it just yet as I discovered I do not have any suitable screws; 8BA are the same 0.086" diameter as the #2 UNCs Kadee specify so I've ordered some of those.

 

Hope it's of use!

RJ.

 

Coupler_gauge.stl Coupler_gauge_top.stl

[F-UnitMad]

What a good idea!!

[RobjUK]

I've had another dig through my small screws collection and found some M2s that will fit the coupling gearbox. Opening the pilot holes out with a 1.5mm and giving that a slight wobble allows them to screw in to the plastic.

 

The two parts fit together with M4 taptites, no mods needed.

 

The assembled gadget: