Any Question Answered

[Chris Higgs]

Tom,

 

I'll put some feelers out to see if something can be set up.

 

This is probably a good opportunity to mention that the Association committee is looking into holding a 'skills day' next year, probably in the Northern half of England (to maintain balance with other events pencilled in for next year), but venue and date are all to be confirmed at present. Subjects to be covered will depend on availability of willing tutors and demonstrators, but I'd hope that we could cover most of the basics.

 

Andy

 

Another thing may need to be thought about is whether we can actually get the number of loco wheels that would be needed for a chassis workshop at the moment.

 

Chris

[Ian Morgan]

That is what I meant by 'arranging for a suitable supply of the ingredients'. I know Paul Martin had to work hard to organise all the etches, wheels, gears and muffs for the 4F chassis build session, and the wheels only turned up on the day!

[Chris Higgs]

That is what I meant by 'arranging for a suitable supply of the ingredients'. I know Paul Martin had to work hard to organise all the etches, wheels, gears and muffs for the 4F chassis build session, and the wheels only turned up on the day!

 

But at least at that point we were actually producing wheels. Right now we would have to rely on what has already been made. Which does not include any 9mm or 9.5mm drivers.

 

Chris

Edited May 27, 2017 by Chris Higgs

[2mm Andy]

Loco wheels are being produced. A batch of castings and rims for various types of wheels is going for assembly shortly (if it hasn't already). No 9.5mm wheels yet due to some duff castings but they will follow once new castings have been produced.

 

Andy

[Chris Higgs]

Loco wheels are being produced. A batch of castings and rims for various types of wheels is going for assembly shortly (if it hasn't already). No 9.5mm wheels yet due to some duff castings but they will follow once new castings have been produced.

 

Andy

 

Well that certainly is most welcome news.

 

Chris

[Valentin]

I am trying to glue one spring / axle box pair (both white-metal castings) using cyanoacrylate (Super Glue) to the 2-330 wagon chassis. Removing them seems to be quite easy. What other kinds of glue other people are using?

[Caley Jim]

I am trying to glue one spring / axle box pair (both white-metal castings) using cyanoacrylate (Super Glue) to the 2-330 wagon chassis. Removing them seems to be quite easy. What other kinds of glue other people are using?

I've always used cyano and never had any problems.  Is everything clean?  No flux residue or paint on the chassis?

 

Jim

[Valentin]

Thank you, Jim.

 

The chassis had been thoroughly cleaned with Cif and toothbrush but the white-metal castings were not. After a good cleaning of these, all the components are staying together with no danger of coming apart.

 

 

Another question, for the LNWR enthusiasts: the early open, and the covered goods wagons were fitted with 3-bolt round base buffers, grease filled axle-boxes, and wooden brake block shoes. Probably the most suitable buffers are 2-072 "Wagon buffers (turned brass) 2.1mm head, round base". Are the other components (axle-boxes, and brake shoes) available in the 2mm SA shop, or elsewhere?

[2mmMark]

Question about the Farish Class 14 "Teddy Bear" -  what's the chassis design on this?  Does it predate the current split-frame design?

 

Through the gift of eBay, I've got one in NCB livery winging its way to me so I'll need to finescale it in due course. There doesn't seem to be a lot of room behind the steps to bring the N scale wheels outwards when set to 8.5mm b-t-b.

 

Mark

[queensquare]

Question about the Farish Class 14 "Teddy Bear" -  what's the chassis design on this?  Does it predate the current split-frame design?

 

Through the gift of eBay, I've got one in NCB livery winging its way to me so I'll need to finescale it in due course. There doesn't seem to be a lot of room behind the steps to bring the N scale wheels outwards when set to 8.5mm b-t-b.

 

Mark

Hi Mark, I've done a couple by sending the wheels off to be turned and they both run really nicely. There is very little clearance behind the steps but just enough if I remember. I found the pickups needed tweaking but once set running is very good.

There's a picture fairly early on in the Highbury /Foxcote thread I think.

 

Jerry

[Nigelcliffe]

Question about the Farish Class 14 "Teddy Bear" -  what's the chassis design on this?  Does it predate the current split-frame design?

 

Through the gift of eBay, I've got one in NCB livery winging its way to me so I'll need to finescale it in due course. There doesn't seem to be a lot of room behind the steps to bring the N scale wheels outwards when set to 8.5mm b-t-b.

 

Mark

 

Its like the 04 (and 08), though with extra stuffing (weight).  Wiper pickups to the rear of each wheel.

 

As such, can either have the flanges turned down and things just about clear everything.  Though the wheels are the plating over soft-alloy type, so turning down the backs of the flanges may result in a lot of scoring/groves/crud which will adversely affect pickup compared to the original smooth plating. 

 

Or, can take a set of 2mm shop wheel castings, fit tyres to them, then bore carefully to fit on the plastic bushes on the farish axle ends.  Results in thinner wheels which will have better clearance on the steps. 

 

 

 

- Nigel

[2mmMark]

The loco arrived with me yesterday and having taken the chassis apart this morning, the wheel spokes are close to 2mm in width and it's just the tyres that are wide. This leaves me wondering if the existing wheels can be turned down to accept 2mm rims.

 

Alternatively, Henk Oversloot's technique (http://www.raw-nette.de/producin.htm) of grafting in a finescale flange to the N scale wheel might be possible. As you say Nigel the wheels are alloy castings (mazak or similar?) so they might not be very amenable to machining.

 

The spoking pattern of the Class 14 wheels is quite distinctive and I'd quite like to retain it. It's a very nice model and will be quite at home on British Oak when finescaled. Incidentally, the loco was very dusty and the chassis was swimming in oil. A good clean-up was necessary. You have to wonder sometimes what people do with their models.

 

Mark.

[Ian Morgan]

 

You have to wonder sometimes what people do with their models.

 

 

Like rip the wheels off?

Edited June 29, 2017 by Ian Morgan

[2mmMark]

 

 

Like rip the wheels off?

 

 

If only the trade would see sense and adopt proper standards, this vandalism wouldn't be necessary! 

[Nigelcliffe]

The loco arrived with me yesterday and having taken the chassis apart this morning, the wheel spokes are close to 2mm in width and it's just the tyres that are wide. This leaves me wondering if the existing wheels can be turned down to accept 2mm rims.

 

 

 

I tried to turn down the wheels from an 04 to accept 2mm flanges, and decided the gloopy alloy below the surface was going to defeat me, and therefore I went for 2mm wheel castings bored to fit the plastic top-hat insulator.   

 

- Nigel

[Izzy]

The loco arrived with me yesterday and having taken the chassis apart this morning, the wheel spokes are close to 2mm in width and it's just the tyres that are wide. This leaves me wondering if the existing wheels can be turned down to accept 2mm rims.

 

Alternatively, Henk Oversloot's technique (http://www.raw-nette.de/producin.htm) of grafting in a finescale flange to the N scale wheel might be possible. As you say Nigel the wheels are alloy castings (mazak or similar?) so they might not be very amenable to machining.

 

The spoking pattern of the Class 14 wheels is quite distinctive and I'd quite like to retain it. It's a very nice model and will be quite at home on British Oak when finescaled. Incidentally, the loco was very dusty and the chassis was swimming in oil. A good clean-up was necessary. You have to wonder sometimes what people do with their models.

 

Mark.

 

Having tried adding 2mm rims to GF wheel castings - I believe it has been done - and ending up with a number of wrecked castings I would second Nigel's advice about finding another way. The mazak is very 'buttery' (akin to whitemetal) so while skimming off the back and fronts is okay and quite do-able, taking enough off the outer rims to fit new 2mm rims is awkward because there usually just isn't enough material left to take the stress, and the spokes collapse.

 

Izzy

[Caley Jim]

If only the trade would see sense and adopt proper standards, this vandalism wouldn't be necessary!

 

And on the Roadshow we wouldn't have to repeatedly explain the difference between 2FS and N, or, as we had to at Perth, why British N is 2 1/16mm~1ft!

 

Jim

[queensquare]

Having tried adding 2mm rims to GF wheel castings - I believe it has been done - and ending up with a number of wrecked castings I would second Nigel's advice about finding another way. The mazak is very 'buttery' (akin to whitemetal) so while skimming off the back and fronts is okay and quite do-able, taking enough off the outer rims to fit new 2mm rims is awkward because there usually just isn't enough material left to take the stress, and the spokes collapse.

 

Izzy

John Greenwood has now done three Farish N class 2-6-0s and a pannier by turning the rim off Farish wheels and putting Association rims on with a couple of spots of superglue. I know it has been said that the normal laws of physics don't seem to apply to John but he doesn't seem to have had too many problems.

Regarding Marks original question, I've done two class 14s and a class 03 by having Gordon turn the wheels down and they all run really well

 

Jerry

[Donw]

John Greenwood has now done three Farish N class 2-6-0s and a pannier by turning the rim off Farish wheels and putting Association rims on with a couple of spots of superglue. I know it has been said that the normal laws of physics don't seem to apply to John but he doesn't seem to have had too many problems.

Regarding Marks original question, I've done two class 14s and a class 03 by having Gordon turn the wheels down and they all run really well

 

Jerry

 

I do think John is a bit of a magician. I presume you have to take very light cuts with a sharp tool to keep the stress on the wheels low. Probably best to try on some spare wheels first if you have any. The other thing you you could try is using a strip of emery with the wheel in a lathe or a drill by spreading the force around half of the wheel it might work there again it might not. If you have used the wheel turning service to good results on these it sounds the easiest way to me.

 

Don

[Izzy]

John Greenwood has now done three Farish N class 2-6-0s and a pannier by turning the rim off Farish wheels and putting Association rims on with a couple of spots of superglue. I know it has been said that the normal laws of physics don't seem to apply to John but he doesn't seem to have had too many problems.

Regarding Marks original question, I've done two class 14s and a class 03 by having Gordon turn the wheels down and they all run really well

 

Jerry

 

Thanks Jerry, I knew it had been done succesfully by a few so that's good to know. As these seem to be newer models perhaps Farish have moved to a harder/HMP mazak mix that takes machining better. It would be useful if they have.

 

Izzy

 

 

..... just thought I would add that Bachmann/Farish wheel castings are nickel plated mazak. Since Nickel doesn't stick too well to mazak this means an under- layer of copper plating is laid down first. So two harder layers to cut through before reaching the generally softer mazak beneath, (to explain the comments above).

Edited June 30, 2017 by Izzy

[Hendreladis]

Help please. Squeaky/squawky motor noises.

 

I have made a few of the 2mm Association 57xx chassis kits so know my way around them pretty well. The latest two are certainly mechanically freer than previous efforts and roll along adequately. The body, however, is not a pannier so I wanted a smallish motor to minimise protrusion into the cab space.

 

Thought about the 7mm faux Farish that has been receiving favourable comments but there isn't much shaft on the end of the ones I received (3mm ish??) so I opted for the similarly questionable coreless 8mm by 14mm with a bracket on the front. I thought that the bracket might slide off as there is quite a bit of hard glue/resin in the space under the shaft. Said bracket definitely doesn't slide off. But at least the process revealed the inner workings. The magnet is pretty strong, the five windings look to be 46swg or finer and the brushes are typical metal 'fingers' wiping the commutator. The metal used for the brushes doesn't seem to be anything exotic.

 

Bodged one of the motors into the chassis. Took some tweaking, ran a bit hot, complained. Pop. New motor. I put that failure down to tightness in the system.

 

Replaced motor and ensured that there was more play. Everything ran sweet as a nut. Whoopee. No unexpected noises whatsoever.

 

Attached chassis to body. There were a few occasional shorts with the outside frames and the innards of one of the splashers but that was all dealt with. Appropriate play in the wheels, cranks and bearings in all positions and all runs smoothly when cold BUT, when the motor has run for a minute or so, the mechanism starts to whinge and whine and then squawks away even though the wheels aren't moving. The slack in the mechanism reduces to zero even though there is no rubbing or mechanical binding in the chassis or gears. The worm isn't slipping and the shaft isn't rotating at all so the noise is beyond my ken. The electronic buffs will have an explanation no doubt.

 

But for whatever reason the train don't go. The commutator end of the motor shaft just sits in the plastic housing of the motor. The free end of the shaft looks to be in a bronze bush. The front bearing on the chassis is free. I don't imagine that the binding is caused by something as simple as heat expansion but That is all I can think of because if I let the mechanism cool down it runs sweetly again. For a minute. The problem manifests itself on both my Farish controller (from a set) and the 9V gizmo that the Association sells. I haven't tried it with the Pentroller yet.

 

So the big question is can the problem be solved or do I need to commit to a different motor. The 16mm long examples like the Lawton (my preference) or the 7mm by 16mm Farish will demand hacking the body and may well be too obvious in the cab so I'd like to avoid that. But I'll follow whatever advice is offered.

 

Thanks in advance. 

 

[nick_bastable]

are you sure they are 12v motors ?  you must have been unlucky with the 7mm versions as the ones I got had a shaft long enough to mount the worm cleanly

 

perhaps try the chassis on 6 or even 3 volts 

 

Nick

[Hendreladis]

Thanks Nick

 

Motor almost certainly isn't 12V but I though the 9V gizmo would be okay. Is it likely to be as simple as reducing the voltage? I know from your posts that you know about these things . . . . if so could I just interpose a resistor of some sort?

 

Andrew

[nick_bastable]

Thanks Nick

 

Motor almost certainly isn't 12V but I though the 9V gizmo would be okay. Is it likely to be as simple as reducing the voltage? I know from your posts that you know about these things . . . . if so could I just interpose a resistor of some sort?

 

Andrew

the farish clones  I have used  are 12v and have run  for two days on a rolling road at a exhibition on a basic controller without issues , however i suspect the ones you are using will be 3v  a resistor would work at a guess 150 to 220 ohm range probably   1 watt or possibly 1/2 watt    think you will need to experiment a bit   best done by trying a resistor in the track feed and see how warm it gets  if to warm will need a larger wattage 

 

Nick

[Izzy]

I'm a bit puzzled by the shot of the motor innards showing the windings shell and armature without the main shaft. Did it come off the shaft due to the excessive heat generated? Otherwise this might be the root cause of the problems since of course it should be locked onto the shaft.

 

Izzy