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Gibson universal con rods


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I have used search function and not found much. Has anyone had experience of them? I have purchased a set as Ineed rods7'6"-6'. Ihave a chassis to build but there are no matching rods.-Simon ps I'm using my mob at momentany mistakes due to mars bar fingers

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I've used them and they're a reasonable option in terms of final appearance.

 

They are only good for parallel sided rods, not fish-bellied ones. For a six coupled loco they essentially consist of 4 parts per side, each part comprising a crankpin boss and a half thickness rod. Each rod has to be cut to the required length and then a pair are soldered together so that you end up with a full thickness rod with a crankpin boss at either end. You make up four such units which half lap on the centre wheel crankpin. Depending on how you solder them you can opt for fluted or plain rods. The critical part is cutting them to length and then soldering a pair together to get the crankpin holes at the exact wheelbase.

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There are those who would prefer to joint rods on the knuckle rather than the crankpin. Presumably this can be done with the Gibson universal rods albeit with a bit more cutting and fitting?

 

Chris

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There are those who would prefer to joint rods on the knuckle rather than the crankpin. Presumably this can be done with the Gibson universal rods albeit with a bit more cutting and fitting?

 

Chris

 

I'm trying to visualise/remember the exact nature of the half lap on the centre driver. I think that you possibly can joint them on the knuckle but yes, you'd need to cut off the knuckle from one etching and solder it to another.

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Used them years ago, scratchbuilding a chassis for a P4 J36. Simple enough, I inserted three panel pins into a piece of timber and used them as a jig, so as to get both sides the same legth and crankpin spacing, then used fake axles with the ends turned down, to position the hornblocks in the chassis, like Perseverance used to.

 

It all worked first time out.

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Thanks for all the replies.I feel a lot more confident with the answers.As an aside I got Ian Rice's book on chassis building( I wish I had bought it when it first came out) and I did get a bit concerned after reading through it .As he keeps stressing about con rods being a match for the chassis( I realise he is talking about kits).I did find it strange, Gibsons not doing rods to suit,but I did buy it as a set of frames.They are for a Taff Vale 01 by the way.Luckily it has the same centers as the Taff 02

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I asked on the Gibson stand at Railex when I brought mine (its for an old Wills Castle chassis which is 1mm out on one half) and was told as I have Romford drivers with crankpins in the chassis, to solder them up in-situe using the crankpins to set the distance

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