robertcurtis

For anyone who's interested, I went with these Oilite bronze bearing bushes: they're 75p each if you buy 10, then cheaper as the quantity increases. They work pretty well with 3mm silver steel rod.

37 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

Far too much slop.

 

In model railway speak, 1/8" axles need 1/8" bearings; 3mm. axles need 3mm. bearings.

 

Both diameter bearings may need a little reaming in order to achieve a running fit.

 

CJI.

Thank you. I normally (in my day job) work with plastics rather than metals - so now I see a suitable free-running clearance on a hole for a 3mm axle is actually +30/-0 microns rather than my initial conclusion of 200 microns(!) Thus 3mm industrial bearings are for 3 mm axles 😄

38 minutes ago, Barclay said:

Wizard Models offer a pack of 12 for £3.30 which seems slightly better value. You'll also get them from Branchlines (no website though); Alan Gibson; Markits. Others fore sure but those are the ones that spring to mind!

 

Edit - I now see that you mention a 3mm axle. a 1/8" bearing will have too much slop to work with a 3mm axle. Alan Gibson might do genuine 3mm ones as they do make some RTR conversion packs with 3mm axles.

Thank you both for the suggestions - perhaps I was confused about how the ID of the bearing is described. If I go to an industrial bearing manufacturer, typically there is a drawing specifying what the ID is. Model shops/suppliers I'm guessing describe the bearings as being 1/8 inch when they mean 'with suitable clearance for a 1/8" axle'?

I had imagined that a true 1/8" ID bearing would give a good free running clearance for a 3mm axle, of approx. 0.2 mm across the diameter.

Where can I source brass axle bearings of 1/8 inch (3.2 mm) internal diameter, to fit with a 3mm axle? Garden railway suppliers have top-hat bearings or simple brass bushes for £1 each - are there better sources? So I've found these:

Phoenix models 1/8 axle bearings @ 50p each

Ettinger PCB spacers @ 13p each

Any other suggestions?

Check out  Peco  ( easiest  way  is  via  a  dealer  website  )  they  most  likely  do  pockets  and spare  couplings  easy  job  I think  to  attach pockets  with  adhesive

 

If no  luck  with Peco  try  Dapol

 

You  could  of  course   claim  a  partial  refund  and  return  the  wagon  to the  seller  (assuming  eBay?)

It wasn’t described as broken, but I had spotted the missing coupling beforehand. So I am culpable

Find someone who has replaced their couplings with Dapol or DG types, who will have ripped these pockets off

 

I think I might even have one or two of this type in a bits box somewhere that I could pop in the post if you'd like?

 

J

That would be amazing if you could, I’ll send you a direct message.

I bought a second-hand job lot of Graham Farish wagons recently that included a tank wagon with a missing or broken coupling, thinking it would be easy to fix. However both the coupling and the pocket it sits in are missing - the latter I don’t think is available as a spare part.

Any advice on how I could fix this would be much appreciated.