Scalefour Forum

Lima chassis might have been a mechanical abomination but my memory of them from a very long time ago was that they would pick-up power and start more reliably than anything else available at the time. There was method in their madness somewhere.... They did seem to have a fair few cable runs insid...

I once converted a Lima 08 simply by pushing the wheels out on the axles and skimming the back of the wheel so that the depth of the flange approximated the one on a P4 wheel, A wipe with a file on the edge of the flange as it was spinning in the lathe - and they ran fine. However, the mechanical ab...

The late Roy Jackson wasn't a believer in 'flexible' chassis either and his locos ran on 'Retford' faultlessly. I remember him saying that he did try compensation at least once, possibly more, but he wasn't convinced by it. But then both Roy and Tony model in EM and OO which could make a difference ...

iak wrote:Take it easy David, just keep the medicinal beverages handy...

If all else fails you can always wash your hands in them - although I'd rather take them internally and hope the alcohol will seep outwards.............

Hi Jon. My thoughts are similar to Tim and Philip. If building a kit or scratch-built chassis I always include some form of compensation. For the extra work involved, the results are worth it. If converting an RTR item, the option of swapping wheel sets is worth trying for quickness. I have been kn...

My take on simple compensation 0-4-0 chassis (or even 0-6-0) with a 'fixed' but removable axle. The axle hole is reamed to a good fit for a top-hat bush. The hole is extended downwards to become a slot taking care to make it just wide enough to slide in the bush. A length of small bore brass tube is...

Many thanks Andrew, a very interesting idea. I've always thought that milling with a 1mm cutter could be a bit fraught! Plenty of light cuts I suppose.

I just toughen up the axle where the gear will go by rolling a file over it. I’ve never glued a gear in place on any RTR conversions HTH Jim Just what I was going to say. Use the serrated edge of a coarse file over the location point of the gear by rolling it on a hard surface. And once fitted - le...

Interesting 'crankpin jig'. Could you provide some more details? I also found the same problem with small wheels' crank throw - but I can't remember how I got over it! I've always fancied one of these K's kits but they go for silly money these days - and as you've noted, there's a lot of work to be ...

It's my wife's birthday on the 28th and when I 'booked' my layout for this year I was anticipating the date to be a week later. I think I've got away with it - but it's costing a spa day for her and our daughters! You will come back to happier wife and daughters at least though as they'll enjoy you...

It's my wife's birthday on the 28th and when I 'booked' my layout for this year I was anticipating the date to be a week later. I think I've got away with it - but it's costing a spa day for her and our daughters!

One last minute change. Due to illness "Braynerts Sidings" will now not be appearing at the show. In its place we have the excellent "Manston Brewery" created by Rob Milliken and operated by Bevis Heap. Cheers Sorry not to be bringing 'Braynerts' - but Pete has found an excellen...

These are available very readily on the tinterweb at competitive prices and are used on virtually all the layouts in the Wakefield club, even on a very heavy 'MDF box baseboard' design American O scale layout. If you need more adjustability then jig drill some more holes.

I'm sure I've posted this before somewhere but in view of the development of this thread this is my take on crankpin hole drilling. The wheels in the AG range that I have come across with no pin holes are the ex-GWR 4'7.5" ones for the 57xx pannier and 66xx tank. I understand that these may wel...

I screw the crankpin into the wheel after cs'ing the hole and then back it out third/half way, put a tiny drop of Loctite 601 just below the head and quickly screw it back in. Any excess Loctite will be around the screw head and can easily be wiped of as 601 only goes off when starved of air (or som...

The 'half chairs' that result from brittle C&L chairs splitting can still be used on track built with some rivets (eg every 6th sleeper?) by fitting the halves from either side. The rail is still quite adequately supported.

Totally agree with Terry. A great little event well worth attending.

'Braynerts Sidings' will be having its first outing as a 'work in progress'. How far the work will have progressed by then you'll have to come along and see!

Dave and Flymo’s thoughts about timber ring true for me too. I bought some very long lengths of 2x1 many years ago and left it on the stairs leading up to the (then) workshop. It didn’t get used for the layout in its new location, but when we used it for supports and suchlike it was still dead stra...

Looks so good it almost make me want to buy one! And that's something for a GWR man to admit.

Although, at the end of the day, it's only a glorified King innit..............................

I used to love seeing them at Crewe and Chester when I was a lad.

First time I've visited this thread but the mention above of heat guns is interesting. If anyone watches 'The Repair Shop' on BBC 2 you might have seen the repair of an Antimony jewellery box with low melt solder (Antimony has a very low melting point) and the guy doing it used a high temperature he...

The use of Shellac to harden card was extensively recommended in all the magazines when I was a lad and it became a process that was undertaken with a semi-religious zeal by many people - me included! I think I bought the flakes and the meths from the chemist aged around 10 years old and had to answ...

I believe the angle of the teeth on a piercing saw blade should face the handle, the cut being made on the 'back' stroke.

The Branchlines/South East Finecast 16xx chassis has CSB points etched in - but as it was designed by Justin then I'm not surprised!

PhilipT wrote:Always used butanone without problems.

+1

David T., if you have all the skills that you profess to have (and I don't doubt you) then why not offer yourself as a demonstrator at one of the society's events? Nice of you to suggest it! However, it's a case of Jack of All Trades and Master of None, I'm afraid, although I am quite a good bodger...