Scalefour Forum

Jeremy, yes I thought the collets should be OK but was disappointed! I did have the chance recently of a watchmakers lathe but it was beyond my pocket... Terry, I will have to have a look sometime to see if I can improve things. However, one collet is true but others are not, which points to the act...

Jeremy, I did purchase some Swiss collets for the SL some time ago but only one of them turned out to be remotely accurate! Hence I usually make my own from brass bar, turned and drilled to size and then split after marking for the chuck jaws. I have to make new ones from time to time but it seems t...

Jeremy, It looks as though you are shaping the top lip with a round nosed tool moved in and out and around as necessary, finishing off with a fine file? I don’t have a watchmakers lathe, nor collets of any accuracy, but I have some home made brass collets which I could use. I renew these from time t...

Julian, Most RTR engines will do that these days with a half decent controller, DCC or DC. Occasionally you get a real cracker, like my Hornby 700 and Bachmann Dukedog, both of which have three pole motors! The Hornby T9, like the Black Five, has a five pole job, and I could hardly better it with on...

Hornby don’t say what their gear ratios are but I imagine it could be worked out. I’ve often wondered as I do a conversion, but I doubt the ratio will be more than 30:1 or maybe 35:1. There is a big can motor in a Black Five and Hornby's motors turn over pretty slowly.

Philip

As far as I can recall Alan Gibson did indeed take over the former Studiolith wheels. The remnants of this are in the current range where some wheels are not drilled for a crankpin but merely have a dimple. Some very early AG wheels had the brass centre, but gradually the purely moulded centre super...

A toolmakers clamp would hold the bearing flat on the deck?

Philip

From what I’ve seen so far, John, you have no need to worry...

Philip

John, Doesn’t have to be a vertical drill, it’s just a bit easier to hold the bearing flat on a drilling pad (posh name for a bit of wood). The drill should follow the hole. Don’t run the reamer all the way through at first, because the fit on your chosen axle might not warrant it. Then again, you m...

I would use a drill slightly smaller than 3mm (in a vertical drill if you have one) and then finish off with a reamer.

Philip

Yes, as always it was a very good day out. Good journeys each way (apart from the early start!) although the HST on the way back was uncharacteristically bumpy. Some fine modelling and we bumped into huge numbers of old friends. And some very good food, which is course the only reason we came all th...

I’m with Jim on this, it’s nice to have springing or compensation but is not required on a short wheelbase wagon, so long as the vehicle sits nicely on a sheet of glass, which is actually easier to achieve than you might think. Not over complicating things, as you start, is a very good way to achiev...

The quality is pretty good, Tony, no need to worry. The ‘solid’ feel of trains upon track is quite marked compared to some videos of main line trains on 00 layouts which I have seen recently.

Philip

I haven’t heard of that idea, Dave, but it seems very good. I must try it sometime, but in practice I usually bend them straight again! Where the idea might not help is where the hole in the wheel is not perpendicular, and Chris Pendlenton highlighted this in his MRJ article. Then either drilling ou...

Quite superb Jim. Really looks like one.

Philip

Sackcloth and ashes time, I’m afraid. Dave Holt’s comment about Ultrascale wheels not having a clearance hole for the crankpin but a tapping hole suddenly made me think, have I got this wrong? So I went to the workshop and checked. And of course you’re right, Dave, it is a tapping hole, and the 14BA...

My choice of Okehampton as a prototype was partly because of the interesting workings of the passenger trains. Long ones (Brighton - Plymouth) used to draw up twice, trains would be split and joined up again in both directions, and the shunting of the various sets and light engine movements involved...

Sorry if I haven’t been clear. I was just saying that drilling a recess for the end of the flush Ultrascale crankpin does not affect the use of the GW jig. The jig uses the 14BA or M1 crankpin screw running in a slot to set the quartering, so merely putting a little recess in the wheel to accommodat...

The Gibson wheels would not be drilled to take the Ultrascale crankpins; the hole moulded in them is the right size to enable a 14BA screw to tap its own thread, as with the Gibson M1 screw. Both these are effectively the same outside diameter so will fit in the GW jig, so the quartering is not affe...

I agree with Dave about the sloppy 14BA washers - I have some which are a tighter fit, no idea what size they are or where they came from. If I run out I suppose I could turn up some more but such small things are a bit of a pain to make!

Philip

Julian, When I use the Ultrascale recessed crankpins on a Gibson wheel there are differences to when they are used on an Ultrascale wheel. One is the thread, of course, but the other is that I remove the bottom turned down end of the crankpin. This is designed to go through the turned washer that Ul...

Julian, Such 'basic items' are still hand made, so if there are not stocks, they will have to be made. If you have no luck or cannot wait, I could let you have a couple of the nuts, but not the washers they fit into, as I often don't use those so don't order them. PM me if you wish, but do ask Ultra...

Julian, Yes I do use a primer but usually spray some into the can lid and brush it on with an oldish brush, diluting with cellulose thinners if it gets a bit thick. I don’t want to have paint near hornblocks, bearings and the like, so brushing enables you to control this more easily. The brush will ...

The wait time for Ultrascale wheels is irrelevant in this case since they do not make a wheel that is any closer to the H class than Alan Gibson. Their nearest is a Fowler LMS wheel with 17 spokes but has an excessive crank throw, 13”.

Philip

The nearest wheel I can find is Alan GIbson 4866 or 4866M, a 5’6” wheel with 11.5” or 11” throw, 18 or 17 spoke with the pin between spokes. The prototype (per the revised Society Sharman book) is 5’6”, 16 spoke, 22” throw, pin inline. Bogie is 3’7” 10 spoke. Actual throw is more important (to me) t...