Scalefour Forum

I prefer to make my own axles with turning centres, as I find that the Ultrascale indents are sometimes a bit too big. I am lucky to have a lathe (only a Unimat SL, probably only a bit younger than me!) and I have made some special jigs to ensure that even the tiniest indent is exactly in the middle...

It’s easy to miss, and I don't think it has always been on the website. I mentioned some years ago to David that I was seeking some decent axle steel, as the silver steel I had was very hard and didn’t give a good finish, and he said that he could sell me some and that’s where I’ve always got it sin...

Bob, axle material from Ultrascale:

https://www.ultrascale.uk/eshop/products/CAT013

Material: EN1A (Leaded)

Tolerance:
(Imperial) +0/-0.0004"
(Metric) +0/-0.01mm

They supply in 6" lengths in eight different diameters.

Philip

It may be that the axle steel stock you have is a fraction out. However, reducing it accurately is not something I would try, not least because I don’t have an accurate collet to hold it. When I have a bearing that is a bit tight I just run a reamer in and out as Will says until I have the clearance...

I suspect that could be a practical consideration, with such a large range of wheels. There could well be dozens of axle lengths if they were to be precisely correct, and differences between batches of mouldings would add to that.

Philip

I've asked him - no interest in correcting it. He said it might be because the plastic boss gets forced outwards when the axle is inserted. Whether that's the case or not, it does seem that some bosses are too proud, and so can be sanded down a bit to meet the axle end. I would be surprised if the ...

I have had this sometimes, and have thought that perhaps the axles for EM and P4 are supplied as identical? My solution has been to make up new ones from the very nice steel stock I get from Ultrascale. If I have done some turning work on the centres I often have to make new axles anyway. Maybe have...

Lovely to see Sid Stubbs giving a talk in his inimitable style. I wish I had been able to be there that year. And some unbelievably youthful members of the Society dotted about the audience!

Philip

I like chads. A bit overscale but still very effective. I had a supply some time ago but I think I may have passed them on.

How Bob ever stayed sane when he chadded the Orford Maltings I shall never know.

Philip

I knew someone would know!

Philip

As promised, a picture of the Peco Wonderful Wagon from 1981. I wouldn’t go in for these commemorative things these days, but that was then and it seemed an idea at the time. I shouldn’t have weathered it though! I found I had just melted some pin point bearings into the axleboxes. The springs were ...

I’ve just found my Wonderful Wagon and it is a bit crude in places and old age has got to the buffer springing, but that’s not a problem since I don’t spring wagon buffers every time. I sorted out the wheels as the tyres had fallen off and glued some bits back on, difficult as much of it is nylon. B...

Who remembers the Peco wagons with sprung suspension? Smooth runners but awful bearings! I’ve still got one (The Royal Wedding one - which I weathered!) and I put pin point bearings in it and it ran very well. I must dig it out sometime and tidy it up. Not prototypical but helpful just to increase ...

I have a Proxxon KS230 mini-bench saw which seems to be a very similar product with about the same power output. It comes with a proper safety guard and without the risk of massive import and collection costs, although a diamond saw blade would be an extra. I have used mine for cutting timber and s...

Why bother? You can get your PCBs from China exactly to your required size and they are double sided for pennies. Some confusion here I think. The reason we have been discussing using a table saw or shear to chop up PCB sheet is for sleepering. You can get sleeper strip and individual sleepers pre-...

It looks ok to me but I don't like the fact that the 'guard' is just an acrylic sheet some considerable distance above the work table and the blade. That would only be a guard against flying debris. I prefer the (admittedly crude) flip down guard over the blade on my Proxxon saw which almost complet...

I agree with only putting the wheels on once. I paint the chassis, at least around the wheels and brakes, with perhaps the brakes bent out of the way of the wheels slightly, and I prepare and paint the wheels before they go on. Almost the last job, apart from some fiddly plumbing close to the wheels...

Well said, Will. A very long time ago, I tried acrylics, thinned with water, through an airbrush. It clogged eventually so I went to clean it out and tried a number of things but the only thing that touched it, and even then not very well, was some stuff called ‘Spray Away’. Halfway through the proc...

Phil, The Proxxon saw has a socket on the back which I connect to the workshop vacuum cleaner. There is a square aperture next to the socket which seems to be open to the interior, so when I turn the vacuum on I put a piece of card against this aperture which is held there by the suction. I also wea...

Phil, I decided upon PCB based track for my storage yards, but the present high cost of PCB sleepering led me to consider cutting up my own, and a friend’s donation of some 1mm sheet cemented the idea. I bought a small Proxxon table saw and a diamond blade and it was quite simple to produce lots of ...

Tony,

It look like your flat bottomed rails are still soldered to rivets. Are these shallower rivets or the standard kind? It also looks like you have moved over to steel rail for the FB or is that an illusion? I thought you were firmly wedded to NS.

Philip

Hello John, I haven't converted one of these (nor a Bachmann 9F for that matter) but I have a feeling that the Hornby model is based on their Railroad model which I believe is more basic than the conventional range. This might make some of the chassis components a bit different from the standard Hor...

I bought a couple of pairs of these, very cheap and they do a good job. They were recommended to me by a 2mm scale modeller:- https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Durable-Electrical-Side-Snip-Flush-Pliers-Cable-Wire-Cutter-Cutting-Plier-Tool/373396368638 Other suppliers may have them at different prices. Jus...

Jeremy, setting out holes in a circle: you can also use the GW Rivet Tool and some calculations. It looks like you have a GW tool and possibly (unlike me) you can handle the trigonometry...

Philip

Yes, sadly Brian Jackson died in late 2020 - there was an obituary in the latest ‘Paddle Wheels’ by John Megoran. As usual, obituaries tell you much more about an interesting man than you thought you knew.

Philip