Scalefour Forum

If the chassis is the same as it was under DJ Models then I think conversion would be a nightmare. At least I wouldn’t take it on as a job. I do know of someone who has merely ‘turned’ the wheels down under power and that has worked. Apart from Bill, the wheels aren’t available commercially, even Sh...

Thanks Paul, I’ll try the Timebond. And yes, Norman does (or did, not sure if they’re still available) buy his blades. I think it was a question of the time taken to file up his own against machined ones ready to go.

Philip

Terry and Dave, quite right. It has taken me a while to get on with track building but once started, bits fall off the production line fairly steadily. I have just started on the 50 or so half metre lengths of track I shall need for the storage sidings, most of them dead straight so I am building th...

I think this slightly OT foray into benches is really interesting - seeing where people produce their masterpieces or where they throw their efforts at the cat. I am very impressed with your woodworking skills too; to have a bench like that but also to have made the thing yourself is just great. Phi...

I know of three or four people who have a paid for license, but on each occasion the license holder is either at the meeting or in the host house whilst it is being held, by a partner when the other half holds the license for example. I have had a word with our church Zoom organiser, and he tells me...

Thank you Bryan for the pointer to the Smart plugs. I did think about this at one time (things have moved on a bit in the intervening years) and discussed it with our electrician, but we concluded that the expense at that time for limited functionality wasn't worth it. And your reservations about be...

When we built my workshop/railway room I bought a 2.5kw oil filled radiator, as they are one of the most economical. Many makes are available but having sold them when I was working in a hardware store I went for one of the best, De Longhi. It will bring a 20ft x 21ft space (with a big workbench in ...

Steve, I asked Mike King for his comments and he has sent the following: “Nice job of the horsebox from what I can see. The short LSWR horseboxes had no steps at the "non-groom" end, whereas some (but not all) the longer ones did. Gordon Weddell's drawing (LSWR Carriages Vol 3, page 101) s...

John,

Thank you for producing what will surely become a useful tool for us. For years I have used the MRJ conversion tables for 4mm and 7mm when I need to establish drill sizes and dimensions but now being able to swap things around at the click of a mouse is great.

Philip

I remember building a Finney M7 a long time ago and used the EM spacers at the back end to help getting it around curves! Must have been a long time since I am now adapting the Hornby models...

Philip

You don't need Templot to start with, very good though it is. The Society offers free downloads of all sorts of point and crossing templates which are more than adequate to build track on. Indeed, that's the way a lot of us still do it.

Philip

Andrew, I think Devcon is thin enough to be able to just have a smear on each segment of your centres and then to push the rims on. I normally push the rims on whilst the centre is still in the lathe so I can check that it doesn't wobble. If any glue did stray I think it would be simple to pick it o...

Andrew, Very interesting how you decided to do most all of the turning to produce the wheel with normal tools and only fettled the flange with the form tool. I suspect this is the approach I will use when the Society form tool is produced. I can’t produce a taper easily with my Unimat SL so think I ...

Filing down the wheelboss is mentioned several times here. If it is unnecessary for the wheel to run true, without wobble, I wonder why they are made like that? I don’t understand this comment. A wheel MUST run true without wobble, or as near to that ideal as can be achieved. The boss on a wheel do...

I have used Pro Machine Tools several times in the past. https://www.emcomachinetools.co.uk/index.php?route=product/search&search=Unimat%20SL%20belt My only observation is that the SL belts come in two sizes, whereas actually there are three if the machine has a slow speed attachment, which mine...

I think you are best off sticking with the approaches you have used with success up until now. You know it works for you, and it’s pretty easy to get a good result. Struggling to understand a complicated system which might just make things better but then again might not isn't probably a good use of...

Morning Simon, You’ll just need a suitable small tube which will fit in between the frames and be a nice fit over your brake hanger wire. I would blacken the ends of the tube and the inside of the frames where the hanger goes through so there is no chance of getting solder in there. So far, I’ve onl...

No particular size tube really, whatever I have to hand, just a good fit on a suitable wire. I've often used a large stiff paper clip, unbent and straightened, for the beam as it is easily bent to the right shape once it's in the engine. I just 'overbend' it so the chassis rides a little high at the...

William, I've just looked out the enclosed picture of the front of an EM T9 and it does look as though I didn't widen the bogie, merely added an overlay, because the detail on the overlay is not quite as tidy as the original! It also looks like I put the overlay on the top half of the bogie only. Yo...

Hello William, I’m not surprised about the rear motor mount. When I was speaking to Peter’s Spares about the mounts, they said that they had dispensation from Hornby to produce the brass cradle for the motor, but they didn’t bother about the rear mount as there were plenty of spares about. The rear ...

William, I don’t know about the cutout. I don’t think it was on the prototype, and on my 700, which has the same (or similar) tender, I have glued a small rectangle of 5thou styrene over the hole on the outside, and chamfered the edges so with a bit of paint and weathering it looks almost like a sin...

William, I have just had a look at my (unconverted as yet) 6 wheel tender T9. I was reminded of a few things when I looked through the box of bits: Alan Gibson wheels have 2mm wide tyres as you know and with a b-b of 17.7mm gives you 21.7mm to fit in between the frames which on my model are 21.9mm a...

William, You must have an early model as Hornby have corrected the anomaly of the guard irons on later productions, as with the injectors between the driving wheels, similarly the wrong way round. I have converted one of these to EM, where there was enough room, but have one of my own to do for P4. ...

Paul, Although I can’t see much difference in the two bodies, I prefer the colour of the underframe on 49107. However, I think that possibly much the same effect could be achieved with different shades of enamel. I like them both! Although this probably doesn’t help you with a decision. For years no...

Yes, brass can tarnish quickly but it doesn’t corrode in the sense I understand corrosion eg rust etc. However I have found that polishing the tread helps, and I use a rubber wheel in a mini drill which is also useful to impart a better finish to some of our steel wheels.

Philip