Scalefour Forum

Ah, perhaps I should consider acrylic spray can colours rather than enamels. Ah - yes - should have said that! not only do they dry very quickly, but the result is pretty tough! The frame on my layout was done with enamels and after a few years it is starting to look a bit tatty... Very Best Wishes,

Dave, I shall follow your method, but use an airbrush rather than spray cans to apply the paint, which I was thinking would be better gloss rather than matt. On the subject of paint: are there standard colours for levers i.e. signal red and signal yellow. And what about the shade of blue used for l...

junctionmad wrote:
Err , I meant , great thanks , quite happy to buy an mk1 etch to get the numbers

Ah - that is different

... perils of forum misunderstandings ...


Best WIshes,

Hello Howard, My only concern now is how to paint the levers without gumming up the lever mechanisms. Hello Colin, I did mine by removing them all, then using "Rattle cans" - one coat of grey primer, then a top coat. I masked off the handles and all the bits below the quadrant - you can b...

There were hazards associated with cotton mills not least of which is Byssinosis David This is true - though the mortality rate for Byssinosis is much lower than other industrial lung diseases - I know a couple of ladies in Lancashire who are still drawing their Byssinosis pensions in their 80s... ...

Looking absolutely splendid Ralph - very well done!

You will need a boundary wall round the mill site to isolate it from the Canal and perhaps a fence to the railway embankment. More work to do...

Glad you enjoyed Masson!


Best Wishes,

Oh dear - big and complex subjects! But perhaps some general points. I think cotton has had a bad press because it was the first large-scale factory-based industry, resented by the rich landed gentry as it threatened their exclusive right to wealth. It was easy for such powerful people to point out ...

Satanic, maybe, Dave. And maybe not even that! The cotton industry gets a fair amount of bad press for its mistreatment of children etc - some of which is justified but much of which is completely misinformed. So it is worth remembering that in 1909, a mule spinner in a mill such as this, spinning ...

Ah! All becomes clear - thanks for that.

No small job painting all that brickwork! Don't worry overmuch about covering all the laser lines as the mortar was always black in these Accrington brick mills.

Looking forward to further developments!

Best Wishes,

Splendid work Ralph - I could not have hoped for a better outcome when I first dived in at you! Just one query - I see in the painted shot there is a parapet wall to the left of the decorative screen wall above the rope race. I know this wall is present at the Warwick today, but I do not know if it ...

It seemed best to put some photos here to show the stage that I have reached with my four lever frame assemblies. Hello Colin, That is an extremely tidy and neat piece of work there - very well done. As a designer, it is always gratifying to see someone making an effort to do the job to a proper st...

junctionmad wrote:
OK, so I could buy an etch to get the numbers , great , thanks


dave

I don't recall anyone suggesting that for a moment. The etches Paul was referring to are all in the scrap boxes up and down the land. I have quite a large pile of them as it happens.

Howard my comments come as I build this 59 frame and are based on my experiences My “ wish list “ is just that nothing more The reason I mentioned a test baseboard is that is difficult to “ test the lever frame “ as the micro switches arnt an integral structure and hence as I build each 5 lever set...

I have now added the microswitches , These were far more " fiddley " then I expected What are people using too fix the frame down, I used m2.5 bolts , but the head of these tends to foul the microswitches , and force them further apart then is necessary for good spacing , I cant see any h...

I hope to be at scaleforum , I will be at Telford next week so that may scupper another trip Hello again Dave, If you are able to get to S4um, please bring a couple of quadrant plates with you - you will be surprised how easy it is once you have the knack.. Please don't feel you need to buy a set o...

Hello Dave, Many thanks for your your kind feedback, and I will do my best to respond to your comments which are well recieved. Firstly, as you discovered, your method of forming the quadrant plate and rubbing strips tends to create a result which is not a proper arc and hence causes fouling of the ...

Initially this microswitch ( farnell ) had a straight lever to the roller , this meant the roller contacted the lever near the tip,of the lever , this caused issues with the switch point as the throw was too much imho , so I bent the roller lever so that the roller contacted closer to the pivot of ...

Hello Dave, As promised I have had a quick look at how to achieve what you seem to be after. Of course, this is nothing more than a sketch and I suspect that there are better ways of doing it, but it would work. As you can see, I am suggesting attaching a simple cam (made from a bit of fret waste - ...

Hello Howard, Now, if the locking frame is bolted on from behind, does that mean that the lever frame has to be removed from where it is installed in order to gain access to the bolt heads? Hello Colin, I think it should be not too difficult to fit the locking with the frame in place - I was quite ...

Thanks Howard , I would appreciate a sketch , I was just pondering using the etches remaining to achieve dual switching , Ps , my selected switching position and moving the roller arm closer to the pivot was to increase the hysteresis, personally I would prefer 60 /40 over 80% Hi Dave, Give me a da...

The issue is I would really like a longer travel between switching , ... so that I could get more then 10% travel between switching Its not a show stopper , I can move the microswitches so that I get your 60% 40& (or close enough ) , dave Hello Dave, Ah - Keith's post has helped me to understan...

What I am finding , and for me these frames are electric only , is that the microswitch switches in a very short range typically 5-8mm of the lever travel , i.e. at around 60%,40% , depending on where I position the micro switch frame I can move that 5-8mm anywhere , but I cant arrange a situation ...

I noted that the rear holes on the main frames are tapping size for 8BA, whilst those on the front (i.e. the locking frame fixing points) are clearance for 8BA. The reason for this surely become clear later on in the build. Hello Colin, I just had a re-read of the instruction and realise that they ...

Apart from heat expansion angst, there have been other things going on. 8BA nuts have been added in all positions that could require them. I opted not to rely on tapping the etched holes in the frame and it looked far easier to add a few extra nuts now rather than solder on any lacking nuts later. ...

Hello Dave,

Glad to hear that you are now sorted. There is no problem to substitute M2.5 nuts and bolts - though the brass ones are not massively cheaper.
I will see if an addition to the notes would help people to spot this.

Best Wishes,