Scalefour Forum

BryanJohnson wrote:Some drums near the loco's smokebox

And in the rest of the picture no end of interesting things that could be modelled - the buildings in the yard, the piles of timber and the general clutter around the tracks.

Terry Bendall

Albert Hall wrote:there was the wheel skate which allowed a wheelset to be raised off the running rails by a small wheeled trolley and the loco to be moved at very reduced speed

Try modelling that in 4 mm scale!

Terry Bendall

steve howe wrote: would it be possible to devise a tutorial so that 'self-taught' lathe users like me can use it properly?!

It is planned to set up something like this once the tools are available. The order for the prototype was placed a few weeks back so I need to check progress.

Terry Bendall

Scalefour News 166 and 167, available in the archive had two articles on making wheels that may be of use. Also try www.mmrs.org.uk/technical/wheels.htm where the late Sid Stubbs outlined his methods which I used for the articles.

Terry Bendall

Very nice Jim. The colour of the tyres looks just right to me as does the dust inside the wheel hubs on the rear wheels. Somethi g that I have yet to develop. Presumably black to start with - or a dark grey and then some weathering?

Terry Bendall

Very nice Ralph. Looking back I see you found some files on the web to produce the lathe models and no doubt you have now found something for the milling machines. In your period there would probably still be some overhead line shaft about in factories but that might be a step too far. :) If you can...

Lots of interesting ideas mentioned Pau and like other things which are a bit unconventional, lots of problems to solve. It will be good to see progress in the flesh at some stage when we can get back to holding exhibitions.

Terry Bendall

I have always used cork sheet underlay, but I wonder if that’s necessary considering I will be working straight onto the paper template. Once the track is finished the paper will be concealed under paint and ballast I guess. There seem to be a number of people who glue the paper down with the track...

Thank you for your kind comments Terry about the workbench. It is the product of my other hobby of woodworking. In which case congratulations. I thought it was one that had been bought. :) I think this slightly OT foray into benches is really interesting I agree. I particularly like the large model...

hollybeau wrote:Furthermore, if you click on the photo and then enlarge it things look more cluttered, and certainly less clean!

It still looks very well organised to me. And I am very envious of the very smart woodworking bench!

Terry Bendall

If areas groups want to meet using a web based hosting service then surely that if up to them to sort and and meet the costs. That way there is no breach of any Ts and Cs that may be in place and those who want to do it meet the cost which seems reasonable to me. Not everyone will want to met this w...

Digest sheet 23.6.3 available at https://www.scalefour.org/members/digests/#23 or for those who have it, on the CD given to you when you joined includes notes on building curved turnouts, including a Y turnout. (Halfway down page 4, LH column.)

Terry Bendall

All this basic info on angles and switch lengths should be readily available within the Digest shouldn't it? It is. See https://www.scalefour.org/members/digests/#23 and other related digest sheets. You don't need Templot to start with, very good though it is Totally agree. Standard turnouts will a...

then it's probably a model of (SR) diagram D1345, Southern Wagons, volume 3 has a drawing of diagram 1345 which shown that as built these wagons had a curved end and it does not show the large bolts (?) at the bottom of the drop down door. Unfortunately there no pictures of any wagons to the diagra...

your "Railway Modelling Using Machine Tools" series in Scalefour News has been an immense help. Thanks Andrew. It is always useful to get some feedback. All the requests have been noted. At the moment the company doing the work are producing a prototype which will be tested to make sure i...

Simon Moore wrote:After a long period sat in the box I decided to try & resurrect it. I decided it's time to try & push myself more.

Good to see what can be done with a bit of time and effort. No reason why a nice model should not come.

Terry Bendall

All very neat Jeremy and you have given me some ideas for future work. The video is well worth watching. The use of a watchmaker's lathe is of course ideal. With a suitable collet and small tool rest, the same job could probably be done on a larger machine. I shall have to give it a try. Terry Bendall

Proton wrote:Agreed, but prefer to avoid transatlantic calls if possible.

Quite understand. I was not aware of your location.

Terry Bendall

An old fashioned telephone call usually works!

Terry Bendall

Just looked at this thread and certainly no problem that it is EM. My view is that fine modelling can be done in any scale/gauge combination and we can all learn from each other. My best explanation is that pressing the wheels on bent the cranks. That could well have happened. One way to avoid it mi...

I think work hardening must have happened because every attempt resulted in a fracture somewhere. One way to avoid this is to anneal the brass. This involves heating the metal to to a fairly bright red in a gas flame (a gas cooker will do for small things) and allowing it to cool slowly in air. I f...

Philip Hall wrote:My only request is that hopefully it will fit my Unimat SL, which I think means a 6mm square shank.

It will be a 6mm square tool.

Alan Turner wrote:Which type is planned for the P4 tool?

It will be the simple square type.

Terry Bendall

Those who have been involved in the planning of the production of a form tool are well aware of the limitations both of sharpening the tool and its use on the smaller lathes. Some of these limitations were outlined in my first post and will be expanded on when we have a production run when detailed ...

A very useful resource Allan and part 2 as well. Thank you for posting them. Like Philip I have wagons that I have built in the past that need re-visiting. Most of us I think try to get better as we do more modelling and what we may have accepted 10 or 20 years ago may not pass muster now. :) The on...

Thanks for the positive response. Reference has been made to the process devised by the late Sid Stubbs and the web site as given by Ralph will give the full details. I wrote about this method and re-profiling wheels back in 2010 in Scalefour News 166 and 167 and for those who do not have paper copi...