Re: Tim V's workbench - latest shenanigans

Natalie Graham

Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Natalie Graham » Sat Jan 25, 2014 4:10 pm

I trained the spaniel to find little bits dropped on the carpet. I'd find a bit of scrap of similar size or another one of what I'd lost and pretend to throw it in the direction of where the first one went and he's sniff it out. I don't have him any more, sadly. I wonder if the cat could be trained.

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John McAleely
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby John McAleely » Sat Jan 25, 2014 5:35 pm

John McAleely wrote:Just wearing an apron is a big win, from my experience. I don't clip mine anywhere, and it still routinely saves many things from the carpet. Well worth putting on for that reason alone.


Tim V wrote:Umm, but I find things bounce off and into the clutches of the Carpet God, never to be seen again. This way, the apron makes a bowl shape, the better to catch items. It works, as I dropped a piece of 0.33mm wire (twice) just now!


I'm sure clipping is better at catching, but (perhaps it is the slightly coarse texture of my apron) I've been pleased by the number of catches the apron makes that the gap between my legs doesn't...

Lindsay G
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Lindsay G » Sat Jan 25, 2014 5:53 pm

I just spread out an old light self-coloured sheet on the floor beneath me and the work area and have had no problems since using it (assuming items fall rather than ping of tweezers). I don't have a carpet but the original tongue & grooved floor boards on which bits can bounce off for quite a distance or really small pieces can go down the spaces between boards. Recently, it proved handy when using the lathe as well - just gathered up the sheet by the 4 corners and emptied the swarf into the bin (having checked that I hadn't dropped any little pieces first).

Lindsay

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Russ Elliott
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Russ Elliott » Sat Jan 25, 2014 8:57 pm


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David B
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby David B » Sat Jan 25, 2014 11:13 pm

Now all we need is magnetic brass!

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grovenor-2685
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby grovenor-2685 » Sun Jan 26, 2014 12:31 am

Its a metal detector, not a magnet.
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Philip Hall
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Philip Hall » Sun Jan 26, 2014 3:45 am

I have a narrow shelf/tray, made from very stiff mounting card, screwed to the underside of the front edge of the workbench and it catches most things that fall off the front, and all the filings that normally drop all over your trousers as well. I have arranged gaffer tape around the vice so filings and parts that drop out of the vice cannot drop through any gaps. When the card gets really grubby it can easily be replaced.

Philip

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Andy W
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Andy W » Sun Jan 26, 2014 8:24 pm

"Just wearing an apron is a big win" I've heard people refer to the P4 clan as a brotherhood - now I know why!
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Terry Bendall
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Terry Bendall » Mon Jan 27, 2014 7:18 am

When something drops, there is a tendency to move your legs together to try to catch what you drop. You do however have to be careful. I did that once when I dropped my scalpel ..... :(

Terry Bendall

Tor Giffard

Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Tor Giffard » Mon Jan 27, 2014 7:23 am

...an old white bedsheet laid out on the carpet under your chair/bench each time that you model means that anything dropping to the floor is very conspicuous.

Dave

Jan
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Jan » Mon Jan 27, 2014 10:51 am

Different components have different escape radii;

Craig Welsh brake lever guards, maybe a foot to eighteen inches.
LMS BR coupling hooks - 2+ feet. Only stopped by the skirting board.
Wizard Models screw couplings - 8 to 10 inches. I credit the floppiness of the assemblage with having a restrictive impact on the airflow...
Kean Maygib 3 link links... who knows? Small enough to nestle in the valleys of the weft and weave..

Most things bounce forward, but it's a tremulous moment when you have to step back to commune with the carpet god (buff - no help at all...)

Cheers

Jan

John Fitton

Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby John Fitton » Mon Jan 27, 2014 12:22 pm

Jan wrote:Different components have different escape radii;

Craig Welsh brake lever guards, maybe a foot to eighteen inches.
LMS BR coupling hooks - 2+ feet. Only stopped by the skirting board.
Wizard Models screw couplings - 8 to 10 inches. I credit the floppiness of the assemblage with having a restrictive impact on the airflow...
Kean Maygib 3 link links... who knows? Small enough to nestle in the valleys of the weft and weave..

Most things bounce forward, but it's a tremulous moment when you have to step back to commune with the carpet god (buff - no help at all...)

Cheers

Jan

Interesting concept Jan, "Escape radii". I find the escape radius is proportional to the rarity value of the piece being dropped. My railway (and work bench) is in my basement. Hard concrete floor, painted grey, no carpets. Collisions are fully elastic, so some bounces are quite long, and generally under the work bench.

allanferguson
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby allanferguson » Mon Jan 27, 2014 1:37 pm

For many years my workbench was the dining room table. The carpet was a 1950's Paisley pattern kind of mix. When we moved I had to warn the new owners to be careful......
It was also relevant that I once spilt a bottle of Butanone on the table. Frantic work with the Kitchen towel ensured it didn't spill onto the carpet, and it was pretty well cleaned up. Interestingly there was no visible damage to the surface. But it took weeks to get rid of the smell.
I'm better organised nowadays....... I hope!

Allan F

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Tim V
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Tim V » Sun Apr 06, 2014 10:04 am

Finally doing some modelling, getting ready for the next outing at Epsom.

Assembled umpteen Mike Clark screw link couplings. Making one is fiddly, but making several is much easier, get into a routine.
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)

nberrington
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby nberrington » Sun Apr 06, 2014 12:52 pm

John Fitton wrote:
Jan wrote:Different components have different escape radii;

Interesting concept Jan, "Escape radii". I find the escape radius is proportional to the rarity value of the piece being dropped. My railway (and work bench) is in my basement. Hard concrete floor, painted grey, no carpets. Collisions are fully elastic, so some bounces are quite long, and generally under the work bench.


Particularly rare items have the ability to evaporate altogether. I have just renovated the basement, including sanding and painting the floor. Components dropped over the years were found here and there, exept those that are irreplaceable. Alien abduction or standard golden retriever diet. No idea.

Neil

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Tim V
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Tim V » Sun Apr 06, 2014 2:53 pm

A problem has been found with my pinned axles.

Although the ends of the axles showed pins, the axle was turning in the wheels!

A strip down revealed that although there were pins in the axles, they didn't extend into the wheels :!:

Looks like I didn't do a good job of drilling the wheels. I was able to extract the axle, press the pins out, and rebuild that axle. Lucky my locos are always built so the axles can be dropped out :P

Don't ask me how it happened, I don't know :shock:
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)

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Tim V
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Tim V » Sun Apr 20, 2014 9:58 am

Currently in the garage working on the lighting rig, getting ready for Epsom. By setting up string lines, using plumb bobs, and temporary supports, I'm getting it vertical.

IMG_0147.JPG

Even though the garage is large (27'x17'), I have to leave bits of the layout on the frames, there isn't much space around the edges!

IMG_0148.JPG
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Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)

Colin Parks

Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Colin Parks » Wed Apr 23, 2014 8:50 pm

Hi Tim,

The layout looks amazingly delicately balanced. How on earth do you avoid damage to the edges of the boards during such work?

All the best,

Colin

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Tim V
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Tim V » Wed Apr 23, 2014 9:07 pm

They aren't being worked on. I just don't get near them, unless I am moving them around. The bits with track on are safely packed away, but the central scenic boards were too big to take off and pack up, so I just left them on top of the frames but displaced from their normal positions.
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)

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Tim V
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Tim V » Fri May 02, 2014 8:23 pm

An engine failure at Epsom, which I thought was a corrupted decoder - as there was no speed out of the loco, turned out to be a shot motor. It's a Mashima flat can motor. So I had to remove the pin from the wheel, extract the gearbox. On dismantling, the brush springs looked a bit suspicious, so I swapped them with those from a similar but longer motor. On testing, plenty of speed, but the motor got very hot. It was taking 200ma. I think that was why the springs were short! Probably also means the magnets have lost their strength.

Have swapped in a new motor - put the pin back in the original hole, and loco repaired.

I am now at the point where a loco failure at a show is not catastrophic, I do not attempt to repair at shows, but substitute a spare loco. Repairs are made at home with the full facilities of the workshop.
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)

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Andy W
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Andy W » Fri May 02, 2014 10:04 pm

Tim, why did you need to unpin the wheel? Could you not unscrew the motor from the gearbox?
Make Worcestershire great again.
Build a wall along the Herefordshire border and make them pay for it.

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Tim V
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Tim V » Sat May 03, 2014 12:00 pm

The lower screw was inaccessible behind the worm wheel!
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)

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Andy W
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Andy W » Sat May 03, 2014 1:40 pm

Ah! Understood.
Make Worcestershire great again.
Build a wall along the Herefordshire border and make them pay for it.

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Tim V
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby Tim V » Sat May 17, 2014 5:57 pm

Following the excellent MERG workshop a couple of weekends ago, I have been looking at options for improving short circuit detection on the layout.
Tim V
(Not all railways in Somerset went to Dorset)

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John McAleely
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Re: Tim V's workbench

Postby John McAleely » Sat May 17, 2014 6:11 pm

Tim V wrote:options for improving short circuit detection on the layout.


Sounds intriguing. What do you have in mind?


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