GW wheel press

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philpill

GW wheel press

Postby philpill » Tue Feb 23, 2016 6:02 am

thinking of buying a GW wheel press /quartering jig what am members view on it read article by Alan Sibley in MRJ re third hand needed so the questions are
1) has a member used the jig without the problem Alan had i.e. to secure one side of jig to leave both hands free
2) if a problem did happen did they follow Alan advice or use a different method
also has anybody used the jig when an axle passes thro a fixed top hat bearing so the frames have to be between the jig sides ?
thanks in anticipation

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steamraiser
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby steamraiser » Tue Feb 23, 2016 6:48 am

I use the GW jig for pressing all my loco wheels on their axles.

The jig works by pressing the axle into the wheel stopping when the end of the axle reaches the outer face.

You need to be sure your axles are the correct length.
I have a batch of axles that are about 0.5mm short so have adjusted the plungers accordingly.

The jig works by locating the two wheels on to sprung pegs, the crank pins engaging in a machined slot.
Then place your axle (Through your chassis?) between the two halves of the jig and squeeze until it will go no further.

I use my back to back gauge so that I can check that I have adjusted the pegs correctly, and the back to back is correct.

As it stands you cannot use this jig for wheels for outside framed locos without modification.

Gordon A

Philip Hall
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Philip Hall » Tue Feb 23, 2016 7:37 am

The GW jig is an indispensable tool and works fine as supplied without any modification. Alan Sibley's modifications were, I think, personal preference. It is designed to be used in one hand but can be used, with care, in a VERY good large and true vice with blind jaws. It is simple enough to to thread through a chassis but you should check what washers are required to take up sideplay. Some people prefer to slip thin packing pieces around the wheel rim to offer additional support when the jig is pressed together, but equally many don't bother.

It is perhaps easier to arrange for bearings to be dropped out of the chassis so that assembly can be done out of the chassis, but not essential. As Gordon says, make sure the axles supplied are of the correct length.

Philip

Enigma
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Enigma » Tue Mar 01, 2016 9:17 pm

I use the GW press for fitting all my driving wheels. With AG or MS plastic centred wheels I start the 'pressing' lightly by hand until the axles are starting to enter the wheels and then transfer to my vice so that I can more easily check the B-2-B with the gauge. Brass wheels for split axles need more pressure so the vice comes into play earlier. I must admit that adjusting the sprung plungers can be a bit of an awkward matter as I must have moved them from their original setting at some time and now the axle doesn't appear to end up in quite the right place in the wheel centre. However, they are correctly quartered so some judicious tapping of the axle ends soon gets the wheels correctly positioned and B-2-B'd. I have also adapted mine to fit outside cranks (for an 08 diesel shunter) by fitting a longer 3/16th silver steel rod in the top holes and using the 'old' long rod in the bottom holes. There are small allen key grub screws that allow this to be done. Gordon Luck suggested this to me - it's not my original idea!

Here is a photo of my press in use fitting brass wheels onto a split axle in a High Level gearbox.

Wheel Fitting.3.A.jpg
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Knuckles
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Knuckles » Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:35 pm

I keep trying to buy one and a puller but can't seem to get a hold.
I must be calling wrong time. Will keep trying.


Based on above photograph how do you put the crankpins in? Looks like you will crush them and Alan Gibson wheels hard to fit if chassis already assembled.
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Mostly 3D Printed Loco kits etc.

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https://www.sparkshotcustomcreations.co ... e77d42.pdf

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jon price
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby jon price » Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:56 pm

The crankpin fits into a slot, which is what sets the quartering
Connah's Quay Workshop threads: viewforum.php?f=125

Philip Hall
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Philip Hall » Wed Mar 02, 2016 1:17 am

Whilst the vice is a nice idea, it's better if the jaws are blind rather than serrated, as the jig is made from aluminium and might suffer some nibbles from the vice jaws. I think it's also important that it should be a good, large and true vice, otherwise undue pressure can be exerted and, again, as it's aluminium, some strain might occur.

Adjusting the depth stop is a simple matter of turning the allen key in the end of the sprung plungers until they are dead level with the front of the jig when they are pushed in.

The slot for the crankpins is of limited depth, so long pins for return cranks etc need to be shortened just enough to go in.

But there is, for me, no other way to put on a wheel.

Knuckles, you're not having much luck with GW! I'll try and give George a call in the morning to check all is well.

Philip

Terry Bendall
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Terry Bendall » Wed Mar 02, 2016 7:58 am

Philip Hall wrote:it's better if the jaws are blind rather than serrated,


A way of avoiding damage to the wheel press, or anything else for that matter, from serrated jaws is to make a pair of simple protectors using sheet aluminium bent to a right angle. They will in time become damaged if small objects are clamped up but can be easily replaced.

Terry Bendall

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Knuckles
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Knuckles » Wed Mar 02, 2016 8:39 am

Oooh, it has slots in...problem solved. :D


With contacting George maybe I have called at bad times or when he is possibky at work or out or whatever. It happens.


Does he have an online catalogue per chance? A search yelded his phone number but no details on product lists etc.
“He who dares not offend cannot be honest.” Thomas Paine

https://www.sparkshotcustomcreations.com/
Mostly 3D Printed Loco kits etc.

SCC Price list (7/4/22)
https://www.sparkshotcustomcreations.co ... e77d42.pdf

philpill

Re: GW wheel press

Postby philpill » Wed Mar 02, 2016 10:57 am

I ordered the other week had to let the phone ring for sometime perhaps he doesnt hear it no online site or online ordering has to be a cheque but order were delivered quickly this was also the case when i ordered a rolling machine from him i havent a large bench vice but recently bought a stanley portable vice not tried but has an opening of 110mm and smooth jaws

Enigma
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Enigma » Wed Mar 02, 2016 12:59 pm

I've not noticed any serrations developing on my press. If you're having to squeeze so hard that they appear then I reckon there's something wrong!

David Thorpe

Re: GW wheel press

Postby David Thorpe » Wed Mar 02, 2016 1:24 pm

I don't think he takes credit or debit cards so your best bet is to write to him enclosing a cheque for the appropriate amount, in this case £26 (£24.50 for the wheel press plus £1.50 p&p).

DT

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steve howe
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby steve howe » Wed Mar 02, 2016 2:18 pm

Worth every penny! the crankpin slots only take 14ba screws, so bushed crankpins have to be assembled after the wheels are on, but little matter. Certainly takes a lot of the angst out of setting up a chassis.

Steve

David Knight
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby David Knight » Wed Mar 02, 2016 2:27 pm

Is there any way someone without a UK bank account can get one? ISTR S4Stores used to carry them but I've not seen them in a long time (or my memory is a bit dodgy on that point).

Cheers,

David

Philip Hall
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Philip Hall » Wed Mar 02, 2016 3:05 pm

I have just spoken to George and he's well and prospering, which is good news.

He doesn't have a website, doesn't take credit cards, doesn't do Internet banking and prefers not to have payments direct to his bank account, not least because charges for receiving payments from overseas can be horrendous.

However, overseas orders are no problem, just write to him with a cheque drawn on a UK bank in sterling. Any bank or money transfer service should be able to provide this, however, (speaking as a retired banker) the cheque MUST be drawn in the UK, merely being drawn in sterling on a foreign bank will not do; it will still incur heavy charges in the UK. Possibly a good idea to telephone him first to find out the postage for whatever part of the world you live in. He does take a little while to answer the phone so hang on for a bit!

UK orders, just send a cheque as per the costs in his MRJ advert.

He did say that he had an order a little while ago for a fairly substantial amount and the sender didn't give his address or telephone number! But none of us are that daft are we?

Knuckles and David, PM sent as well.

Philip

DougN
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby DougN » Thu Mar 03, 2016 3:27 am

Thanks for that Phil. I am some what surprised that there is incomming charges from the owner's UK bank for the transfer...Please don't mention this to the Aussie banks as they have a way of charging to do practically everything :evil: .... the only thing they don't seem to charge for is a deposit.

I managed to get a GW wheel press from a local member who passed away a few years ago :(. Thanks for the note about adjusting the wheel holders as mine seem to allow the axle to go too far through the wheel.
Doug
Still not doing enough modelling

junctionmad

Re: GW wheel press

Postby junctionmad » Thu Mar 03, 2016 7:01 am

Philip Hall wrote:I have just spoken to George and he's well and prospering, which is good news.

He doesn't have a website, doesn't take credit cards, doesn't do Internet banking and prefers not to have payments direct to his bank account, not least because charges for receiving payments from overseas can be horrendous.

However, overseas orders are no problem, just write to him with a cheque drawn on a UK bank in sterling. Any bank or money transfer service should be able to provide this, however, (speaking as a retired banker) the cheque MUST be drawn in the UK, merely being drawn in sterling on a foreign bank will not do; it will still incur heavy charges in the UK. Possibly a good idea to telephone him first to find out the postage for whatever part of the world you live in. He does take a little while to answer the phone so hang on for a bit!

UK orders, just send a cheque as per the costs in his MRJ advert.

He did say that he had an order a little while ago for a fairly substantial amount and the sender didn't give his address or telephone number! But none of us are that daft are we?

Knuckles and David, PM sent as well.

Philip


You do have to wonder in the 21st century the man couldn't arrange to take PayPal. It can be done as a money transfer where the sender pays all feels , the receiver gets exactly the top line figure

Sterling Cheques drawn on a uk bank are typically known as " bank drafts " , they cost a fortune and date from the 1700s :D

Personally , and no disrespect intended , if you are in business , no matter how small , one should seek to make things as easy as possible for ones customers

Ps despite what was said. I know of no charges that are applied to the receiver for direct electronic bank transfer where the currency is in the receivers currency

Personally I'd stick sterling cash in the envelope for amounts under 100 quid before I'd pay for a draft

Peace and love :D

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James Wells
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby James Wells » Thu Mar 03, 2016 7:30 am

Enigma wrote:I've not noticed any serrations developing on my press. If you're having to squeeze so hard that they appear then I reckon there's something wrong!


You can use your hand with the press, the difference in force between fingers and deforming the surface from a vice is quite considerable!

When got my press aged 16 (16 years ago) and didn't have a proper vice at the time and did quite well squeezing the press by hand.

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Will L
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Will L » Thu Mar 03, 2016 8:53 am

I'm not convinced a vice is needed either, I always do Gibson wheels by hand. Other wheels in other gauges may need more push I suppose.

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Horsetan
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Horsetan » Thu Mar 03, 2016 9:13 am

junctionmad wrote:
Philip Hall wrote:I have just spoken to George and he's well and prospering, which is good news.

He doesn't have a website, doesn't take credit cards, doesn't do Internet banking and prefers not to have payments direct to his bank account, not least because charges for receiving payments from overseas can be horrendous.

However, overseas orders are no problem, just write to him with a cheque drawn on a UK bank in sterling. Any bank or money transfer service should be able to provide this, however, (speaking as a retired banker) the cheque MUST be drawn in the UK, merely being drawn in sterling on a foreign bank will not do; it will still incur heavy charges in the UK. Possibly a good idea to telephone him first to find out the postage for whatever part of the world you live in. He does take a little while to answer the phone so hang on for a bit!

UK orders, just send a cheque as per the costs in his MRJ advert.

He did say that he had an order a little while ago for a fairly substantial amount and the sender didn't give his address or telephone number! But none of us are that daft are we?....


You do have to wonder in the 21st century the man couldn't arrange to take PayPal. It can be done as a money transfer where the sender pays all feels , the receiver gets exactly the top line figure

Sterling Cheques drawn on a uk bank are typically known as " bank drafts " , they cost a fortune and date from the 1700s :D

Personally , and no disrespect intended , if you are in business , no matter how small , one should seek to make things as easy as possible for ones customers

Ps despite what was said. I know of no charges that are applied to the receiver for direct electronic bank transfer where the currency is in the receivers currency

Personally I'd stick sterling cash in the envelope for amounts under 100 quid before I'd pay for a draft


George's old world transaction methods make his products more exclusive. Just watch what happens each time his wheel press pops up on eBay - people are desperate to have it, driven partly by the fact that they don't have to write a cheque / order a bank draft, write a letter, post it, etc.

Works both ways.
That would be an ecumenical matter.

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John Bateson
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby John Bateson » Thu Mar 03, 2016 9:34 am

What would be useful is if a friendly soul either living close to George or attending at a show such as Scaleforum would buy one for a member living abroad and post it himself (or herself) with a commitment from the member living in foreign parts to purchase and cover the postage costs using PayPal as the medium for the transaction.
I can assure readers that this works quite well!
John
Slaving away still on GCR stuff ...

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James Wells
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby James Wells » Thu Mar 03, 2016 9:39 am

junctionmad wrote:Personally , and no disrespect intended , if you are in business , no matter how small , one should seek to make things as easy as possible for ones customers


This is a small business in the niche market of finescale model railways, I would suggest that making arrangements for cards, etc., would simply be too much hassle.

Horsetan wrote:George's old world transaction methods make his products more exclusive. Just watch what happens each time his wheel press pops up on eBay - people are desperate to have it, driven partly by the fact that they don't have to write a cheque / order a bank draft, write a letter, post it, etc.


Getting a cheque book isn't complicated either - we didn't use to have a cheque book for our joint account. So we asked the bank if we could have one, and they sent us one in the post within days. Easy!

dal-t
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby dal-t » Thu Mar 03, 2016 9:49 am

George isn't alone in refusing to recognise the 20th century has been and gone. There are a couple of useful items I want fairly keenly at present, both only available from UK sources that not only won't do internet sales, but apparently require you to 'qualify' for owning their products by rolling up to whatever local show they next choose to attend, standing around for hours in a mob of people unable to decide whether they want a left-handed monkeywrench or a spiral snapdragon-holder, and finally handing over grubby British banknotes or clunky British coins, all for the honour of receiving the required gizmo. One even mentions Postal Orders - I do recall those things from the 1950s, when I thought I might become a stamp collector (we all make mistakes in life), but the last time I saw one was probably in the mid-1970s, when I discovered that the charge for purchasing the note was greater than its nominal value. Do they still exist outside museums, I wonder - and should I have bought more, even at such a rip-off, to sell on with profit now to those who wish to trade with such anachronisms? I must say, for a nation of so-called shopkeepers, the UK does seem to have become particularly adept at shooting itself in the commercial foot lately. Good luck to George and his idiosyncratic business model, but I am sooo glad I bought his products (second-hand) while still resident in the land that time look likely to forget.
David L-T

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Noel
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Noel » Thu Mar 03, 2016 11:29 am

Writing as a customer, I don't do internet payment either. I recently had to contact a [non-railway modelling] site as the only methods of accepting payment they admitted to on the site were Paypal and a credit card, neither of which I use. They do take cheques it transpired, so will get an order shortly. Having grown up with paper records, and used them a lot at work, a paper trail can be very useful on occasion, and means that both ends of the transaction can have a conversation about what went wrong, with evidence which can be examined. With IT, only one party has the records and every one else has perforce to trust them. And, as with any human activity, systems can go wrong, either because of mistakes, or because of intentional interference for various reasons. And how often have you heard "Well, the computer says this, so it must be right...?"

Maybe George isn't so unreasonable.
Regards
Noel

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Andy W
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Re: GW wheel press

Postby Andy W » Thu Mar 03, 2016 2:00 pm

George is definitely "old school". Not good for payments maybe, but his "last century" brain and skills produce excellent products. Long may he thrive.
Make Worcestershire great again.
Build a wall along the Herefordshire border and make them pay for it.


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