Simon's workbench

Simon

Flying Squad
iploffy said:
My misses complains if I make mess, well my workshop is in the kitchen, then I get called anti social if I go outside or when I do get to go outside I get called back in every few mins


Ian

Such is life! Actually, I haven't really got anything to complain about, if I was on my own I'd just be miserable or otherwise distracted and not get anything done at all ;D

In the meantime I've soldered the crossing up, got it wrong, unsoldered it and am now filing and fitting again :headbang:
 

Simon

Flying Squad
Crossing [s:bvk3cqnn]codged up[/s:bvk3cqnn] soldered together, now fixed to timbering with assorted and chopped up Cliff chairs to try and replicate the prototype.

index.png

Note to esteemed supplier of quality plans, please could they be to 45mm gauge rather than 44.45 :headbang: next time!!

The above picture exacerbates the problem through parallax errors, but the plan is undergauge.

Mind you, I only know this because I have a gauge made by an esteemed supplier of track gauges :thumbs:

Next stage is to chair up and fix the second stock rail I guess, although having said that and noting gauge problems and experience at this stage a year ago, I think I ought instead to bend and fit the wing and closure rail for the inner route first, from which I can lay the second stock rail in gauge :scratch:

I guess this partly due to this being gauge one, but the more you read about how real turnouts were constructed the more you realise how much of a simplification and abbreviation your model effort is going to be. All those bolts and spacer blocks around the crossing being the current case in point.
 

Steve Cook

Flying Squad
Coming on Simon  :thumbs:

Are you soldering the Vee together with the rails mounted in the chairs at the correct inclination (not that I can see another way of doing it mind!)?

Steve
 

bogusman

Western Thunderer
Certainly looks good Simon. As for being anti-social noticed some warhammer in the background, entice the boys out then there can be no comments of being out in the shed on your own :thumbs:.

Pete
 

Simon

Flying Squad
That's two complete postings lost by the bleddy computer.

So, thanks for the encouragement, the short answer is "yes" and here is a picture of progress as of now.
index.jpg

Achieving the twist at the knuckle to get the wing rail to lie down was flipping difficult.

Enough to send a chap back to Manning Wardles and lovely soft nickel silver rail :headbang:[/attach]
 
S

Simon Dunkley

Guest
Looking good!
Simon said:
Note to esteemed supplier of quality plans, please could they be to 45mm gauge rather than 44.45 :headbang: next time!!
Do not forget to allow for paper shrinkage as it dries out: best way to solve this is to not wait 3 years from printing before building...
(They were set to a "true" gauge of 44.85mm, and printed out as such.)
Mind you, I only know this because I have a gauge made by an esteemed supplier of track gauges :thumbs:
Must be the passage of time, as you were distinctly told not to trust the paper plan to the finest details and to use the track gauge, which is accurate as it was made that way.

Edit: never trust any paper based plan!
 
S

Simon Dunkley

Guest
iploffy said:
Fight Fight  Fight
Don't be silly: even if we wanted to fight, it is doubtful that either of us could be bothered to turn up.
 

28ten

Guv'nor
Simon said:
That's two complete postings lost by the bleddy

Enough to send a chap back to Manning Wardles and lovely soft nickel silver rail :headbang:

Profile info > show posts> drafts. And you should find them saved
 

Neil

Western Thunderer
iploffy said:
Fight Fight  Fight
Simon Dunkley said:
Don't be silly: even if we wanted to fight, it is doubtful that either of us could be bothered to turn up.

"I challenge you to a duel, my choice of weapon; studied indifference."
 
S

Simon Dunkley

Guest
7.gif
 

Simon

Flying Squad
Courtesy of the Guv's guidance, herewith earlier post that I thought lost:

Thanks for the encouragement :) :)

Steve - in a word, yes. They are far enough away from the soldering not to melt, I (eventually) clamped the rails into the chairs at the right angle by placing the workpiece in a "softwood sandwich" with a smaller piece of softwood holding the V on to the base timber with one of those new fangled spring clamps. The base timber was held in the vice and all was ready for successful soldering.

The key was to carefully file the splice and point rails according to the "bible", ensuring that when they were clamped together sideways (bulldog clip and two small bits of timber) they create the correct rail inclination on each rail.

Blooming fiddly. Results good (eventually) except for bit of a soldery gap along running surface owing to "fiddle like" filing action, but this is livable with.

Next shenanigans was getting the twist in the knuckle to get the wing rail to "lie down" - difficult and I really wished I was using nickel silver at this point as this stainless steel is mechanically tough.

I eventually managed it and think I've maintained sensible geometry and scaleone32ish flangeways.

Update

I have just put the knuckle twist in the second wing rail and made a slightly better job of it.

Time to go and open a bottle and make a curry now :wave:
 
S

Simon Dunkley

Guest
To which Simon are you referring?

I made up a couple of roller gauges, which got passed on to others: to get a small batch done would cost rather a lot of money, due to the setting up time for an automated lathe, so unless a hundred or so were required, it could be cost prohibitive.

They are a simple turning job, providing location for the rails but not clamping them or holding them in any way, i.e. there is a 1.5mm circle sticking out. But there is a clever twist to them, and the ScaleOne32 track standards, as you will see...

So, a piece of rod is put in the 3 jaw chuck (or held between centres if you are properly trained): you need about 60mm plus chucking length. Diameter is unimportant, but you want to be able to find it. You may wish to put a small dimple in one end and put a rotating live centre in the tailstock to hold things true and steady - you will know your own lathe better than I, and whether this is required.

Make a smooth cut to get everything to the same diameter - if you have power feed, this is the time to use it.

The best tool to use for the rest of this is a parting tool, or one ground to have a narrow but square end.
You now need to reduce the diameter by a couple of millimetres for 3mm from the tailstock end: these dimensions are not critical, but you need to stick to them when you make the cuts. Pull back the tool and advance it towards the chuck. You need to cut into the metal and leave a 1.5mm wide circular prong, to locate one of the running rails and checkrails. Remove metal to a depth of 2mm (or whatever you cut to) and a distance of 42mm. Pull the tool out again, and leave another 1.5mm prong, then advance again and cut for 3mm plus the width of your tool, then part off the roller gauge but leave the rest of the metal in the chuck.

Now for the clever bit...

Measure your roller gauge to find the smaller diameter and bore out the stub in the chuck to this diameter: you want a sliding fit, but no slop. Then part off a ring 0.5mm wide.

You have now made your gauge.

It is used "plain" for straight track and curves above 3m/10' radius. Below this, you pop the washer onto one side to widen the gauge. You also use this wider (2mm) dimension to set any check rails on this gauge - check rails are set to the check gauge from the opposite running face.

Simon and I have pondered whether or not the gauge widening should be applied below 15'/5m, but have not come to any firm conclusions yet.

Since I need to make one of these for myself, I will take photos as I go along. To those who say they cannot afford a lathe, I would say that you can: a small lathe such as a Sieg C0 is a couple of hundred pounds new - with accessories closer to ?300, I expect. I picked up a Myford ML10 for ?400 last October, funded by selling some unwanted stuff on Ebay. This is less than the cost of most 0 gauge kits, and frees you up to sharpen as many pencils as you would like, or if you buy Peter Wright's book "Model Engineering: a Foundation Course" you can learn how to use it and other tools properly.

Actually, you should buy the book and read it anyway: terrific value.
 

28ten

Guv'nor
Simon Dunkley said:
To which Simon are you referring?
Any Simon  :))
in the past I have made 3 point gauges which I found quite handy, so I will have to see what I can come up with.
I am just being lazy, but I guess I will have to turn my own then  :) and a B2B as well, and a form tool  :)
 
S

Simon Dunkley

Guest
28ten said:
and a form tool  :)
I can help you there, but last time we had some done (about 6-7 years ago) they were best part of ?100 each.

What lathe do you have? You can always borrow mine - if you have a Myford-Dixon QCT, it is already set up.
 

28ten

Guv'nor
Simon Dunkley said:
I can help you there, but last time we had some done (about 6-7 years ago) they were best part of ?100 each.

What lathe do you have? You can always borrow mine - if you have a Myford-Dixon QCT, it is already set up.
Its a rather heavily modified C3 I simply couldn't get an ML7 in unfortunately  :( Cookie mentioned a from tool so maybe we could spread the setup cost, but its something I need for the Slaters wheels
 
S

Simon Dunkley

Guest
Nothing wrong with a C3.

Cookie has been using my form tool on his ML-10.

You are welcome to borrow it, when would you need it? I will take it out of the tool holder, and you can use it as is, once Steve has finished with it.
 

28ten

Guv'nor
Simon Dunkley said:
Nothing wrong with a C3.

Cookie has been using my form tool on his ML-10.

You are welcome to borrow it, when would you need it? I will take it out of the tool holder, and you can use it as is, once Steve has finished with it.
its nothing urgent, I wont be doing any significant building for a while and the wheels will easily drop out of the PO wagon
 
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