Split axle proof of concept

Months ago, I set out to look for a source of split axles. I think the ones in #10 came from the EM Gauge Society, but they require modification for the narrower track of Proto:87. As I was Googling, I came across a post on the Scalefour Forum about making them from thin-walled steel tube. […]

Driver blanks for 622

It has taken a week longer than I wanted to turn the drivers for 622. These are made from 303 stainless steel, which I’m fairly convinced is almost the limit for my little Sherline lathe. Certainly, all tools need to be sharp, and shallow cuts are de rigeur. Along the way, I have seen a […]

Ordering parts for 622

I’m all a-tingle! Today is the day when the designs for 622 start to get realized. I just uploaded the first files for 3D printing at Shapeways. I’ve broken the printing in orders parts – the first for the engineering parts required to make a working model, and the second will be for the details. […]

622 Etching Pattern

I believe I’ve just completed the patterns for 622’s etched parts, although I shall have to go back and check them for certain. It’s funny how time flies; I last worked on these files in July! Anyway, for those who are interested, here are the files. Go ahead, build it!

Soldering wheel centres

I dragged out the resistance soldering unit this morning to solder those centres into their tyres. On the first wheel, I experimented with solder paste and a torch, but ultimately settled on the RSU. So, with only twelve joins to make, I started work with the RSU again. This time, I found that after the […]

Spoke filing fixture

I didn’t write about it before, but filing that first wheel centre was like trying to wash a cat – slippery and occasionally painful. There seemed to be no good way to grasp it. Worse, as I was filing bits away, the challenge levelled up! By the time I was at panther level, I was […]

Any wheel I want

Looking back on 2018, it would be easy to despair about the amount I didn’t accomplish on Pembroke. Two floods put a damper on things (so to speak), and many non-rail projects also ate my year. However, the singular achievement of the year came on January 1st of this new year, when I pulled the […]

Christmas Post

Among the dwindling count of cards arriving in our mailbox this Christmas, there appeared a plump envelope with a strange foreign stamp. It was from Dave Doe, that stalwart defender of Proto:87, that Englishman living in Holland-now-France, that dear old friend. Along with a card, Dave enclosed some wheels that he has discovered. Astonishingly, the […]

Insertion cast wheels

On Wednesday, I managed to get away from the Christmas concerts for a meeting of the North Shore chapter of the local NMRA division. It was Graham Stokes’s annual “Trains and Scones” evening, and as usual he had a little table to show off progress on our current projects. I wanted to show the wheels, […]

Closing in on wheel castings

Thanks to Brian Pate, and to Don Mitchell who suggested I call him, I’ve started vacuuming my castings when I pour them. Brian indicated that he liked to vacuum before and after pouring, but I’ve found the pre-pour treatment makes little difference. The post-pour treatment, on the other hand, dislodges all sorts of bubbles from […]