One of the nice things about keeping a blog is that you can look back and see how long ago you started thinking you were at the point you are now. This stall with the turntable drive has been exactly a month, but last night I declared victory and installed the pit and drive in the layout.
The whole area of the roundhouse and turntable is on its own piece of baseboard so I can take it to the workbench. Installing the pit was therefore straightforward. The drive, however, needs to go on after the baseboard is in place, and that required some contortions that should be required only of Cirque du Soleil performers. Still, holding my tongue just so, I managed to get it all put together.
From above, there’s not much to look at:
All the action is down below. I ran the yellow plastic rod through one of the red sleeves for part of its length, and through a brass tube for the rest. The tube passes through three frame members in its short length, and not having a long-enough drill bit, it took some tricky drilling to get all the holes aligned.
Finally, I cut the yellow rod short and pressed a knob from Rona on the end temporarily. I would like a nicer knob, and the intent of the long brass tube is to provide a bearing for a telescoping brass tube for the nicer knob, which would make the mechanism feel less squishy. However, for now, this one will do.
