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 using a combination of needle nose pliers, fingernails and will … Continue reading Spoke filing fixture
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 first insertion-cast pilot wheel from its mould. This part marks … Continue reading Any wheel I want
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 3mm Society not only offers a range of wheels but … Continue reading Christmas Post
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 the deep recesses of my molds. The resin is Smooth-Cast … Continue reading Closing in on wheel castings
The photo above presents the first four Proto:87 tyres to be found among the chips around my lathe. These are the 30″ pilot wheels, and their brass centres need to have spokes cut in before getting soldered into the tyres. They’re not perfect, but every wheel is better than the last, and I think these will be good enough. At least, if 622’s engine truck … Continue reading First four tyres
Parts for the first wheel rolled off the lathe this week. The engine truck wheels are only 8 mm in diameter, and have eight spokes. The spokes themselves are only a couple of millimetres long, and so, I have elected to make these wheels in two parts – a tyre and a centre. I actually formed six centres (a couple of extra never hurts), but … Continue reading Wheel Progress
I didn’t realize it at the time, but the worst thing about the great flood of 2018 was that it completely destroyed my momentum. At the end of January, I had finally arrived at a place where I thought I might be able to cut Proto:87 wheels for #622. I had even cleaned the lathe in preparation for starting to turn tyres the very next … Continue reading Momentum
