I'm using 20mm dia. Binnie wheels for these waggons along with Binnie axles. As I couldn't decide between straight and curly spoked I bought a pack of each, and fitted straight to one waggon and curly to the other. But first I needed to knock up some bearings;
These are made from 3.5mm brass tube, into which the 3mm dia. Binnie axles fit quite nicely. They're cut to 7.5mm long and are soldered to some 1/4" x .010" brass strip, a rare job for my RSU. On the right in the above photo can be seen a spare probe for the RSU with a curve filed into the end, used to hold the tube in place whilst it's being soldered.
Each bearing has a pad made from .040" styrene epoxied to it. A bit more epoxy marries the bearings to the chassis together. The easiest way to get everything lined up was to assemble the wheelsets and fit them one axle at a time, checking everything for square then letting the glue set before fitting the second axle.
Here's the underside of one wagon with the wheels in place;
The undersides of both waggons;
And side by side;
Wheelbase is 40mm.
Next I need to fit couplings and start thinking about the finish.
Paul.
Hi Paul,
ReplyDeleteThese are very much the sort of waggons I'm contemplating building for SM32.
Hadn't realised that the Binnie axles were so small in diameter.
I picked up a pack of cast brass trunnions (no idea what their original purpose was as there was no label on the pack) at the Dean Forest Railway shop in Norchard yesterday, with the thought that I could use them as inside bearings. I'll check the diameter they've been drilled, but it's possible they'd work with Binnie axles. Whatever, 20 of them for £2 has to be worth a punt! I'll pop a photo on the Saltford group later, along with some of the loco bits etc.
Cheers,
Simon.
Sounds like a bargain! As for the waggons, they're ideal for low cost rugged outdoor stock, if only I had somewhere to run them!
DeleteThat's what I thought...even if they're unsuitable for waggons, I'm sure they'll come in useful for something.
DeleteI'm not sure whether I'll be able to build anything outdoors here; while the garden is a reasonable size, actually getting agreement to put a railway in it may be another matter!
The SM32 stuff is way down the list really, it's more a case of gathering stuff as it appears, preferably as cheaply as possible...
S.
I can't see a garden railway happening here either, the 'garden' is mostly a concrete yard and the flowerbeds tend to be overgrown and there's often a bouncy dog on them. So, temporary lines on the concrete will have to suffice.
Delete