You cant guarantee the output Roy, they are off the shelf can motors and unless you have a duff motor the two motors output should be within 3 or 4 percent of each other and they will be fine. The motors are driving the same spur gear and will balance out albeit one will be working a little harder. Obviously if you had motors with a difference of 10% or greater then that would become more of an issue.

Ron

Edited By Ron Laden on 15/05/2018 19:08:05

Edited By Ron Laden on 15/05/2018 19:10:01

That was some loco Jeff, thanks for the pictures. I see from the picture of the motors that they were mounted on the axle as you can see the axle bearings below the motors. This is the way I am mounting my motors, the motor mounting plate has a central bearing which the axle runs through. With the axles having suspension (springs) it was the easiest way I could see to maintain the relationship/position between the motor pinion gears and the drive spur gear which is fixed to the back of the wheels.

I am reasonably confident it should work ok but wouldnt want to count my chickens too soon.

Since I started the design I have changed the gear ratio, due mainly to availability of suitably sized gears at the right price. The ratio is now 6.25 to 1 this should give approx 7 – 8 mph top speed. I have gone with MOD 1.0, I considered finer gears but I thought MOD 1.0 had a little more meat to them without them being too coarse.

There is no clever calculations to any of this its mainly my gut feeling with a bit of "if it looks right it probably is"

I,m getting itchy fingers as I want to get the build started but as I dont have any machining I have to rely on other people for machined parts. I can and will do a lot by hand but at the moment still waiting for chassis parts before I can make a start.

Ron

Edited By Ron Laden on 16/05/2018 09:43:04

Morning guys,

I am trying to get my head around choosing the correct compression springs for the loco. There will be 4 springs, one sitting vertically above each axle box. The loco and leisure battery will total 28kgs and I would like the 4 springs to be just starting to compress with that load, leaving the rest of the compression to deal with the humps and bumps of the track.

Is it as simple (doubt it) as 4 x 7kg springs or doesnt it work like that, I know nothing about the workings of compression springs…?

p.s. I guess my question is does a spring rated at 7kg support 7kg,s without compressing or is it fully compressed at 7 kg.

Regards

Ron

Edited By Ron Laden on 20/05/2018 09:30:15

Thanks Tony, I will check the the rating figures to see if the springs are reference mm or cm.

I can well appreciate that this is only a starting point, I have watched a lot of youtube builds and some of them have started with a certain spring and then made 2 or 3 changes before getting it right and a lot of it was just trial and error.

Ron

One of the problems with producing a 5 inch single battery 0-4-0 or 0-6-0 loco is the dimensions of the battery which dictates the size of the loco body. My 12V – 75 amp leisure battery measures 260 mm long x 175 mm wide x 225 mm high. The length is not generally a problem but the width is and the height even more so. I guess thats why most of the small single battery loco,s you see are square boxy diesel types as the body can be modelled to something like the correct dimensions around the battery.

This is the way I have been thinking but yesterday I wondered if a lookalike steam type loco would be possible. I looked at the dimensions of one or two pannier types but there is no way you can get any where near correct dimensions when considering housing the battery.

So below is a rough sketch of what I came up with, its a millions miles from anything scale or realistic and looks more like something from the Thomas the Tank shed. The broken line around the centre is the area needed for the battery. I tried to visualise it finished and I think it could be fun. Seeing as my two main passengers will be our two great grand daughters, I think it could go down quite well with them. I have not decided on it and it may still be a diesel type but its food for thought.

Scale guys look away now…

Thats a very good idea Jeff I never gave that a thought.

To be honest if I go with a steam outline something "cartoon scale" will be ok, as I mentioned the grand children will like it for sure. Since I posted though I googled images of small steam loco,s and there are a few which would probably house the battery and be in or near to scale, so those may be worth a look.

Thanks again for your suggestion.

Ron

Edited By Ron Laden on 25/05/2018 13:31:28

Thanks for those Jeff, I like the Ajax and I think it would house the battery ok.

I also found a Deeley 0-4-0 which could also work with the full depth tanks.

Well, having no machining facilities (except for a small pedestal drill) and having to wait for friends to produce parts for me really tested my patience. Of course I,m not complaining about my friends, it is good of them to offer to make the bits and I wasnt going to chase them. The frustration is not having the kit to make the parts myself and in particular turned parts. I have some of the parts but still need some more and I havnt troubled anyone for them.

So I have decided to get myself a small (mini) lathe. One of the reasons I dont have one is I havnt had a place to put it or at least a place where it could be set up and left. However we cleared out and emptied a small garden shed today and the wife suggested I used it as a workshop. Now it is small, 6 ft x 4 ft but standing in there I thought a bench down the long side and across one end, would easily take a mini lathe and my bench drill and leave some space for assembly. I will have to move the shed and it needs a new base, insulating and of course electric.

The lathe I am considering is the CJ18A 7 x 14 from Amadeal. They do it as a package for £785 with a 100mm – 3 jaw and a 100mm – 4 jaw, fixed and travelling steadies, quick change tool post with holders, face plate, live centre, tail stock chuck, measuring kit, lathe tool set and a few other bits. From what I,ve seen that seems quite good value.

I have watched a lot of youtube videos on how to set up and improve a mini lathe as they all seem to need some work to get the best out of them. Now I am never going to be trying to produce a scale steam locomotive but if I can produce the parts I need for simpler projects then I will be happy.

Ron

p.s. I forgot to say, the thought of getting a lathe…..well lets just say I,m a bit excited.

Edited By Ron Laden on 01/06/2018 19:46:01

Well at long last the minilathe is in situ, its the first time out of its box since it arrived. It was well packed and banded to a pallet and there are no signs of any damage.

I,ve had very little time today and apart from a quick start up to check it runs that was about it. Tomorrow I will clean off the protective gunge and check everything through.