Reducing or replacing pizza style wheels on a loco

[Heim28]

Does any know of a service or person that can reduce the flanges on an n scale 0-8-0?

[nickelplate759]

No, but may not be too difficult to do it yourself.  Sometimes you can do it without completely disassembling the locomotive.

What is the locomotive in question?

[wm3798]

I'm assuming you're working with an old Rivarossi 0-8-0 sold either by Atlas or ConCor.
If you have one that runs well, I would advise AGAINST taking it apart too much.

I had good luck turning down the flanges of my Rivarossi Pacific, using a cradle to lay it firmly on its back, and some alligator clips to supply power to the motor.  By running the locomotive upside down, I was able to carefully grind the flanges down with a tapered grinding stone in a variable speed Dremel tool.


While a true craftsman will advise you to use calipers or some other precision tool to measure the results, I did mine by eyeballing it and still got pleasing results.

The key is to not only reduce the size of the flange, but to shape it properly so it isn't a blunt edge. 


Read all the nauseating details about my conversion here:
http://www.wmrywesternlines.net/loc_steam.php

[nickelplate759]

Here's another way to accomplish this:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=44735.0  (reply 7)

[randgust]

I'm experimenting right now with a donor Minitrix 2-10-0.   

I've done this on a couple models and a lot of Tomytec.   Diesels with split axles are easy.   I did a Hallmark 4-8-4 with the diamond file trick to blind the center drivers so it could run on 11" curves.   I had Mark (narrowminded) do my PRR D16 4-4-0 using Rivarossi 4-6-2 drivers, as my axle mounting precision was nowhere near what he could achieve.

If you pull the wheels off, requartering them may be the death of you.   I managed to mess up an Atlas 2-6-0 and never have got it quite right since, despite jigs, measurements, and copious amounts of blue air.

I think there's a big difference if the drivers are geared.    I'm taking the motor completely off, and attempting to freewheel spin the drivers with the buffing wheel on a dremel at the same time I file.   The rods and crankpins don't take a beating in theory, and I lubricate them before filing.   I really don't need to take that much off, and I'm checking it with a micrometer after calculating the new flange depth desired.    Once again, pay no attention to conventional wisdom....

 

[Hedron]

What is the risk of getting the filings sucked into the motor magnets, or at least the gearing, when filing/grinding while the wheels are installed on the loco?

[mmagliaro]

What is the risk of getting the filings sucked into the motor magnets, or at least the gearing, when filing/grinding while the wheels are installed on the loco?

A lot smaller than you'd think.  It just doesn't happen in my experience.  If you have an exposed gear on the bottom, it's a good idea to keep the engine tilted to one side so the filings tend to drop away from that gear.   When you're done, use a soft brush and just keep brushing everything out of the gears just in case.  You can let the engine run, then stop, then brush the exposed gears, run it, stop it, and so on, until the gear and the whole bottom of the engine are clean from metal dust. 

 I don't do it this way if I can help it.  If I can figure out a way to mount the wheel in my lathe (now that I've got one) or mill, I do it that way.  But I used to do it like this all the time - riding a file on it with the engine flipped on its back.  You just have to go VERY lightly, especially with Trix and Rivarossi steam locos.  The axle-to-wheel attachment is not that strong, and if you make the wheel twist on that axle end, you may never be able to get it square again so it doesn't wobble, in addition to having to requarter it.

[nickelplate759]

The wheels are generally not steel, and thus generally not magnetic, so are unlikely to get all the way into the motor.   The bigger concern is wheel crumbs getting into the gear train.  Max covered that pretty well.  You can cover exposed gears with tape while you are working - that will help keep out a lot of crumbs.

[peteski]

The wheels are generally not steel, and thus generally not magnetic, so are unlikely to get all the way into the motor.   The bigger concern is wheel crumbs getting into the gear train.  Max covered that pretty well.  You can cover exposed gears with tape while you are working - that will help keep out a lot of crumbs.

While it is true that most loco's wheel tires are made of non-magnetic brass/nickel-silver, some older Arnold and Minitrix models used steel.
Regardless, I whenever I do anything to the mechanism that will result in small shavings (or even abrasive powder from grinding bits or cutoff wheels) I like to take the mechanism apart to give it thorough cleaning/degreasing in Naphtha. But I do understand that taking steam loco's mechanism apart is not for everybody.  Then taping as much of the mechanism as possible using masking tape would be a good option.