Before & After

[Chris333]

Chris, How exactly would you chuck these up in a lathe?  <evil grin>

[71jeep]

Chris, How exactly would you chuck these up in a lathe?  <evil grin>

I know I am not Chris but I will take a stab at it if it were me I would make a split bushing first to hold the shaft then put that in your chuck or collet and turn down the flange.


Allen......
[img width= height=]http://lh4.ggpht.com/_UCxx9-03Evg/SZst1SWDs8I/AAAAAAAAAI8/j9QUxTu-luE/s800/bushing.jpg[/img]

Or you make two halves then chuck it up and drill your hole in the middle slightly smaller.

[bambuko]

Yes, I would use collets (like so: http://www.sherline.com/1160inst.htm) to hold wheel on one side of wheelset, and support it with tailstock at the other end.
Tailstock is not likely to be accurately enough (for this kind of job) aligned with headstock, so I would use adjustable contaption as described here: http://www.sherline.com/1201inst.htm (I would make special one to fit the axle wheelset)
I would than turn the wheel at tailstock end, reverse the wheelset and do the other wheel.
It can be done with standard cutters, but if I was doing a lot of them, I would make special profile tool.
I suppose now I will have to go to the workshop and prove that it can be done  ;D

[Chris333]

That is why I was asking about the bushings. If I could pull both sides off I could just chuck up the axle with one wheel attached. But I still don't have watchmaker collets or the head stock to accept them. I really do need a set.

[bambuko]

... If I could pull both sides off I could just chuck up the axle with one wheel attached...

I would avoid pulling the wheels off if at all possible - that's a recipe for a wheel wobble
I am off for an appointment now, but I'll try to post something later on today.
As for the collets - "he who dies with most toys in his possesion, wins"  ;D ;D
Buying a lathe is only just a beginning  of a long and happy way to spend a lot of money 

[DKS]

Buying a lathe is only just a beginning of a long and happy way to spend a lot of money

Right. I guess that's why I just buy models...

[Chris333]

Why I don't have the collets yet:
http://cgi.ebay.com/77-Pieces-Spring-Collets-for-8mm-Watchmaker-Lathe_W0QQitemZ110347131802QQihZ001QQcategoryZ117039QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Then add $70 for a head stock to hold them.

I was just curious if there was an easy way, but the easy way it to have more toys in the first place.

[Ryan87]

How about taking one wheel off at a time, and chucking the axle in a rotary tool?
Then set it at an appropriate speed and turn down the flanges with files...

Would that work?

[DKS]

How about taking one wheel off at a time, and chucking the axle in a rotary tool?
Then set it at an appropriate speed and turn down the flanges with files...

Would that work?

Unfortunately not. The non-insulated wheel is a very tight press-fit, and removing the insulated wheel, as noted before, may result in wheel wobble.

[scaro]

I would avoid pulling the wheels off if at all possible - that's a recipe for a wheel wobble
I am off for an appointment now, but I'll try to post something later on today.
As for the collets - "he who dies with most toys in his possesion, wins"  ;D ;D
Buying a lathe is only just a beginning  of a long and happy way to spend a lot of money 

Ohhh.  I'm a bit crestfallen at that. I'd gotten a bunch of dodgy old Rivarossi wheels for my Nn3.  The main attraction is they are only 5.1mm dia and can be milled to 4.9mm easily.  2'7" in N - right for the prototype I'm interested in. Also attractive because they are cheap and can fit into my Motocraft tool. 

(Motocraft, annoyingly, do not make a 1.5mm collett - a lot of N axles are 1.5mm or so - so I may be up for another tool unless someone else makes a 1.5mm collett that fits in the the Motocraft tool.  Be pleased if anyone has any tips on that . . . )

As these wheels are insulated on both sides the idea was to pull them off their axles and regauge to Nn3 on David Styles 1mm axles. 

Now . . . would this result in wobbly wheels ? 

Perhaps I'd be luckier if I cut them in half, milled the diameter and flange, cut a 2.5mm section out of the axle and regauged them using thin brass tube sleeve ?  They wouldn't look so good then though.

Any opinions ?

cheers, Ben

[bambuko]

this is the way I suggest you do it (assuming you have a lathe):

few points
- you will notice that I do not have exact size of collet to suit the job, I have made an adapter to suit the wheels and fitted in an oversize collet (LH side in the headstock)
- on the RH side, in the tailstocK I have fitted piece of brass and made female end to suit the axle by centre drilling from the headstock, so that (providing you do not disturb it) it remains perfectly aligned with headstock
- if you want just to reduce the size of flanges, you can do the job on LH side, if you want more (like reduce the width of the tyre) you need to do it on RH side (near the tailstock)

and Bob is your uncle  ;D

Chris, you do not have to buy the whole set of collets at once (although it is preferable if you are serious).
For what you need, buy one (secondhand) at a time (and probably not from China  ).

BTW - this method is nothing new, and follows full size practice:


Tommorow, I'll post pics of finished job

[bambuko]

... Now . . . would this result in wobbly wheels ? ...

No, not always (and I am often surprised at what people can do with the drill and file  )
but your chances of getting it wrong are high, particularly in such a small scale as Z.
So have a go (after all not a lot to loose?) and you never know - you get might away with it?
But I doubt it ... :-[

[Chris333]

I like the home made piece in the tailstock. (something even I could do)

With my equipment limits I can sometimes chuck the wheel tread in the 3-jaw, but it isn't that stable at all. I never even though of using the tailstock like you have.

[bambuko]

Chris, you have great piece of kit (a lathe), main advantage of which, is that it can produce itself the tools to do the job.
Even if you don't have the collets there are ways round, that "can do" for a small scale job.
If you need advice, happy to help 

[bambuko]

...Tommorow, I'll post pics of finished job...

well, not exactly tomorrow  ;D, but here they are, before and after (I have used Marklin's pizza cutters for this demonstration):



Marklin's original and modified wheelset on code 40 rail



Side by side, Marklin's track and original wheelset next to modified one on code 40 rail



Whether this kind of appearance is worth the hassle, is up to you  . . .

BTW I haven't bothered about tyre width.
This would also have to be addressed if the final result were to be considered fineZ
This experiment was just to show what and how it can be done.