Mack 45 ton switcher

[Chris333]

I still can't get over that you can just design and manufacture models at home.

Just imagine if I knew what I was doing 

[peteski]

Just imagine if I knew what I was doing 

Oh, I have no doubt that *YOU KNOW* what you're doing, even if you don't think so. If you judge yourself by your failure rate, consider just how many  failed experiments genus inventors like Edison or Tesla performed.  You are genus in your own way - trust me.

[Jim Starbuck]

Just imagine if I knew what I was doing 

It’s amazing what you accomplish when you don’t know you can’t. 😀

[Chris333]

My square motors and bearings both just showed up in the mail.

Strange how these motor have like no magnetic power? Doubt I will be using them at this point, but I've got 'em for next time.

And the bearings look like they really work! I just need to line bore the lay shaft holes bigger.

[davefoxx]

I just need to line bore the lay shaft holes bigger.

That sounds so dirty. 

DFF

[peteski]

My square motors and bearings both just showed up in the mail.

Strange how these motor have like no magnetic power? Doubt I will be using them at this point, but I've got 'em for next time.

And the bearings look like they really work! I just need to line bore the lay shaft holes bigger.

Those 6-pole Minebas? If by "magnetic power" you mean "no cogging" when shaft is turned by hand, then give them some voltage and try to stop the shaft from spinning.  Just like coreless motors show no cogging at all, but are stellar perforers.

[Chris333]

I mean the motors don't stick to metal. The Bachmann coreless motor I'm using will attract anything metal nearby.


And the bearing under the flywheel is going to stick up and hit it. So I will pop the flywheel off, lathe a notch into it, and re-install. This also means I need to build up that bearing area on the frame so... yep printing another frame.    Hey it is only like 0.50 cents worth of resin.

[Chris333]

If I really knew what I was doing I'd have this whole thing running off remote control. 

[peteski]

I mean the motors don't stick to metal. The Bachmann coreless motor I'm using will attract anything metal nearby.

That's just a question of how well the metal case shields the magnets inside, and how those magnets are arranged.  Not a good indication of the motor's quality or performance.

[peteski]

If I really knew what I was doing I'd have this whole thing running off remote control. 

By the same token I seem to recall seeing an N scale remote control VW bus on TRW some time ago.  It might have even been me who posted the Youtube link to that video.

[Chris333]

It runs!!!   

I drilled/tapped the leg of the Kato pick-ups so I could screw the motor wires to it and be able to take it all apart. All 3 worms are glued to the shaft and man that shaft spins like its on ball bearings

/>
And this is the greatest cinematic film making ever produced 

/>I bet my old phone films better, I should try it instead.

There is no weight to this chassis (yet) so I had to bump the track to get it going. It is virtually silent.

Up next is stuffing as much weight into it as possible. I thought about making a 3D mold to pour lo-temp into it, but straight lead is heavier. I have some large sheets of lead that I will cut and stack up. I'm not sure if tungsten cubes are denser than lead since they are alloy and not pure. Going to look that up now. But best believe it will be as heavy as possible 

[Chris333]

You can see how I notched the flywheel.

[Chris333]

Tungsten cubes are not pure 100% tungsten. They are either 90 or 97% tungsten. So either 17.37g/cm3 or 18.72g/cm3. Both of those is better than lead at 11.34g/cm3. So cubes it is!  Pure tungsten is 19.3g/cm3.

[narrowminded]

Chris, always with the cool stuff!   It seems like you have decent room in that loco for weight so it should make for a nice runner.

[Jim Starbuck]

That is outstanding Chris!
You have reached a level of precision that is truly inspirational.
Impressive doesn’t begin to describe it. I don’t know what your ancestry is but I suspect there’s a Swiss watchmaker in there somewhere. Nicely done sir!