A Layout Called CHIMTONSTOKE

[paratom]

Hi David
Fantastic work on the lever frame. I am thinking of making one for my layout with a tappet frame. I will do my design in CAD first and feel comfortable making most of the parts appart from the main lever arm. Did you mill this out of round stock using the side of milling cutter to get the flutted shape at the end or did you file the ends to get that shape. I'm thinking that I will have to make a jig to hold the material to do this.

Thomas

 

[David Waite]

Hi David
Fantastic work on the lever frame. I am thinking of making one for my layout with a tappet frame. I will do my design in CAD first and feel comfortable making most of the parts appart from the main lever arm. Did you mill this out of round stock using the side of milling cutter to get the flutted shape at the end or did you file the ends to get that shape. I'm thinking that I will have to make a jig to hold the material to do this.

Thomas

Hi Thomas thank you
When you do start on your Lever Frame please post some photos I would love to see how you go about building it.
When I made the levers I made about six extra so these are the rejects that never got past this stage which still kept as one dose.
You can see the yellowish colour of the Silver Solder on the end of the lever which was filed to a radius under the Boss of the Handle
on either side [I use chain saw files which are the best for filing Silver] the Lever fits into a slot that I cut with the Dremel into the SS Handle then both were fitted into a jig and Silvered up.
The Silver that I use is Blue tip 45% the 3 foot lengths are 1/8" diameter which I use to use for high pressure pipe welding and its
components 40 plus years ago, and I still have much of it.
The SS Handles were turned on the lathe and slotted with the Dremel and the Iron Levers were cut on the Guillotine, and I made many jigs.





In this photo the Left Hand black line is the end of the Stainless Steel Handle, the Right Hand Line shows the approximate end of the slot
you can just make out the yellowish Silver in it.



The Levers have a taper to them so to Guillotine them to get the width I needed at the handle end and the width I required the Quadrant
meant i didn't have enough width at the pivot position to bore a hole for the pivot bush to fit into so I made the Levers a little short and spot welded a larger section to the end of the Lever to incorporate the Pivot Bush which was silvered into it, this larger section is what pushes against the micro switches so it all worked out well in the end.
Its probably more more information than you asked for but it gives a more complete picture.
David.

 

[James Spooner]

Hi Thomas thank you
When you do start on your Lever Frame please post some photos I would love to see how you go about building it.
When I made the levers I made about six extra so these are the rejects that never got past this stage which still kept as one dose.
You can see the yellowish colour of the Silver Solder on the end of the lever which was filed to a radius under the Boss of the Handle
on either side [I use chain saw files which are the best for filing Silver] the Lever fits into a slot that I cut with the Dremel into the SS Handle then both were fitted into a jig and Silvered up.
The Silver that I use is Blue tip 45% the 3 foot lengths are 1/8" diameter which I use to use for high pressure pipe welding and its
components 40 plus years ago, and I still have much of it.
The SS Handles were turned on the lathe and slotted with the Dremel and the Iron Levers were cut on the Guillotine, and I made many jigs.
View attachment 201247




In this photo the Left Hand black line is the end of the Stainless Steel Handle, the Right Hand Line shows the approximate end of the slot
you can just make out the yellowish Silver in it.
View attachment 201248


The Levers have a taper to them so to Guillotine them to get the width I needed at the handle end and the width I required the Quadrant
meant i didn't have enough width at the pivot position to bore a hole for the pivot bush to fit into so I made the Levers a little short and spot welded a larger section to the end of the Lever to incorporate the Pivot Bush which was silvered into it, this larger section is what pushes against the micro switches so it all worked out well in the end.
Its probably more more information than you asked for but it gives a more complete picture.
David.
View attachment 201249

David, the consistency and breathtaking high quality of your output never ceases to amaze me!

Nigel

 

[David Waite]

My latest project has been sidetracked by a even later project, I decided on Saturday that it would be in the best interests of the TC Indicator
Instrument if it was mounted on the Layout to prevent it from being damaged from where it was sitting on the bench.
I have made the mechanisms for two full size TYER'S Signal Repeater Instruments but their casings are yet to be made, these were to be mounted somewhere to the left of the block shelf on their own shelf of some sorts which is also where I would like the TC Instrument to go, so I made two card mock ups of approximately the correct size as seen in the photo from there the plan of the shelf has evolved.
There will be two shelves one for each Tyres Instrument mounted on a vertical timber this extends downwards a little under the lower shelf towards the base board where the TC Indicator Instrument will be mounted the entire shelf assembly will be mounted on a single metal post.





I don't know what this Timber is, it could be a type of Mahogany [ Pacific Maple ] I've forgotten not sure anyhow its getting used for something
I cut it down to a length a little longer than what I needed then ripped it into two pieces.





The two pieces were planed to their correct thickness then edged on the Buzzer
One piece is for the rear backing the other will be cut up for the shelves ect.





The edges of the shelves being moulded





I made a extra smaller shelf that can be seen on the L/H side of this photo this is for another TC instrument that I would like to build at some point in time that will be fitted at the R/H side of the Block shelf.






Making sure everything is going to plan.





The shelves are attached through from the rear with 1-1/2" C/S wood screws the two slots are for the wires to pass from the TYER'S instruments into the metal RHS support post, the four small pieces are the shelf supports




The RHS metal support was a piece of a table in its previous life.
The bolts will pass through the sides of the base board from underneath and into the clearance holes in the RHS then screw into a threaded solid piece of metal that will be pushed into the end of the tube

 

[michael mott]

Nice!
Michael

 

[David Waite]

After the timber work was all finished I then applied two coats of Clear Satin Polyurethane.















The support post fitted to the rear timber.
There are three holes in the post that line up with holes in the timber that the wires from each Instrument will pass through and come out under the base board.










It took a little time to bolt it in position with the help of my wife, I found drilling the holes under the board wasn't easy but I won in the end.





There isn't much room between the post and the wall, the thick threaded piece of steel that the bolts for the post screw into can
just be seen in the end of the RHS.





The lift up section just misses the lower shelf.





6mm is all it clears by.





This photo shows the 3 bolts holding the post and its bracket and the wires fitted into a terminal block.




Attaching the Instrument.





Done, Yippee.





I now all I need is to make the timber casings for the two signal repeater Instruments so I can fill the empty spaces on the shelf.

 

[chigley]

some lovely craftsmanship there David, i think your enjoying that more than the railway modelling

Ken

 

[jonte]

Superb craftsmanship, David.

Jon

 

[James Spooner]

That is lovely craftsmanship David as others have rightly commented. I can’t help noticing, though, that the track it is all going to control doesn’t have any rails on the sleepers yet…. Is that the next item on your agenda?

Nigel

 

[David Waite]

some lovely craftsmanship there David, i think your enjoying that more than the railway modelling

Ken

Thanks Ken I cannot tell a lie I am enjoying it.
David

 

[David Waite]

That is lovely craftsmanship David as others have rightly commented. I can’t help noticing, though, that the track it is all going to control doesn’t have any rails on the sleepers yet…. Is that the next item on your agenda?

Nigel

Thanks Nigel
I had high hopes that this year I would start on the model railway and have something running, at least have a train chuffing over the double lift up section which meant building all the track work at Pine Oak Junction but my eye problem put me back a bit, however I have now made a start towards getting things moving which I will tell all about in my next topic, which was my latest project before it was overtaken by one you have just seen, today I was out in the shed having fun for a few hours machining up some of the Aluminium components for it and I’m pleased to say I have progressed a little more.
David.

 

[David Waite]

Before I make a start on the track work I wanted to have the Contacts in place that join up the various power cables that come from the base boards either side of the Double lift up section, at the hinge position of each lift up section the wires will just loop down and flex as the two sections are either lifted or lowered but where the sections meet in the middle a row contact terminals are required.
I had kept all the contacts that I removed from the Relays that were used for the signal instruments, the first thing I did was to un solder all the wires from them the next was to drill and tap M2 threads for their mounting screws as shown in the next photo.





So I didn't drill into the plastic insulator or damage the terminals I pushed a scrap piece of metal between them and the drill bit .





S/S M2 Allen screws





The contacts with the heavy terminals will be used for track power the others for Points, Signals and track circuits the Double Lift Up Section will have a total of 38 Terminals.




All the Contacts are mounted on a piece of Aluminium Angle the slots being cut are for the ends of the two small rivets that protrude
on the underside of each set of Contacts to sit into, this Contact Terminal strip will be mounted on the Automatic Lift Up Section side.




The clearance holes for the M2 screws being drilled.




Testing the fit.





I'm not sure where this piece of Fibre Board came from I think I picked it up back in the 1980s so it just goes to show don't through things away
some day it may get used and in this case it has, its about 1/4" thick with some holes here and there but I managed to dodge them all.
Each of the Milled slots are for Brass Terminals to fit firmly into these line up with the Contacts on the Aluminium Angle, there are two machined pieces of Fibre Board that will sandwich the brass Terminals and holed it all together.





The big Black thing is the nozzle of the Vacuum Cleaner to remove the dust, I thought the Fibre Board might have taken the edge off the Milling cutter but it didn't even though its such a hard wearing product the Cam shaft gear on my Holden is made from this and the long Vanes on the Ammonia rotary boosters were also made from the same.




All the slotting completed.

 

[simond]

David,

As we have come to expect, the workmanship is first rate, and the contact assembly will be robust and precise, but I'm puzzled as to why a lifting section requires 38 contacts.

Is it not possible to hard-wire around the gap, and have dangling leads at the hinges either end for the track and any signal or point actuators that are actually on the lifting parts?

Whilst what you are building will surely do the job, contacts are always going to provide a source of difficulty, with oxidation, dirt, contact resistance etc.

cheers
Simon

 

[David Waite]

David,

As we have come to expect, the workmanship is first rate, and the contact assembly will be robust and precise, but I'm puzzled as to why a lifting section requires 38 contacts.

Is it not possible to hard-wire around the gap, and have dangling leads at the hinges either end for the track and any signal or point actuators that are actually on the lifting parts?

Whilst what you are building will surely do the job, contacts are always going to provide a source of difficulty, with oxidation, dirt, contact resistance etc.

cheers
Simon

Hi Simon
I have allowed some spare contacts for any future needs but most are going to be used it just happened that Pine Oak Junction is on one side and a lot that it controls is on the other so a lot of wires need to get across the gap.
It isn’t possible for me to run any wires around the gap of the lift up section due to the position it is in and if I could the shortest distance would be about 8 meters so that’s a lot of wire and possible voltage drop, so for me the contacts were my best option.
I have thought at length about contact tension and oxidation so I’m hoping the small amount of sliding action which isn’t much that the contact moves on its opposite brass contact will help to keep it a little clean however I planned to use CRC26 on them which will help enormously I’ve never done this before so only time will tell if it worked satisfactory.
David

 

[simond]

fingers crossed.

(or perhaps not, given the care with which youve aligned them )

 

[Gismorail]

Wow what fantastic skilled workmanship indeed …..a level that I could only dream about

 

[David Waite]

When I originally placed the Fibre Board on the Milling table I allowed a through cut on one piece into a X axis slot on the table the other outside cuts I milled to within 0.5mm of the table this held everything together until it was removed I then cut the ends through with a Stanley knife and bent and snapped off the other long cut.




After the pieces were separated I filed them smooth.





In this photo shows all the Brass terminals cut and machined square to size, the brass is Imperial sizing 1/8" so every slot that they fit into was milled with a 3mm cutter then opened out to suit the brass size.




In the last photo a long milled slot can be seen running through all the slots that the brass terminals fit into, this long slot was milled deeper
and is for a locating tab that I milled on the underside of each terminal to fit into.




This tab keeps the terminal from moving in its slot.




The brass contacts are a push fit into their slots





This shows all pieces in place.




This is the wiring side of the assembly
The brass thickness is too much of a heat sink for soldering so it needs to be thinned down.





Each piece was milled down and a hole drilled for its wire to pass through.





One in place and many more to go.





All the major parts completed.





The next sep was to Tin all the wire connection ends using Bakers flux and rosin core solder





All completed and assembled.




The scratched numbers mean nothing they were already on the piece of Fibre Board when I got it you won't see them when it's fitted on the layout.










This shows how the two pieces connect together the contact side on the right in this photo is fitted to the Automatic Lift Up Section.

 

[David Waite]

The Aluminium Angle that the contacts are fitted to needs to move so the tension of the contacts touching the brass terminals
can be altered. The Aluminium angle pivots on its mounting screws near the contacts so the rear of the Aluminium angle needs to be lifted or lowered which moves the contacts up or down so an Adjustable Linkage needed to be made.

The Aluminium stock is 38mm diameter this is the mounting piece being made for the Linkage to be attached to a timber on the lift up section.




On to the Mill for the next stage.




The next two photos show the finished pieces in different positions the smaller piece in this photo attaches to the Aluminium angle










This piece is being made from Stainless Steel




The Aluminium piece pivots on the SS journal with almost no tolerance the journal protrudes slightly from the
Aluminium piece so when the washer and nut is fitted the Aluminium piece has a little side ways movement on the journal.




Finished




The next two photos show the last piece being made and is the Aluminium connecting link.









All the items finished now ready for assembly.








This is how it all goes together.

 

[David Waite]

The Aluminium bracket was fitted to the piece of Angle




The next four photos show the Contact side all fitted into position.


The adjustment thread is yet to be cut to its correct length











The mounting screws for the terminal side needed to be positioned accurately so I turned up a small bush to centre the drill in the screw clearance holes in the Fibre Board.




It all fitted nicely there is still a cover Timber to be made this will add more stability to the Terminal strip and also prevent getting
clothing hooked on the square ends sticking out as one walks through the gap.







I had to lie on the floor to take this photo, [ Looking up from underneath ]




Next a piece of timber was fitted to the lift up section then the screw terminal blocks were attached to it, all ready now for some wiring.

 

[JimG]

I bet you've got dovetail joints somewhere on that baseboard carpentry. - Wow. I'm just building some baseboards myself at the moment and I don't know if I should ever show my poor efforts.

Jim.