I started by cleaning up the casting and gluing one side frame to the spreader. Once the glue had set I first drilled out the axle holes on all the side frames with a 1mm drill, and then enlarged them with a 1.5mm drill (take care not to drill too far here but you will need to go at least 2mm deep (with 3mm being better).
I check the depth with my thumbnail on the drill when its all the way in, then take the drill out and check just how far in I am. I went right through to China on one axlebox. The brass bearings are from Markits in the UK (3 quid for a packet of 50) and are of the tophat variety, with a main body of 1mm and the rim about 1.5mm (so I did move the drill about a bit to make a hole that was marginally wider). I then pushed the bearings into the holes so that the bearing was about 0.5mm inside the face of the side frame.
Then, without instaling the wheels I glued the second side frame on. After the glue sets this time round I bend the side frames slightly until I can slip the wheels in and then carefully squeeze them closed again. Some adjustment may be necessary to get the wheels parallel and the bogie sitting square. I then put it on some track and pushed. Not quite Kato quality, but better than Peco.
Summary time. The bogies look quite nice ( the springs don't line up that, but that's my only real quibble which isn't doing that bad at all). The combination of the brass axle bearings with the shorter axle wheel sets improves the running qualities out of sight, which makes it a very worthwhile modification to make.
6 comments:
Dangerous, you're getting close to the Dynamics of modelling in 3/16th!
How bad/good are the trackgang bogeys/axleboxes etc, without the brass bearers?
Rainbows back by popular demand?
From experience, the bogies aren't flash runners. A change to brass construction, or add bearings as MD has done would solve the problem. At 3 quid for a packet of 50 bearings you couldn't go wrong, apart fromthe over-zealous drilling problem.
I've got an old set of lost wax bogies that were KATO ripoffs and they run very nicely. The plain bearings are towable (ie they do run but won't freewheel on there own. maybe theres a trick to it I don't know that involves soldering). However I've seen very free running wagons pogo-ing around while being pushed in a very unprototypical fashion. And at least the wagons won't roll off the edge of the world if you are not paying attention.
Rainbows are indeed back by popular demand.
Would a better focussed pix #2 be possible please?
Have you been able to establish the degree slope/gradient these bogeys will freely run on with and without the brass bearings?
To avoid 'drilling through to China', apply some stick tape, (preferably coloured so as easy to see) on your drill at the desired maximum depth. Then drill until the edge of the tape.
gfg; Probably no chance of getting a better photo, as it's as much as the camera is up to. I struggle to see the 1/2mm gap anyway.
I've not tried the free running beyond flicking them with my finger, but there is a quite a difference.
The tape around the drill is a good idea. I'm only using a han drill so things don't get too out of hand.
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