Member postings for Perko7

He was really only giving back something I had already given him. I had the advantage of paying more tax than actually required in my PAYE monthly salary, sort of like forced saving. It doesn't earn any bank interest but at least I don't get a tax bill at the end of the year.......

Perhaps you could email them to yourself from your phone, assuming your emails can be accessed from your XP machine?? Geoff P.

Hi Paul,

I'm in Ipswich (a bit closer than Sydney) and also a relative newbie. i have the benefit of a couple of friends who have been amateur machinists for many years and who can answer most of my dumb questions. Recommend you find a club and get involved, club members are usually very helpful and happy to help out a newcomer with appropriate advice.

Cheers, Geoff P.

Hi all,

i've been on this forum for about 6 months now and realised i have not introduced myself. I'm Geoff Perkins, a youthful 61 years, recently retired and just getting into larger scale miniature trains after a lifetime in N-gauge model railways. Inherited a 1920's vintage lathe from my grandfather which i got into working order about 18 months ago, supplemented by a new Sieg C6 (Christmas present from the tax man) and a bench drill on 'permanent loan' from a friend who already had three. Lived in Ipswich Queensland Australia in the same house for 36 years, probably be here for a few more yet. Background in fire protection, no formal machining training so learning a lot at the moment as i attempt to build a 5" gauge model of a Qld Railways 2-6-0 diesel shunter. Member Grandchester Miniature Live Steamers.

Today i made a universal joint for the drive shaft of my 5" gauge petrol loco out of a cheap 3/8" drive socket set universal. Dismantled the socket universal, replaced the original 'spider' having offset holes with a new one from 10mm square mild steel cross-drilled in the same plane and tapped M4, drilled out the existing holes in the yokes to 6mm, chucked some M4 capscrews in the lathe, turned the heads down to 6mm diameter, shortened to suit, and reassembled as a 'proper' universal with the heads of the capscrews bearing on the holes in the yokes. Needs a bit of running in but works well. Will need to be well-lubed for long life, thinking of making rubber boot from bicycle tube, stuffed with grease and held in place with cable ties, crude but effective.

Thanks Ian and John, that's pretty much what i've been told in other forums as well, so i've turned them all on a mandrel to within 0.5mm of finished size and will make any final adjustments once they are pressed on the axles. Cheers.

An update:

No joy as yet from the supplier, so i've pressed on with the castings as supplied.

Reasonable success, managed to machine off the dodgy bits and patch the holes with metal putty while keeping within the AALS minimum diameter/width requirements.

One requirement not evident so far in the published standards is tolerances - what is the accepted tolerance for wheel back to back for 5inch gauge?

What about for differences in wheel diameter? So far i've got about 0.2mm difference in tread diameter across the whole set of 6, so should i be trimming those at the upper end to more closely match those at the bottom end? How close would i need to go for a rod-coupled diesel shunter?

Thanks in advance.

Geoff P.

Interesting discussion. I need to turn up some 115mm dia wheels for 5in gauge to AALS dimensions and i am having trouble turning the tapers on each side of the flange. I've done the tread taper by setting the topslide to the right angle, but when i spin it the additional 90 degrees to turn the flange taper the carriage gets in the way unless i have an unreasonable overhang on the tool, which then causes too much chatter.

Is using a normal tool with the cutting edge at the correct angle the only option for these tapers?

Geoff P.

Thanks heaps for the advice, have contacted the supplier and awaiting his response. They were supposedly 'good quality' castings so should be no reason for him to not replace. A pain though with the time already wasted machining them and now having to wait for replacements.

Cheers.

Hi, just turning up some 5-inch gauge wheel castings and found several small (grain of rice) to medium (baked beans) sized holes inside the castings. Most are in the centre where the axle hole will be bored but some extend outside this area. There still seems to be sufficient good metal for the wheels to be firm on the axles. Can these be filled in with something (plastic metal or similar) to restore a full surface or should i order replacements?

Hi all, as a newbie to this hobby, this site and this topic, and at the risk of slightly derailing the current thread, i have recently (as in Christmas 2015) bought a new C6 from Ausee and am now starting to use it for what it was intended. My previous lathe (a 1929 vintage light-duty machine which i have kept for sentimental reasons) has a handwheel on the leadscrew which i have found particularly useful in providing a finer feed than using the handwheel on the carriage, and i would like to provide a similar facility on the C6. Has anyone carried out this modification and if so could they provide some advice on the best way to approach it?

Thanks in anticipation, Geoff P.

Newbie to both this hobby and this forum. Needing advice on preferred way of attaching counterweights to axles on a 5inch gauge rod-drive diesel with external frame. Thinking of press fit with keyway, but other options would be considered.