Operating Barber Pole

[bparrish]

I've had a lot of time at the bench since all of this sequestering.  I long ago had this idea of making up a barber pole.   I grew up when these things were everywhere.  We walked past them and gave little thought.

When you model 1900 era stuff there is not much opportunity to create animations on your railroad.  This project became a classic example of mission creep.  "let's see...... can I make this thing operate?"

The turning sleeve took three versions before I had one that I liked and the motor drive took on two before I got it controlled down to speed and got the motor noise out of it.

So here are some photos of the completed street scene.  I'll put up how I got there over the next days.

see ya
Bob

[PRR Modeler]

Very cool Bob. Can you do a short video of it turning?

[bparrish]

Curt....


I'm working on that.... it's been a very long time since I tried to get something up on You Tube.

Thanx
Bob

[ACL1504]

Very cool, love it.

Tom

[bparrish]

Here is the original kit.  It is an HO gauge Evergreen gas pump kit.    I drilled out the center but the soft metal created some thrust problems so I had to deal with thrust washers and like that.  If I had to do it again I would turn it out of 3/16" brass rod and be done with it.   




The first photo is the original spindle that was made of styrene tube with a brass rod in the center.  I struggled with what to do for the stripes.  I tried rolling colored paper cut on a diagonal but it added too much to the overall diameter. Ultimately it did not fit inside the tube that came with the kit.

I then tried colored thread and this worked really well but again it filled the plastic tube from the kit.



So I settled on the clear plastic tubing that comes on paint brushes from good art supply places.



I then threw out the idea of styrene and went to 3/32" brass tube over a 062" brass rod and dipped it in white paint.   I stayed with the thread idea and tied a knot between the two colors of thread and glued it to the top.  Then pulled down the thread while spinning the armature.  I wound it well beyond the end which could be cleaned off later.  I dipped it in clear lacquer to seal down the thread.



Below is the completed armature with the cast base.  I later made another armature as this one scaled too tall at about four scale feet.



More later

see ya
Bob

[bparrish]

Now to start on the drive mechanism...

First is the support frame and gear case.  Yes........ that is a NWSL  36:1 locomotive drive.  I had one left over from some project that had a 3 mm spur gear.  I'm not even sure where I got or or why I had it left but it became a target.   The issue with this mechanism is that it needs to be close to no load.  The actual pole and armature is next to nothing so after that is how to make it low load.  Also there is the issue of alignment and the urge to make the pole wobble as it goes around.  So a continuous shaft was out.  What I cam up with will put up with the lower drive to only need to be close to the axis of the pole.



Then the next is the mounting bracket for the motor.  I chose this motor as it is too big for most of the locomotives I have so it got relegated.   You can see the fork mechanism and the horizontal bar that is threaded onto the armature of the pole.   later you will see that there is a slight angle bent into the drive fork so as to load the armature down while turning.  This is due to not having any thrust devise for up on the armature. Thus there is a constant slight load down.

My wife always went crazy when I took the kid's Fisher-Price toys apart to see how they worked.  They were a monument of simplicity.  John Siekirk will attest that there are only so many ways to get stuff done and you only need to out smart the situation and the raw materials at hand.



Here is a photo of the pole temporarily glued to the mechanism for testing purposes.



Ultimately the motor needed to be relocated.   There was too much motor buzz going into the frame and then into the bench work.  So I tore off the motor mount at the frame and put a long 1/8" steel rod with flex tube at each end.  This allowed me to move the motor to the bench work and two rubber couplings to insulate the vibration from the gear drive frame.  No one is allowed to be critical of my spiderweb wiring.


Also........ the motor is hot glued to the bench leg.  See ! ! ! !   Hot glue is an appropriate adhesive for modeling.

I'll get the You Tube videos up by tomorrow.

see ya
Bob

[tom.boyd.125]

Bob,
Most of us can use a haircut by now...
This is a very interesting working model ! How delicate is it ?
Tommy

[bparrish]

Tom....

The total height is less than one inch.

The spiral armature is three scale feet in HO.

Thanx for looking in

see ya
Bob

[S&S RR]

Very cool project. It will be an eye catcher that will really bring life to the scene.

[GPdemayo]

Super neat.....

[Jerry]

Bob that's really cool!!!


Jerry

[hairball]

excellent end result, lots of finicky detail.

great job

mike.............HAIRBALL

[bparrish]

Here are some links that should let you see it working. 


https://youtu.be/otI3BuBZTVE[/size]


https://youtu.be/ZJA2DfzHa8o

[Bruce Oberleitner]

Dang Bob, that is way cool.

I guess I don't need to ask what you been doing while stuck in the house. 

[vinceg]

Very neat, Bob. Animation is fun. Really adds a lot.