Wichendon Machine Shop (restart)

[craftsmankits]

Looking good Dave.  I just remembered that there are two floors to this kit.  That's a lot of work.  Watching your progress.  Thanks for reminding me about B.E.S.T.  I'll have to give them another look.  It's been a while since I visited their site and made a purchase, but they have some really nice details.  Mark

[jbvb]

For quite a few years, B.E.S.T.  has had a large booth at the Amherst Club's January West Springfield MA (BigE) show. I can't say if they have every part in the catalog at their booth, but a lot of New England modelers go home with a bag or two full of details, roof shingles etc.

[deemery]

For quite a few years, B.E.S.T.  has had a large booth at the Amherst Club's January West Springfield MA (BigE) show. I can't say if they have every part in the catalog at their booth, but a lot of New England modelers go home with a bag or two full of details, roof shingles etc.

And Jill & Brian are really great people, too.  I got a nice little note from Jill in my package of castings that arrived a couple days ago.

dave

[deemery]

Lights test out:

I'll lock them in place with CA, then finish fishing the wires. 

add: Running the wires turned out to be more frustrating than I expected, but that's done.  So next step:  install the machines and connect the belts.

dave

[PRR Modeler]

Well done David.

[Jerry]

Nice job Dave.  You seem to have mastered it.

Jerry

[friscomike]

Howdy David,

Congrats on the lighting success.  Burning in the LEDs before mounting is a clever idea.  I'll add it to my routine.

Have fun,
mike

[jbvb]

add: Running the wires turned out to be more frustrating than I expected, but that's done.  So next step:  install the machines and connect the belts.

dave

Note that in your era the building might have had steam heat. Wires you couldn't easily hide could be painted black and mounted like they were steam heat pipes.

[deemery]

add: Running the wires turned out to be more frustrating than I expected, but that's done.  So next step:  install the machines and connect the belts.

dave

Note that in your era the building might have had steam heat. Wires you couldn't easily hide could be painted black and mounted like they were steam heat pipes.

The kit came with steam radiators     The wire is mostly really thin magnet wire, except for the solder joints where I put heat shrink tubing over the joints.  But it's all fished now along the ceiling joists, although I did have to carve a trough in one or two to fit the tubing.

dave

[deemery]

Yesterday, I didn't have a lot of time, but I did an experiment.  I took an unused cone pulley casting, and tried 2 different glues to attach the paper belts.  Surprisingly, epoxy didn't have enough tack.  But Deluxe Materials Tacky Glue worked well.  I can thin that a bit, which will make it easier to apply to the pulleys.  I'll still use the 30 minute epoxy to glue the tools to the floor, but the Tacky Glue to glue the belts to the pulleys.  I'll try installing the first tool later today.

dave

[elwoodblues]

Dave,

The lighting looks great.  Can't wait to see the machines in place.

[deemery]

First machine almost hooked up:

The process:  1.  Locate the tool.  2.  trim the back part of the belt.  3.  glue the tool into position (epoxy) and let the epoxy dry thoroughly (after triple-checking tool alignment, of course....)  4.  using a microbrush, apply some tacky glue to the back of the pulley.  then using tweezers, maneuver the belt into position.  Then apply a bit more glue to the bottom, and push the belt along the pulley.  5.  Do the same for the front belt.  The photo shows the front belt attached to the pulley, tomorrow I'll finish this off by adding more glue at the bottom and pushing the belt into position.  

And then I'll start on another tool.  My 30 minute epoxy took about an hour to fully cure.

Any glue drips on the floor will be covered when I weather the floor (oil drips, maybe some metal chips.)

dave

[PRR Modeler]

Great beginning with the tools Dave.

[deemery]

Second tool hooked up, third tool glued into position.


dave

[Jerry]

Dave the belts look perfectly aligned.
I'm impressed and doing it in 1:87 scale is outstanding.

Jerry