Hank's Machine Shop

[Larry C]

Yup that sounds about right Dave; I'm as guilty of not cleaning the parts as the next guy; live and learn.

[deemery]

I have a jar of water, vinegar and dishwasher soap that I drop castings into.  The idea is to clean and lightly etch the castings.  After they soak for an hour, I rinse thoroughly and let dry.  It seems to work.

But the best stuff to clean castings is Super Clean.  I keep a 10% solution of that stuff in a bottle, pour it into a container when I need to really clean something.  When done, I pour the solution back into the bottle, and wash off the part.

dave

[Philip]

Very interesing! I have always wanted an ultrasonic cleaner.

Sometime I use a cheap air eraser from Harbor Freight with baking soda on metal figures. It really makes the paint stick and make the parting line and imperfections dissapear.

[Larry C]

Guys it always amazes me the different approaches  used by different modelers; I think that's what keep this hobby so interesting.

Deemery(Dave) I have a Shop question: when using a cone pulley on an overhead line does the "belt changer" need another pulley or does it simply move the belt along the cone until it no longer powers the machine. Thanks in advance.

[deemery]

Guys it always amazes me the different approaches  used by different modelers; I think that's what keep this hobby so interesting.

Deemery(Dave) I have a Shop question: when using a cone pulley on an overhead line does the "belt changer" need another pulley or does it simply move the belt along the cone until it no longer powers the machine. Thanks in advance.

I think you need a separate pulley set to connect/disconnect the cones.  The way I did it was to put the cone and shifter pulleys (one driven, one idler) on a separate shaft.  On this note that the main shaft pulley is a "double-width", so it will keep the belt parallel to either the driven pulley or the adjacent idler pulley.


I think the other way this is done is to have some sort of clutch between the driven pulley and the cone pulley. 

(Note the tweezers on the bottom right, those are used to hold the bottom of the belt into position while the glue cures....  The pieces of tape on the floor remind me where the doors are, so I don't put any machines or tables in front of the doors.)

dave

[Larry C]

Dave thank you. I wanted to make sure before I get too far along on the primary belt line.

[deemery]

Prototype photo, I think this is from the Iron_Jonsey videos on YouTube.  Those are VERY MUCH worth watching if you want to see 19th century machine tools used to repair 19th century machine tools.  Belt-driven shop (but an electric motor rather than steam engine.)

You can also see how the far pulley is (more than) twice the width of the belt.  That belt is roughly the same size as the two pulleys in the front right (driven and idler.)

dave

[labdad]

Just to confuse y'all
The live and dead pulleys are what make the machine operate or not.
Cone pulleys change the speed (with inverse sizes)

Let me know if I need to illustrate

MJinTN

[Larry C]

Dave thanks for the photo and screenshot they helped. I'll add another pulley for each cone pulley plus the shifter.

MJ thank you for the explanation; I understand what you're saying.

[PRR Modeler]

Interesting conversation.

[Dave Buchholz]

Sometimes you will see sets of reducing cones, identical, but staggered in opposite directions on drive line and machine. That way you can still change the speed of the machines feed, but the belt length can stay the same. Just a idler clutch pulley in-between is needed to move the belt from side to side to change speed.

[deemery]

Sometimes you will see sets of reducing cones, identical, but staggered in opposite directions on drive line and machine. That way you can still change the speed of the machines feed, but the belt length can stay the same. Just a idler clutch in-between is needed to move the belt from side to side to change speed.

I think the cones HAVE to be in opposite directions, because you can't change the length of the belt!

dave

[Dave Buchholz]

That. And if the cones are in the same direction, it would result in a constant speed anyway. Using opposed cones maximizes the potential rpm differential possible on the machine spindle.

Dave #5

[kyle creel]

I don't know how you do it Larry C*.; it always looks so amazing    

KYLE CREEL
G&D Ry Co.

[Larry C]

Kyle thank you so much; lots of practice I guess with maybe just a smidge of talent thrown in.

Dave #5 and Dave; yes I belief the cones have to be in opposite directions from the directions I've seen from various manufacturers.