Andre, good suggestion. Checked it out, but no soap. It'll still work for larger bits, but will just have to hold on drilling out my grab iron holes on a few projects. Need to finish cleaning and rearranging the workshop. It's getting too hot to do much midday outside work.
Found this on Ted Culotta's "Prototype Railroad Topics" blog (http://prototopics.blogspot.com/) that features a Starrett Tools pin vise that looks like it has potential: http://www.starrett.com/metrology/product-detail/162A Best Regards,
Looking good Steve. I sure did like the black & yellow scheme on F-units! FA/FB's too. What do you use to mask the nose cigar band? K
Thanks Ken. I like the F bodies also. I have a couple to do up for my dad and a couple for myself next. I masked the nose with 1/16” tape followed by 1/8” then regular tape. I wish I could figure out a good mask to print for cutting out.
After years of trying to find one, I finally got an Overland Scullin Disk driver off a 4400 and fitted it up on a PFM 1500 for a future build. Looks a lot better than the ones I did with a Bowser Scullin. Changed out the Overland bearings and put a new gear on it for a Boo Rim gearbox.
My BLI Mikado, which has been a reliable runner, wouldn't move last night. The sound works, but no go. I tried reprogramming, resetting, checking for binds, to no avail. I took off the boiler and checked the motor--it runs with dc right to it, so that's a relief. I'm checking the wiring, but I may need a motor only decoder: My friend's Digitrax Zephyr DCS 50 stopped working. Digitrax told him they were no longer supporting it and advised him to buy a new one, so we took a look inside. Two resistors and a 7805 regulator looked burned up: I'll see if I can fix it. I'll need to go to Axman for the resistors. Worked on wiring and installing Loconet panels at another friend's big layout. When we got done we ran trains for a while. Brought my glued FP7 and it ran like a champ: Next time, I'm bringing my E8 and some Frisco passenger cars...
Can’t wait to see your project Don. No doubt it will be top shelf. Gary, glad to see you have the guts ripped out of another project. Lol
False alarm. Some Googling on BLI Mikado wasn't helpful, but Googling BLI and QSI Sound no go was. Turns out that QSI decoders have an odd quirk--if you toggle F9 it kills the power to the motor but keeps the sound going, Toggling F6 brings it back. I used the opportunity to lube the gear box, but it's back together and hauling freight again:
Another reason to ditch QSI and replace with Tsunami 2 or Econami. Besides, QSI decoders are power hogs when track power is initially turned on or cycled and have brought many DCC railroads to their knees.
Joe, as offered elsewhere that -is- Ken Patterson's basement. I was invited over and asked if I could take a few photos since I don't have a layout. Speaking of not having a layout, I played around with a few shots at the train club the other night... I'm currently doing sound/lights on a recently acquired PFM 1500 so I should have some shots of that in a few weeks...
For Steve Hurt - my ancient F-3/7A 62 modeled with Athearn drive and Cary shell. The prototype was usually the west end of a five-unit car body set of motors on No. 33/34 back in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Thanks Doug. It still looks great. I still have a couple Carey shells here too. Funny those opened new possibilities for models at the time for sure. I have their SW1500 and S2 also. Those make a heavy engine don’t they! Thanks Doug.
Still rearranging the workshop on my Wednesday. Workbench is finally moved and in place. A 3foot level and yardstick are placed for reference. The pegboard has always been there. Not only does the workbench sit closer to those tools, but it's a more sensible placement vis-a-vis the layout.