Hello,
A long time ago,
someone posted Contact Information of a Firm that
Custom Manufactures Drivers for Model Locomotives.
Does anyone know of Current Firms that do this work ?
Thank you,
Norman
I know nothing about these guys, a single page on the web and a phone number:
Also I think these guys manufacture their own wheels, but of course no drivers shown:
https://www.thetraindepartment.com/
I’ll look for more, seem to remember one in the US and one in England.
Greg
someone posted Contact Information of a Firm that
Custom Manufactures Drivers for Model Locomotives.
Norman, it would help if you posted a bit more info about what you are looking for. 3’ drivers in 1/29th scale? Replacements for that one you asked about on Bachmann’s forum?
Once you know what scale and what size, the other info is how many spokes. Slaters Plastikard in the UK makes a very large range of wheels suitable for 1:22.5, 1:20, 1:19 and 1:13.7, and they can supply them with axles suitable for gauge1, gauge-0/SM32, or gauge-3.
Norman, I suggest you have a set of wheels printed at 10% oversize and then find a local brass caster that can use the prints in the burnout and make metal wheels.
If they have a magnetic tumbler, request the wheels get that treatment too. Makes file/clean up work easier.
Prescision Scale Model Company has several. Don’t know if they have what you are looking for.
https://www.precisionscaleco.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Large-Scale-WOP.pdf
What scale are these wheels and what gauge are they? I couldn’t tell from Bob’s links.
Some of them seem HO only, and the last information seems that Norman wants 3-7/8" drivers for his modification to a Buddy L Pacific in 1:19 scale:
Pacific Locomotive Works says they do custom work, and judging by the web site, building a custom driver should not be any issue…except maybe the price. It may depend on whether he is doing his own casting or sending it out. The advent of 3D printing has made custom brass casting much more attainable than in years past.
Greenway Products looked like smaller scale, but photos can be deceiving. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
There is a company in Florida (on the finger) that will take a 3D file of almost any source, make a wax, and investment cast. I talked to them several years ago and their pricing was not cheap, but not out of line for the work being requested. Also consider, the smaller the run, the higher the price, unless they do jobber work where they lump a group of small/prototype customers into one pour.
These are the folks I talked to https://www.3axis.us/. Size will not be a problem for them.
Good luck.
From what I read they make an over size master, cast it, mold that and sell the castings from the mold waxes. Which allowing for various shrinkage, produces the accurate casting. These steps also reduce the print stepping lines for a smoother finish. Again, if they have a magnetic tumbler request at least an hour a set.
2 years ago I offered this service [you print, I’ll cast] and sank a couple grand into my shop … and my guys all said oh not this year…
Norman, do you have a lathe to turn the cast drivers, or do you need to purchase them completely finished?
Also, do the guys here think a cast brass/bronze driver is ok, or should it be turned down and have a stainless driver shrunk onto it?
Another Norman question, are you going to make this a running loco with track power, or is it display only?
Greg
Mark has a great selection of drivers. Mark can turn/finish them for you as well. As Greg alluded to, a lathe is required, and not just any lathe. Hobby lathes won’t cut it IMO…
http://www.markwoodwheels.co.uk/
Michael
Wow, he sure does! What a wide list of sizes.
Greg
Also, do the guys here think a cast brass/bronze driver is ok, or should it be turned down and have a stainless driver shrunk onto it?
Brass/bronze will wear more rapidly than steel, but only if used a lot! Cast iron is the preferred material - Aster did the Mikado that way in its latest iteration - it provides more grip.
Walsall Model Industries, also in the UK, has been making wheel forever, also in cast iron, also requiring turning to final size. Bill Allen uses them on his live steam builds. They will also turn them to finished size for you.
https://www.walsallmodelindustries.co.uk/
Long time ago in a land far away…
I used to belong to one of the oldest modeling clubs in the country, the New York Society of Model Engineers. We ran two layouts, and HO layout, and a true 17/64 0 scale. Most of the 0 scale stuff the older modelers ran was scratch built. Most of the drivers were brass castings, lathe trued. The tires were almost always a cast iron tire turned from a cast iron pipe fitting. The tires were fit to the center with an insulating strip of a paper material (originally used as insulation in motors and transformers). The process as I remember it (50 or so years ago) was to secure the center on a flat table. The insulation material was cut slightly wider than the thickness of the center and tire, slightly shorter than the circumference of the center, and secured to the center with an adhesive of the time. The tire was heated in an over to around 350 degrees to expand it. In a quick well practiced action the tread was then dropped over the insulating material and pressed over the insulation and driver center. Once allowed to cool, the tire was pretty much a permanent installation. The insulation was trimmed up and the driver was complete.
This process does however require some machining skills, machines to work with, and practice, because the heat does not stay in that small piece of cast iron very long.
My tuppence worth of ancient history.
So Norman, with all this help, what is the answer between purchasing rough castings or fully finished?
This would assist all the people helping you to help you better.
Greg
Greg, and everyone;…I’m sure you expect an answer to this question…and I would like to experience the thrill also.
Pull up a chair, grab a drink of choice, and be sure to order refills…I expect a rather long wait.
Very long, I think I saw Norman was here last night …
Bob Thon(Robert’s Lines) has some Boxpox wheel castings about 2 7/8". One other size to, but don’t recall. [email protected]
Hi everyone,
Thank you all for the information.
Most helpful.
Thank you again,
Norman