Sunday, July 20, 2008

Barclay Crank


Barclay Crank
Originally uploaded by Phil_Parker.
The 7mm scale crank axle owes a lot to the design of the same part in the 4mm locomotive. Rather than try to get a casting that is accurate enough to do the job, it's made up of a series of laminated etched bits and fitted to a Romford axle.

In the smaller scale this works very well. In 7mm it is nigh on perfect. Lots of parts are provided on the etch to allow for different wheels. I'm using Slaters so 4 of the common etches plus the three detail parts for the face are enough. The result is amazing, and I've build several OO & HO versions. The grub screw ends up flush with the face of the crank and there is no wobble.

Assembly is easy, just fit the first four lamination's to the axle to keep them in line. Run solder around the edge. Then add the three detail layers and run more solder. A quick clean up does the job. Holes are marked for the crank pin which have to be drilled out. The bolt is then screwed in from the back in the same way as it is on the wheels.

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