eBay

articulatedgeared01 · ‎10-18-2018

Thurs 10-18-18 6:44 p.m.

Hi:

I have this fantasy that every HO locomotive I purchase on ebay is repairable. The reality is that some of the locomotives have "hidden damage / wear" as well defective / missing parts which are not visible in photos. When the same items are advertised by experienced / inexperienced sellers as "does not operate" no testing of the locomotive is involved and there is no way to discern the condition of the locomotive. It is a rather sad state of afairs when the operability issue and lack of testing is forced on the ebay buying community for the sake of profit (that is, avoiding returns as part of the ebay / Pay-Pal guarantee). Come on folks, a used 12 VDC HO powerpack can be obtained from a toy train show for about $3.00. Or ... ... using some "very small" 1/64-inch diameter insulated wire, an HO locomotive can be connected to a 12 VDC automobile battery for testing purposes - preferably a partially dischared battery (Caution: Use this information at your own risk. Connection to a car battery, presents some risks of electrical shock as well as damage to a locomotive motor. Only attempt this if you are confident that you will not injure yourself. In addition, take appropriate care that the electrical leads do not short out against the car body which is generally grounded to the negative / minus / black terminal on the battery. Take care not to touch the leads together as this may damage the circuitry on some later model autos. Also, if the locomotive is not clean and lubricated, it could damage gears, etc. on the locomotive. And - Do NOT use jumper cables for testing purposes as the wire diameter is too large. Finally, some locomotives run on alternating current - AC - not direct current - DC. So going with the $3.00 toy train transformer which is adjustable between 0 -12 VDC is prefereable. )

Today I was repairing an HO locomotive. It occurred to me that this was good opportunity to make some drawings of every part which I removed and replaced.

So I got out the old vernier caliper / micrometer and began to take some measurements on various parts. I then recorded this information on a sketch / drawing. This way, I can refer back to the drawing if a locomotive comes in with a defective / missing part.

When I was a child, it seemed like I broke everything I touched. As time went on, I began to repair things. Recently, I began to measure all the fasteners (machine, screws, nuts, washers, bushings, screws, etc. ) which I use on my locomotives). I also packaged up indiviudal / groups of fasteners with the measurement information. This has been driven by my observation that a model railroader may use any junk at hand to fix a locomotive. However, this may cause quite a bit of damage to a locomotive and retard the repair process. These days, I try to get the proper or "original" fastener back on the locomotive.

To Be Continued.

articulatedgeared01 · ‎10-18-2018

Thurs 10-18-18 7:56 p.m.

To Be Continued

Reference 1: Vern, Jules. The Time Machine.

Reference 2: McShane, Charles. Classic American Locomotives - The 1909

Classic on Steam Locomotive Technology. New York: Skyhorse

Publishing. 2012.

Rererence 3: Matumas, Edward A. Do-It-Yourself Gun Repair. New York:

Skyhorse Publishing. 2013.

I am very concerned about the health of manufacturing in the United States today. There is a plethora of people who know how to use a cell phone, but far fewer who know how to run a lathe or milling machine or a jeweler's file. Americans have become slaves to imported products. If a person cannot or will not make something, then they are essentially a slave to someone who can. It is kind of like what Jules Vern wrote about the Eloy and the Moorlocks. The Eloy danced around while the Moorlocks ran all of the equipment underground. The Moorlocks also ate the Eloy (Reference 3).

I am a bit of a slave myself, but I am learning to fight back by reading / educating myself, reparing equipment, machining my own parts, and working on continuous quality improvement. To this end, I have been educating myself by reading References 2 and 3.

I have noticed that a good many fasteners on HO locomotives are "boogered up." That means that some one has used the wrong size screwdriver and damaged the head on a machine screw. This is discussed in Reference 3. Gun ethusiasts (whether you like / dislike the NRA makes no diffence) do not like the heads of fasteners damaged when a gun is taken into a gunsmith for repair. So a capable gunsmith will have a large selection of screwdrivers which exactly fit the slot in a machine screw head. Screwdrivers are inexpensive and can be ground to specific dimensions as needed. So there is no excuse for damaging fasteners.

Part of the repair process may involve making drawings. This got me thinking about the Equipment Data Books I used to prepare for Buildings, Systems, Subsystems, Equipment Items, Components / Parts, and Chemicals / Formulations. Each of these has an engineering life cycle (that is, 31 categories of information for any Building, Systsem, etc. This could be applied to HO locomotives purchased on ebay too. For example, a few life cycle categories might include engineering information (assembly drawings or instructions), procurement, maintenence, modifications and documentation / records . In my world, it is helpful to gather up information from the internet on locomotive kits, train show or ebay procurment information, repairs performed on a locomotive, and drawings or notes which were developed to support repair work / modifications. When the locomotive is sold, a copy of the Equipment Data Book needs to go with the locomotive. I will keep the original books for my records to defend myself in ebay / Pay-Pal cases. Like Judge Judy used to say, "Show me the documentation." If a locomotive was purchased for $145 and I repaired it and think it should sell for $175 based on repairs I have completed, then I want the buyer to know this. Then they can decide if they are getting a good deal and I can sleep well at night. I might also want to include splint packaging instructions and / or photographs in the packaging / shipping categories of the Equipment Data Book to show how an item was packaged.

I have come a long way since I broke things as a child. I hope this post inspires a few of you to expand your capabilities, your horizons, and your concept of what you think is ethical. I have a long way to go.

Regards,

ag01

articulatedgeared01 · ‎10-19-2018

Fri 10-19-18 8:43 a.m.

Re: How Grind Screwdrivers for HO Train Repairs

I was talking with a model railroader friend last night about grinding straight screwdriver blades. He told me an interesting, 40-year old story about a Gernam machinist and how screwdriver blades can be ground.

Most screwdrivers with a straight blade are tapered along the length of the screwdriver shank. This allows the screwdriver blade to slip out of the machine screw slot and / or "booger-up" the machine screw slot. To avoid this problem, the machinsist decided to put a small cubical block on the screwdriver for grinding purposes. Let's say 1/2-inch away from the screwdriver tip.

If a screwdriver shank is tapered, it will engage a screw slot as a straight or curved line (countersunk- or round-head machine screw). If the surfaces of the screwdriver blade are parallel to each other, then the screw driver blade will engage the screw slot as more of a plane (or a larger flat surface area). There is less possibility of the screwdriver blade slipping out of the machine screw slot or causing damage to the slot. In addition, more twisting force can be applied for turning the machine screw because less force is needed to hold the screwdriver blade in place in the slot. Pushing on the screwdriver actually makes it more difficult to install and remove machine screws. Pushing the screwdriver into the machine screw may actually deform the machine screw threads (increases the torque necessary to install / remove the machine screw).

I am guessing that a 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch cube could be made from aluminum. A hole, which is slightly larger in diameter than the screwdriver shank, can drilled in the middle of the cube. The cube can also be drilled / tapped and fitted with a set screw to hold the cube in place on the screwdriver shank. The flat sides of the cube must then be aligned with the flat surfaces of the tapered screwdriver shank. (Note: It would be desirable to have a drill press to machine the cube, but some careful machining using a protable drill and a bench vise might be suitable.)

Next, the screwdriver is taken to a bench grinder fitted with a platform or rest next to the grinding wheel. The cube permits grinding two parallel surfaces on the screwdriver blade. Without the cube, the tip may end up being ground so that one side of the screwdriver tip is thinner than the other side (a different side-to-side taper than the taper along the length of the screwdriver shank). With the cube, it is possible to grind flat / parallel surfaces on the screwdriver blade. The screwdriver / cube can also be turned 90 degrees. This will allow the width of the screwdriver blade (not the thickness) to be ground so that it is slightly less than the width of the machine screw (that is, it will fit in the machine screw slot better).

When grinding the parallel surfaces on the screwdriver blade, consider grinding only about 1/8 inch to 3/16 inch back on shank to avoid weakening the screwdriver tip. Grind carefully and slowly. Use coolant (water) so that the hardened screwdriver tip is not discolored when grinding. Overheating the screwdriver tip can reduce its hardness (annealing the metal in the tip and making the metal alloy softer which is not desirable).

Screwdrivers are relatively inexpensive, so it would be possible to grind perhaps a dozen screwdrivers for modeling work. If the screwdriver shanks are the same diameter, only one cube would be need.

All of this will help to reduce damage / breakage of machine screws, reduce the unsightly apperance of damaged screwdriver slots, and reduce the work needed to install and remove machine screws.

Machining is a bit of art and science. I find that it empowers me to do all kinds of desirable and necessary work. I hope you find some entertainment in this effort as well as expanding your skill set.

Regards,

ag01

articulatedgeared01 · ‎10-19-2018

Fri 10-19-18 9:30 p.m.

Re: A 9VDC Battery Can Also Be Used For Testing HO Locomotives

Regards,

ag01

alcoforever · ‎10-19-2018

One problem I see is that non-train folks may have no idea how to hook up a loco for testing. Yes, they could buy a cheap power pack or a 9v battery but now they need some track and some wire. Wouldn't be worth it if they only have one loco to sell.

If you buy them untested, you just adjust the price you pay accordingly.

By the way, I have a couple Athearn Genesis SD70M's and a couple BLI Blue Line AC6000's you may be interested in. All have DCC & sound, lettered for SP. They are kinda untested. There are decoder and wiring issues in all of them. What am I offered? No returns, no exchanges.

dirk12955 · ‎10-19-2018

Do like I do. If you can't tell otherwise, Assume it's all garbage and bid accordingly.

articulatedgeared01 · ‎10-20-2018

Sat 10-20-19 8:14 p.m.

I have been giving some thought to the design of the cube for grinding screwdrivers. One drawback is that some screwderivers have a blade which is wider than the screwdriver shank. So what to do?

If a retangular block is made instead of a cube-shaped block, it would be possible to put a machine screw on either side of the screwdriver shank. The rectangular block could be drilled for the screwdriver shank. Then the block can be drilled and taped for a machine screw on either side of the screwdriver shank hole (that is, at 90 degrees from the screwdriver shank hole). Next, block could be sawed or cut in two. Then one side of the rectangular block with the treaded holes can be drilled out to provide clearance for the machine screws. When the two pieces of the rectangular block are reassembled on the screwdriver shank using two machine screwes, it will behave like a clamp and will hold on to the screwdriver shank.

Regards,

ag01

articulatedgeared01 · ‎10-22-2018

Mon 10-22-18 11:27 p.m.

Re: How to Easily Make a Cube-Shaped Block for Grinding Parallel Surfaces on Screwdriver Blades

Of all the dumb things. I was packaging some train show items up in plastic bags this evening. In with the train items was a red gambling dice. The single dice would make a pretty good screwdriver grinding fixture once the cube was drilled and tapped.

Regards,

ag01