At long last the designs for the bogie etches for the bogies for the B and NGY wagons dropped into my inbox courtesy of that very helpful man at Narrow Planet.
It is a simple fold-up design just as with the diamond frame bogies for the DZ wagons. Brass bearings are soldered into the holes to create the axleboxes and hold the wheelsets in place.
Once I have a prototype etch the next step will be for me to design some false axleboxes and centre spring details which I can cast in resin to be glued on top of the brass.
Hopefully it will look something like this.
I will keep you appraised of developments.
I'm sure the brass etched bogies will work out well, but have you considered going the 3D printed route? You could model the axleboxes and springs all onto the bogie and simply print a single item. From my albeit limited experience you could probably do away with the need for brass bearings as well, as the wheels seem to run really smoothly against the printed material. All you would need to do, when the prints arrived would be to slot in the wheels, and usually the material is flexible enough to allow you to simply bend the part slightly to pop them in.
ReplyDeleteUnless you find a way to cast the 3D printed master, it's an expensive way to produce a production run. To get detail quality without the horizontal lines or a surface like sandpaper, one of the more expensive media is required. Etch and resin probably makes sense for this application, especially if sales are good.
ReplyDeleteTrue, although I think the price will drop quite quickly as more and more people start to 3D print things. I haven't personally tried it yet but the polished white-strong-flexible material that Shapeways supports might tick all the boxes, as it's a cheap material, allows for reasonable detail (at least for the level you would need for these bogies), and the polishing should remove the sandpaper like surface.
DeleteHaving said all that I'm guessing etched brass and resin casting are the "safe" way of building the bogies as we know it works without issue.
Good luck with the test etch!