Back to some real Meccanoing...

The past few months have been taken up with  looking at new sets and messing around with small models. Next weekend is The Henley Gathering and it is about time we got back to some serious modelling. That gives us just about a week to get something built. My aim is to build a steam car based on an article I have seen in an old Meccano Magazine. Nothing too hard here, it is just a bit of fun and will complement my Steam Wagon.

Fun project aside there are a couple other things that have taken a step forward today after a visit from the postman. We are always telling ourselves that we have more than enough Meccano but for some reason it keeps arriving or following us home from meetings and shows...

New 6 inch plate bending rollers

Today a nice slim package arrived from Stuart Borrill containing some very interesting parts. First a set of silver steel plate bending rollers. I. know we already have a set built into our bending machine we built several years ago, but these are special. This new set of rollers is one of Stuart's latest creations - they are 6 inches long. Now I will be able to form 3½,4½ and 5½ inch plates along their length without having to resort to using the slip rollers I have in the workshop. There is something rather satisfying about using Meccano built tools/machines.

Now all I have to do is design a new bending machine to make good use of these new rollers. The old bending machine was built several years ago and the design was constrained by the building stock available at the time. See HERE.

The original bending machine  - This picture was taken just after it was built

While I am at it I might as well give the original one a makeover too as it is getting a bit sloppy. The holes that journal the rollers get misshapen after a lot of use so stripping it down and reversing the strips will improve things considerably. I will post some pictures of the new machine in a day or so.

Remember the Merry Mixer?

Yes it is still in production, it has just been 'mothballed' for most of this year while other things have taken our attention.  The drive system has been up for debate and the latest idea is to follow the prototype and used a friction drive to the rotating spiders that carry the seats. Making a compact reduction drive at the end of the arm has been a sticking point but now Stuart Borrill has added a very nicely made 38t contrate to his list I have another option.  

Solid brass 38t contrates

Looks like it will be a weekend of building for a change. Again I will update progress and let you know how it goes.

Ralph.