Information on Lionel Magnetic Crane project.

Bare with me folks. With the new format that Rich is going to provide us in a few weeks I am planning to post some pictures of it when it is done. This is one of the projects that I have been thinking about for years but for the life of me I can't remember if the drive system idea came from my head or these pages. So being the type of person that likes to give credit where credit is due I thought I would check it out first before posting.

See if this jogs any memories; I am planning on using a 1/4-20 threaded rod as the transition linear drive gear.

Well, one more time to the top just to make sure all gets to see this question.

Oh yea, from what I understand one of the great things about the new web site we are going to get in two weeks is that topics like this will be much simpler to search.

Mario
Here is a video of the one I think you are asking about

As I recall it belongs to "David from Dearborn"

Robert

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...ndex=17&feature=plcp

Thank you Robert, I can't look at it now because I'm at work and our IT is blocking your attachment. I will check it out when I get home, again thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by gg1man:
Thank you Robert, I can't look at it now because I'm at work and our IT is blocking your attachment. I will check it out when I get home, again thank you.

I know you'll get some response .I know they used 1/4-20 all thread rod and a DC can motor hooked to an HO transformer so you could reverse it and regulate the speed but 30 inches of unsupported 1/4 inch rod seems like it might sag.

Any way I know someone will chime in and get you fixed up.

David

Hi David, I thought about that also and I think I got around the problem. I will let you know when I'm done in a couple of weeks. I'm still waiting on the drive geared motor from Plastruct. That idea I know came from these pages. One of the guys used it to add some action to his Lionel Saw Mill. I have that info at home and will also mention him as well.


to all the shoulders I stand on every time my toy trains work!

Mario, at least four of us have posted about animating the crane. Most of us used lead screws, Ernie from TAS uses a chain drive. Most have placed the mechanism on top of the layout. I placed my drive mechanism under the layout to try and camouflage it as much as possible. I cut a slot along one of the rails for the drive bar and control wires for the crane. You can use any diameter of threaded rod but the thicker the better to avoid bending especially if you plan to move the crane more that a foot. Mine moves over two feet and I used 5/16" rod. 3/8 to 1/2" would have worked even better over this distance. Here are some pics showing the mechanism, drive bar, and the crane. The crane is driven by attaching the thin spring temper copper to one of the axles. The stock axle was replaced with a longer piece of drill rod. It moves without any wobble.









Pete

Thank You Pete, It looks really great. But, I'm a bit of a show off so I'll build it above ground so as all can see the action.

After seeing your pictures I'm a little concerned about the drive motor I have on order. It is only a 7 VDC unit with a reduction gear assembly. I hope it can carry the lode even though I have used it with success on other projects. But, still your motor looks like it can kick some butt.
I'm going to be working on it this weekend so hopefully I'll have some good news next week.

Hey big M It's me again,

Has anyone thought about a automobile power window motor as a gear drive?????

This things are cheap strong as heck and 12 volt and reversible?????

We used them as flap motors in home built aircraft and they are very reliable.
The ones out of fords are the easiest to adapt for hooking up to the all thread rod. You would however probably want to conceal this under the table.
Or you could reduce it's footprint by just having the gear portion above the table.
David

Mario, That motor will likely be OK. The one I am using is rated for 28 volts but I am only using 12 volts. The gear reduction boosts the torque. The main concern is getting the speed in the ball park. Too slow and it gets boring. Too fast and it looks silly. I found the motor at a surplus shop but you can find instrument grade gearmotors on the Bay all day long for under 20 bucks. I think Dave is using a motor from a battery powered drill.

Pete

I just thought of something I wanted to share and watching that video reminded me of it.I have a 2316 Crane just like the one in the video and if yours are like mine every time you pick something up the crane tilts. This can't be good for the gears that rotate the crane left to right.

If you take the shell off you'll see that behind the pivot pin there's a large expanse on the crane platform . I cut 3 pieces of 3/16 plate steel 2 inches long and an inch and a quarter wide wrapped them with electrical tape and used 3M double sided tape to fasten them to the platform as counter weight.
Now it doesn't tilt and when there's nothing on the hook it doesn't flop around.

Also while the shell was off I added a small phenolic(plastic) washer in between the shell and the crank to raise and lower the boom that plastic in the shell seems to make it bind somewhat now it rotates as smooth as glass.

David