Turning down wheel flange service???

I have heard people do it by running the engine slow and using a file against the oversize flanges. Just go slow and don't overheat them to the point of disrupting or melting the plastic-center of the drivers.

@StudeDude posted:

Just wondering if anyone knows of a vendor who can turn down wheel flanges to a more scale size? I have a number of O scale Rivarossi 4-4-0 locos & kits which I'd love to get the drivers turned down on. I have plans to swap out the lead truck and tender truck wheels to more scale size wheels but I do not have a lathe or the ability to turn the drivers down. I'd love to find someone who has the know-how and facilities to do this, any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

This can be done, use a fine sharp file gentle pressure. Mark your wheel flanges so when you hit the mark you are done. Also do this with the engine on its side, or with cloth covering as mush as possible. This is to protect against the shavings that will drop, this important with magnets on the axles.

Al of Millhouse River Turntables used to do this type of work. I don’t know if he did it personally or he had someone do it for him. I don’t know if he still does it or not. I am sure Pat (Harmon Yards) on this forum can do it and would most likely do it. Do a search for Harmon Yards and then email Pat about it. He is an excellent machinist and his prices are reasonable in my opinion.

@Hudson J1e posted:

Al of Millhouse River Turntables used to do this type of work. I don’t know if he did it personally or he had someone do it for him. I don’t know if he still does it or not. I am sure Pat (Harmon Yards) on this forum can do it and would most likely do it. Do a search for Harmon Yards and then email Pat about it. He is an excellent machinist and his prices are reasonable in my opinion.

Or we could alert him to this thread: @harmonyards

Good idea John!

Thank you all for the suggestions, I thought of running the engines and using a file to dress down the driver flanges but one issue with these particular engines is the rather anemic motor they came with which I think might just stall out if I try filing the wheels. Figuring out a re-motor set up for them is also on my to do list. I may give it a try with one to see how it goes but will also reach out to Pat at Harmon yards to see if he would be willing to give it a go.

I had to taper the blind drivers on my Lionel PRR T1 Duplex.  I used a Dremel with a sanding drum and just got the wheels spinning opposite the sanding drum rotation and went to work.  I also had a vacuum right at the wheel being worked on to try and capture most of the sanding debris.