Windup repair , who's tried it

BRAVO! :-)

2-2-twainguy posted:

I tried doing James hub replacement and he must have patience of job. No mini lathe and used a tough  aluminum alloy round stock , then found out it had 2 worn out gears to replace and had to cut out a piece to get to replace them. But in the end  she - runs !  

Congratulations!  That is probably one of the tougher repairs to do.  Hafners are my least favorite to work on... there is nothing easy about it.  The new mainspring hub looks great, and that should be a lifetime repair.  

Just think of what you could do with a mini lathe... 

I have swapped out some gears and a reverse lever in a couple of early American Flyer engines.  However, I have not actually fixed any that had broken main springs (or issues with the main springs).

It is a bit daunting and I only began experimenting because I had a junker and then purchased engines with various gear issues.  

So far I have repaired 3 engines using parts from one.  

James, How are the Marklin, Bing, and Bassett Lowke to work on?  I realize I now have several of each but for now I think most of them are working although one of the B-L is missing a couple of parts so that may be interesting!

Dennis, I'm afraid I have very little experience with the clockworks from across the pond.  From what limited exposure I've had with them, they look like they might be easier to work on than most of the US windups (such as Ives, AF, Hafner, and Marx).  For instance, I have a Bassett Lowke mechanism on the shelf, and it is put together with machine screws, which makes it much easier to take apart and put together - most of the US makes aren't designed to be taken apart.  They also tend to be more robust than the domestic windups, too.  Regardless, the motor is doing the same basic thing, so repairs should be similar.

Hafner motors are difficult because of the way the motor is assembled and designed.  It is a lot of work to take one completely apart, and I've found it is best to just partially disassemble it - leaving the drive axle and wheels intact - and do the work in the limited area available after the idler axle is removed.  It also uses a rotating basket that contains the mainspring, which makes it very difficult to remove and replace the mainspring compared to Ives, Flyer, and Marx motors.  The motors I've seen from England/Europe don't have those design issues, but again, my experience with them is very limited.

James , don’t lose those screws, I think they are the BA British thread type, not at all interchangable with metric or std. oh and if you want to get rid of the Lowke on your shelf would be happy to trade some stuff for it!