Fit more uncoupling magnets.
A full house again and the temperature had reduced following a scorching start to the week.
The engine shed board was readied for work and a new home for the wiring block that was right in the way of the new magnet mechanism was assessed. It had been thought that the wring would have to be extended, but a new location was found requiring no work, albeit at the limits of the existing wire range. It was soon realised that the router couldn't be used to form the recess in the board this time. It was decided to use a circular saw blade in the Dremel to cut a slot around the area and remove the plywood using a chisel. All went well until Stephen stepped in to finish Geoff's initial work and disaster!!! In a lapse of concentration, the chisel was pushed through the board. It could have passed through cleanly, but instead, a whole section of Peco track was ripped off the base. Rather than leave it for another day, it was decided to repair the track immediately. The rail ends were cut, the damaged section removed and a piece of new track prepared and fitted.
In no time, efforts were concentrated back onto the magnet unit. Geoff had redesigned and 3D printed some more frames that included support for the double magnets on Worton Court. However, a new/cheaper reel of PLA filament had been used that was messier and less stable than the usual material and a lot more cleaning-up was required. (It was chosen because being white, it was easier to study the unit moving under the layout). In fact, a few splits also had to be repaired, but 3 units were eventually assembled. A steel keep-plate was glued onto a new frame, then the magnets, then the central steel spacer added and the unit screwed in place. Unfortunately, it didn't work very well. The unit was re-fixed in a slightly new position without change (we thought the track had moved). The rest of the session was spent trying various arrangements of the magnets, rotating, flipping and swapping the magnets themselves - all to no avail. We had a working uncoupler a few inches away, so what was going on? Although we had achieved a lot, the session ended on a down-beat. We knew the north/south poles of the neodymium magnets were nothing like a traditional magnet, but are they all the same? Geoff will do some research into them for next week.
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| The white connector strip was moved downwards out of the way. The hole being cut with a circular saw in a Dremel. |
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| Ready for the magnet unit. (Working black uncoupler unit). |
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| The track being replaced. |
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