AT LAST ....MOVEMENT
Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 8:29 pm
Hi to everyone
Just thought it was about time to update our never ending project. We never realised the enormity of this project when we started.
We decided to have a go at sorting out the drive mechanics which we had quietly been avoiding as we had no idea of how to proceed. Firstly we decided to use the same method as a vacuum cleaner drive i.e. a very tight belt on 2 pulleys driven by a smooth shaft on a drill motor.(see photo)
Before we got there we had to somehow hold the stripped battery drill motor so I made an aluminium cradle whilst Frank made the pulleys to go onto the end of the drill motor.We assemble it all together, applied the power and NOTHING......AAARRRGGGGHHHH. nothing but a slipping belt !!. Plan 74a next......W decided to try use a cog and chain method but after researching ebay we couldn't locate cogs that were small enough.....Plan 75a....Only way forward was to make our own cogs and that was something we had never done...However with some aluminium bar, some very precise measurments and some trial and error we are now quite proud of our cogs. Next problem was how to get the chain to exactly the right tension so we drilled elongelated holes in the base plates so that we could move the motor mounts backwards and forwards.We had mounted all this onto some MDF boarding but found this far too flexible so then made aluminium base plate but still too much movement so then another strip down and plenty of wood packing underneath all the boarding. Finally we assembled it all again and connected the electrics and the battery......SUCCESS...it moved beautifully forwards and backwood and sounded great with the metal treads on a metal table.....The electrics need a lot of work as can be seen in the photo but we are going to use a servo for applying power to the motor but we need to find some electric device that will reverse the + and - so that the motors will go into reverse. Any ideas anyone
....It is so nice after 12 months to finally see movement as there have been times when we could have easily advertised the whole lot on ebay due to the frustration it has caused at times. Still dont know what to do when finished......perhaps ebay might be the answer to raise funds for the next build...Anyone wanting to see the whole build please look under large scale build panzer III ausf N
Just thought it was about time to update our never ending project. We never realised the enormity of this project when we started.
We decided to have a go at sorting out the drive mechanics which we had quietly been avoiding as we had no idea of how to proceed. Firstly we decided to use the same method as a vacuum cleaner drive i.e. a very tight belt on 2 pulleys driven by a smooth shaft on a drill motor.(see photo)
Before we got there we had to somehow hold the stripped battery drill motor so I made an aluminium cradle whilst Frank made the pulleys to go onto the end of the drill motor.We assemble it all together, applied the power and NOTHING......AAARRRGGGGHHHH. nothing but a slipping belt !!. Plan 74a next......W decided to try use a cog and chain method but after researching ebay we couldn't locate cogs that were small enough.....Plan 75a....Only way forward was to make our own cogs and that was something we had never done...However with some aluminium bar, some very precise measurments and some trial and error we are now quite proud of our cogs. Next problem was how to get the chain to exactly the right tension so we drilled elongelated holes in the base plates so that we could move the motor mounts backwards and forwards.We had mounted all this onto some MDF boarding but found this far too flexible so then made aluminium base plate but still too much movement so then another strip down and plenty of wood packing underneath all the boarding. Finally we assembled it all again and connected the electrics and the battery......SUCCESS...it moved beautifully forwards and backwood and sounded great with the metal treads on a metal table.....The electrics need a lot of work as can be seen in the photo but we are going to use a servo for applying power to the motor but we need to find some electric device that will reverse the + and - so that the motors will go into reverse. Any ideas anyone
....It is so nice after 12 months to finally see movement as there have been times when we could have easily advertised the whole lot on ebay due to the frustration it has caused at times. Still dont know what to do when finished......perhaps ebay might be the answer to raise funds for the next build...Anyone wanting to see the whole build please look under large scale build panzer III ausf N