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Hello Roger, I had sold Dremels for 19 years, and for most of the last 20, I have always had a few handy.
Not a perfect tool but useful.
I have used them for cutting, grinding, drilling, and in any and every material, known to me.
So intent have I been, that on more than one occasion I have had to adjust my grip as the DREMEL was on fire!
Again they are not perfect, but they are useful.
Oh! Your rims look great!
Plated or painted?
I see that I'm not alone with Dremel's failure! Anyway, as you wrote, they are useful. More than the old flexible shaft I have on my first Unimat lathe!
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...e_flexible.JPG
The wheels will be painted. Don't know yet what for a color; I have time to choose!
Suggestion Roger: Old dentist machine to the delicate work, like mine.
There are lots of drills and more on ebay.de
The white motor is from a sewing machine with footpedal.
Too late, Egon, too late! I got the Dremel 8100 yesterday. Somewhat less handy than the Stylus, but it will be useful too.You had a good find, especially with the flexible shaft and the white motor.
Honestly, I'm no good at all to find such treasures...
The front axle is what I will do next. Usually, live front axles have a section like a H (turned at 90°), but, as it's a casting, the ends towards the wheels are thicker. I'm beginning that simple, but not so easy to do part, with a flat piece of brass. I will add the needed elements more or less like for a Christmas tree (good timing, isn't it?).
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...Front_axle.JPG
Dremel 8100, what a colossus handpiece wow.
Take a look at this site: https://www.foredom.net/product-category/handpieces/ and on ebay for dentist equipment, you could be lucky.
Interesting! Who knows, I may buy something from this company, depending if I can manage the colossus!
How to silver solder bushings at the end of the axle with a hint of precision? I solved the problem by including tabs at each end of the axle and milling a groove into each bushing. The tabs are entering the groove without play, allowing to adjust the correct angle and position before silver soldering.
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...t_axle_end.JPG
On the picture, both knuckle pins are ready to be put in service; they are at the right diameter to be without play in the bushings.
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...s_soldered.JPG
I can continue now by putting more "clothes" to the axle.
This front axle may not be very exciting, but I must do it! I first trimmed the part
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...immed_axle.JPG
to be able to silver solder the upper flange of the H (or I) and gave its almost final shape.
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...ange_added.JPG
Now, I'm preparing the parts which will be silver soldered on each side to have the correct thickness. If my explanation is obscure, the picture which will come soon will explain better.
I can now show what I tried to explain recently. 4 filling pieces were more or less correctly adjusted to the existing axle.
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...rts_to_add.JPG
To help for the right location during the silver soldering, the pieces were riveted to the axle.
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...r_soldered.JPG
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler..._thick_end.JPG
Now, I have to trim the assembly to the final shape; the second flange forming the H will be the last part which will be silver soldered. There will be several minor details which will be soft soldered as the are just for the fun.
Due to the intense heat needed, I'm glad that the bushings were mechanically stabilized.
The front axle is almost ready. Since the last report, I silver soldered the lower flange, added a sole or shoe (maybe there is a better word) at the location for the front springs, trimmed the whole axle and lastly added the four tiny pieces at each end of the axle. Two will get the grease fitting; the other two are staying closed. These four parts took a long time: I had to drill them, put a pin, drill the axle to accept the pins. Without that, I would not be able to soft solder them at the right place or the one soldered would get misplaced while soldering the one the other side of the axle.
What is missing? Again 2 tiny parts which are acting as a steering stop. Only when the brake shield will be done I will see the exact location; they will be soldered with the same method as the four ones, with a pin.
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...axle_ready.JPG
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...axle_ready.JPG
What is coming next? Logically, the knuckles. Here we go!
There are sometimes parts I don't know how to begin them. The knuckles are a good example. I did first the shafts but I had to modify my plan: the first idea was to have "bearings" in steel as large as possible therefore the hub would be rotating over the fixed very large shaft. This solution is not at all practical as I could not take easily the drum from the model.
Consequently, I did 2 shafts in mild steel and "bearings" in brass pressed into the hubs. The shafts will then be silver soldered into the knuckles. I then took the largest bit of brass I had, trying to machine all the needed details out of it. Unfortunately, I discovered that the bit is not thick enough! Therefore the attaching channel for the steering knuckle arm will be a separate element silver soldered to the main part.
But how to begin? Drill the hole to attach the shaft or drill the holes for the knuckle pin? I opted for the second possibility with the hope that the hole for the shaft will be at the correct angle to have the front wheel with a very slight positive camber.
As it can be seen on the picture, there is still a lot to do!
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...55_Knuckle.JPG
When I began the wheels, I thought that I would need months to complete them. In fact, the job went much quicker than that. This is quite the opposite with the knuckles, they are still in fabrication. During milling, I suspect that the milling bit was not tight enough and went down. The result: a scraped part which can be seen on the left on the second picture.
As you may see, there is still some work till completion!
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...56_knuckle.JPG
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...od_and_bad.JPG
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler..._with_drum.JPG
Finally, the steering knuckles are ready. There was a lot of machining, silver soldering and filing. I just have a regret: the steering arms are attached with 2 bolts to the knuckles; to have a flat surface for the head's bolts, a counterbore is provided at the knuckle's mounting point. Unfortunately, I cannot do that; I just could provide a flat surface. I don't know how this was done in production because the upper part of the knuckle is in the way. Maybe from the other side with a special tool?
What I still have to do is the device to adjust the play; the original knuckles having an upper and a lower ball bearing. Of course, my device will be just here for the show.
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...59_Knuckle.JPG
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...60_Knuckle.JPG
http://www.scalemotorcars.com/galler...61_Knuckle.JPG