Tiger 1 Road Wheel Lock Bar Problem and Fix
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 8:28 pm
Hi Guys
It has been brought to my attention that there is a problem bending the lock bars on the Tiger 1 road wheels. Before I explain how to do this I need to explain why I made the lock bars the way I did.
Firstly you may or may not know that the bolts/nuts on the 6 scale wheel are not in the same position as on the real road wheel, they are off center, see first picture below. Also the real bolts/nuts are 33 mm (1.25") across which in 6 scale is 5.5 mm (.21654") The 2mm bolts/nuts used on the scaled wheel are 3.86 mm (.152") This had to be taken into account when making the lock bars. The distance between the center of the bolts and the edge of the inner wheel hub dictated the size of the lock bar.
This picture shows the size and position of the real nuts and lock bars and the 6 scale size and position of the nuts, also my scaled lock bar. Note in the second picture that there was only a small amount of the lock bar protruding around the nut to be bent into position to lock the nut.
To make a lock bar to fit the smaller off centered bolts I wanted to design it so it look correct and symmetrical to the smaller nuts. If I made the lock bar scaled version of the real one with centered bolt holes the lock bar would be protruding over the edge of the inner wheel hub as shown in the first diagram. To position the correct scaled lock bar in the correct position the bolt holes would have to be off center and would not be symmetrical to the nuts as shown in the second diagram. I went with the design of a smaller lock bar which is symmetrical to the nuts and looks more realistic. This design however did not leave very much of the lock bar protruding past the nuts for bending into the lock position, but in scale it is about the same as the real one.
The scaled lock bars can be bent into the lock position, it is not easy but can be done. Here is how.
The lock bars are in .010" brass, on reflection I should have made them in .005" brass and may change that for future production. There are three ways the bending can be done.
For all three methods of bending the lock tabs the following is the same.
The lock bars tend to move when tightening down the nuts, to stop this I recommend a couple of spots of superglue to hold them in place, use a fairly slow setting glue to allow time to position them correctly over the bolts. Tighten the nuts carefully making sure the lock bars do not move. Make sure the nuts are really tight.
Use a wood chisel to tap between the lock bar and wheel hub as shown in picture below and bend the lock bar up. Then hammer the bent edge against the nut with a flat screwdriver or piece of metal as shown below.
Method 1. Using the lock bars as is you can bend the edges in position. As shown in picture below.
Method 2. Heat treatment to lock bars to soften the brass for easier bending. See pictures below.
Method 3 After heat treatment hammer the ends of lock bars to expand and thin them. By hammering the edges you will increase the edge by around .015" to .018" . See picture below.
The pictures below show the lock bar which has been heat treated and edges hammered.
You may damage some of the lock bars during this process, each set come with 4 extra lock bars, if you need more let me know and I will send them to you at no charge.
Regards
Mike
It has been brought to my attention that there is a problem bending the lock bars on the Tiger 1 road wheels. Before I explain how to do this I need to explain why I made the lock bars the way I did.
Firstly you may or may not know that the bolts/nuts on the 6 scale wheel are not in the same position as on the real road wheel, they are off center, see first picture below. Also the real bolts/nuts are 33 mm (1.25") across which in 6 scale is 5.5 mm (.21654") The 2mm bolts/nuts used on the scaled wheel are 3.86 mm (.152") This had to be taken into account when making the lock bars. The distance between the center of the bolts and the edge of the inner wheel hub dictated the size of the lock bar.
This picture shows the size and position of the real nuts and lock bars and the 6 scale size and position of the nuts, also my scaled lock bar. Note in the second picture that there was only a small amount of the lock bar protruding around the nut to be bent into position to lock the nut.
To make a lock bar to fit the smaller off centered bolts I wanted to design it so it look correct and symmetrical to the smaller nuts. If I made the lock bar scaled version of the real one with centered bolt holes the lock bar would be protruding over the edge of the inner wheel hub as shown in the first diagram. To position the correct scaled lock bar in the correct position the bolt holes would have to be off center and would not be symmetrical to the nuts as shown in the second diagram. I went with the design of a smaller lock bar which is symmetrical to the nuts and looks more realistic. This design however did not leave very much of the lock bar protruding past the nuts for bending into the lock position, but in scale it is about the same as the real one.
The scaled lock bars can be bent into the lock position, it is not easy but can be done. Here is how.
The lock bars are in .010" brass, on reflection I should have made them in .005" brass and may change that for future production. There are three ways the bending can be done.
For all three methods of bending the lock tabs the following is the same.
The lock bars tend to move when tightening down the nuts, to stop this I recommend a couple of spots of superglue to hold them in place, use a fairly slow setting glue to allow time to position them correctly over the bolts. Tighten the nuts carefully making sure the lock bars do not move. Make sure the nuts are really tight.
Use a wood chisel to tap between the lock bar and wheel hub as shown in picture below and bend the lock bar up. Then hammer the bent edge against the nut with a flat screwdriver or piece of metal as shown below.
Method 1. Using the lock bars as is you can bend the edges in position. As shown in picture below.
Method 2. Heat treatment to lock bars to soften the brass for easier bending. See pictures below.
Method 3 After heat treatment hammer the ends of lock bars to expand and thin them. By hammering the edges you will increase the edge by around .015" to .018" . See picture below.
The pictures below show the lock bar which has been heat treated and edges hammered.
You may damage some of the lock bars during this process, each set come with 4 extra lock bars, if you need more let me know and I will send them to you at no charge.
Regards
Mike