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I've used their wheel holding tool, which works really well (they were very helpful in replacing a part when I managed to break it -- my fault rather than a flaw in the tool). It's too big for holding most N scale wheels. The smallest I've used it with, and that I think is practical, are some OO gauge carriage wheels. Can't remember the exact diameter but I think they were about 7mm or 8mm in diameter.

Mark

I printed the info from the Model Railway website; I liked the profile tool.??

How do I see this info that John Hutnik posted?

>>Fohrmann charges 37 Euro for a profiling tool and 60 Euro for their wheel holding tool that they say to use.

Thanks,?

Tamra

Hi Andy,

Many thanks for the reply and links. I need to do some accurate measuring as the range of wheels from the Association shop are ideal. It would certainly be worth joining? as the membership cost is easily outweighed on the saving of wheels. Whilst I can get some from Dundas, most would have had to come from a German supplier and they are not cheep.

Regards
Martin Yorkshire

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I am interested in this and wonder if anyone has had experience of using these tools. Given the number of wheels I will need for scratch buildings wagons it would be a cheaper option. However, looking at the download from the Fohrmann site I am left wondering if it would be worth the time involved as I could foresee quite a bit of material going on the scrap pile. I will check out the 2mm Association to see if anything available is suitable for using on goods stock in HOe although searches so far in N gauge have not thrown up anything of a large enough diameter.

Interested to hear any input on this.

Martin in a very wet part of Yorkshire.

Good evening

firstly pardon me my English

i'm on the forum yahoo unimat since many years , since several months
,impossible to connect ??????

any body can explain why me ?

i'can't see photos and read the messages groups ?

i receive always messages for nothing ?

i own a unimat sl lathe

by advance ,many thanks

Philippe

ficos@...

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years ago I put a 120 tooth gear behind the pulley, and added a basically single tooth gear on the end of a moveable arm mounted on the pulley / motor bracket. ?This was based on an article in the old "Finelines" model train magazine. ?With a small Foredom type hand grinder mounted on the cross slide, there are lots of small parts one can make. ?One example would be a pin with a square or hex head, to represent a miniature bolt.

Reg Barron

On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 11:49 PM, Mehmood wrote:

Thanks very much for the offer of the RP25 wheel profiling form tool Keith, that's very kind, again!? However the profile I need is for P4, smaller and narrower.? The method you described seeing, slotting out the gaps between the spokes, is exactly what I had in mind, with the traction tyre fitting closely around the exposed spoke ends.? I haven't done it before, myself, so I'm feeling my way.? I would be really interested in a discussion on form tools though, because I don't have a metalworking or practical engineering background - sadly such things were looked down upon from the academic stream of my old grammar school - my great, lifelong loss!? There was a brief article on the subject in a 1960s model railway magazine probably by the esteemed Colin Binnie, but I would need to know everything from the basics - what kind of steel to use, how to shape it (obvious if it's your line of work, but I could waste a lot of time and enthusiasm between grinding, sawing, filing etc), how to profile the rake according to the product material (mild steel in the case of traction tyres), how to temper it, and while in use, how to part off either incorporated into the form-tool or separately.? Also the cutting is different anyway - with conventional turning, the contact is usually at a pinpoint, but when the form tool is well into the work, it is cutting a multi-sided strip out.? So thoughts and experience on form tools in the relatively small Unimat would be interesting.

Well you're not far away from me, so I should pop in. Colin Binnie would happily make anything like that. He was one of the less famous but notable model makers of his era, perhaps because he didn't (to my knowledge) write books about it. I met him a few times in the late 60s, and he was always using his skills to make superb models, and with plenty of stories about the things that went wrong. I think he had access to some pretty sophisticated tools at work. I know how I'd make a form tool if money was no object, but making something that small at home is another matter. It can be done, I'm sure. you'd have to accept several duds as you get the hang of it!

Keith

On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 03:19 PM, robert fletcher wrote:

Hi Keith hows the vice going have you used it much. I wish i'd known you had a rp25 profile tool I would have bought it off you years ago
have been using romford wheels for years the friend who turned them for me passed away a few years ago
Robert

To be honest I've hardly used it - the job I wanted it for dried up soon after it arrived. I might make some more of the widget concerned and see if anyone else wants them - with their reshuffles over the last few years Ferrari have forgotten who I am. Maybe I can remind them, or get some of the other F1 teams interested. Over the last year or two I've spent very little time in the workshop/garage, and now it needs a good clear out. It's one of the things I mean to get down to this year, but I had a bad start with an endless severe cold from before Christmas to mid February and it's taking a while to get going again.

I got the profile tool from Fohrmann in Germany. ( )? They have a few, but I think you can get them cheaper on Ebay now. I don't think I'll be using mine if you want to try it for a while.

Keith

I see in these messages a mention of an RP25 tool.? If one is available, I would have a use for it.

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Thanks very much for all the replies, much appreciated!

In summary, I could (a) buy an Emco original, (b) buy a spin index tool, which certainly looks very versatile, (c) make a dividing head plate and achieve accuracy by using CAD and 3D printing, though I'd still need to make a head to lock the plate on, (d) re-purpose anything domestic that has a suitable set of regular holes, though again I'd still need a device to lock it in place, (e) buy or make a cunningly designed locking device to fix to the outside of the shaft, and buy or re-purpose a suitable indexing plate for it - thanks very much for the pictures, Pete, it looks quite do-able!? Except that you'd still have to make or buy the indexing plate.? Here's a sketch of what I had in mind originally:

It would sit under the 3-jaw chuck of course, and could be slid leftwards towards the headstock to change position.? With 180 grooves in the chuck, there would be a bit of trial and error to find the right groove for the increment you need, but I think there would be enough of a positive location to minimise movement against the locating wedges.? I'm still thinking along these lines.

Thanks very much for the offer of the RP25 wheel profiling form tool Keith, that's very kind, again!? However the profile I need is for P4, smaller and narrower.? The method you described seeing, slotting out the gaps between the spokes, is exactly what I had in mind, with the traction tyre fitting closely around the exposed spoke ends.? I haven't done it before, myself, so I'm feeling my way.? I would be really interested in a discussion on form tools though, because I don't have a metalworking or practical engineering background - sadly such things were looked down upon from the academic stream of my old grammar school - my great, lifelong loss!? There was a brief article on the subject in a 1960s model railway magazine probably by the esteemed Colin Binnie, but I would need to know everything from the basics - what kind of steel to use, how to shape it (obvious if it's your line of work, but I could waste a lot of time and enthusiasm between grinding, sawing, filing etc), how to profile the rake according to the product material (mild steel in the case of traction tyres), how to temper it, and while in use, how to part off either incorporated into the form-tool or separately.? Also the cutting is different anyway - with conventional turning, the contact is usually at a pinpoint, but when the form tool is well into the work, it is cutting a multi-sided strip out.? So thoughts and experience on form tools in the relatively small Unimat would be interesting.

all the best

Mehmood

Thanks Pete
THe additional photos clarified it enough for me...longer bolt for motor mount to hold the index pin and the recessed hub to allow retention by the spindle nut


Ed Samsen

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index plate is counter sunk and held on with the nut...appears to use motor mount unmodified...another view...

Looking at the photo, rge indexing plate is mounted to the unimat spindle possibly in place of the spindle nut.? The motor/idlerbracket or pulley mount may be custom made or modified to acceop the mounting screw of the index pin.?
You might take the .dxf files for the U3 index plates have them cut/drilled through for you...12mm center hole not 14mm and make your own index pin mount

Ed Samsen

Looking at the photo, rge indexing plate is mounted to the unimat spindle possibly in place of the spindle nut.? The motor/idlerbracket or pulley mount may be custom made or modified to acceop the mounting screw of the index pin.?
You might take the .dxf files for the U3 index plates have them cut/drilled through for you...12mm center hole not 14mm and make your own index pin mount

Ed Samsen

Hi Keith hows the vice going have you used it much. I wish i'd known you had a rp25 profile tool I would have bought it off you years ago
have been using romford wheels for years the friend who turned them for me passed away a few years ago
Robert

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There is one often offered on German Ebay:

I like the item Carl posted;? wish this fit a unimat.? Or did I miss something and it does fit.? ? I think all these divisions are too much info for a miniaturist; I can't imagine needing anything past 24 divisions and here is a post proving me wrong, that if I ever want a 10 spoke wheel or 10 flutes on a turning I need 36 divisions?!!

Has anyone made this kind of pin setup with an indexing wheel for the unimat???

Tamra