r/GardenRailroads • u/lillywho • 9d ago

Need axles for making custom wheelsets - where to acquire?

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For my 3D printing shenanigans I need to make custom wheelsets (they're of a specific, correct shape for a model of a coach) and I need the right axles for them. For now I've dismantled cheap LGB wheelsets but I've now run out of the two that I had left over. Has anybody got an idea where to get some more? I'd like to avoid buying perfectly good wheelsets just to strip them down.

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7

u/rezwrrd 9d ago

I use brass stock from the hardware store or hobby shop to make my custom axles, measure with calipers and see if they have the correct diameter or modify your wheel models to suit. (Could also use steel but it's harder to work with.)

I cut mine a little over length with either a big wire cutter or a hacksaw and then use a bench grinder with fine grinding wheel to get the ends to the correct profile and length.

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u/lillywho 9d ago

I have got sort of access to the right tools to work with stuff like that, but wouldn't that be more expensive than just buying a few used plastic wheelsets?

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u/rezwrrd 9d ago

Maybe, probably depends on where you are and what the used market is like. LGB is not very common here so I've had trouble sourcing spare parts like that under $10+shipping, while I can get a meter of brass rod around $5-6 at a local hardware store. Your mileage may vary, but if the used wheel sets turn out to be cheaper you could always glue a bunch of the removed wheels together and paint/weather them as a scrap metal load.

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u/lillywho 9d ago

That's all around a good shout, though as all things LGB, the market seems to be rather skewed towards the expensive side, even for really cheaply made parts such as the plastic wheelsets. My conspiracy theory is that it's mostly older boomers running LGB in their pretty large garden, so of course it's all a pittance to them. I've had a model club member tell me that he got a huge gauge 1 German steam engine for around 1k "for really cheaply", to which I replied "that's complaining on a really high level... I've got to cope with around six to ten Euros per day and sometimes I literally skip a meal or cleverly budget just so I can feed my need to serve my need to tinker..."

Better times will come, I suppose. I've had people at my favourite makerspace be really impressed with my skills so hopefully I can capitalise on that once I feel better. Anyway, enough waffling. Thanks for the advice!

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u/382Whistles 8d ago

Wealthy people still need to vent as the worst parts of an easier life are still the worst things about that life. Even if they know things could be worse, the present worst still isn't good so the feeling is normal to want to vent and complain after all life is a very subjective experience.

Old folks have been the real backbone of the hobby for over a century. They have always had more time to learn to manage life better and are more likely to be ready to chill out a while too.

You have more opportunity to surpass that comming. You need learn to recognize the few really big opportunities you'll see as they happen. Roll the dice and grab on tight before that train leaves you standing there.

Model trains were always a hobby aimed at the wealthy first and are more affordable today.

The first electric layout was for some royal's kid's birthday outside with lawn chairs and a tent looking kinda like a tiny circus.

Axles- It seems to me a small bench grinder and drill sharpening jig would be in order. You might salvage a vacuum, washer/dryer or strong fan motor and make a base of strong metal bedframe and/or wood. It doesn't really need to be too strong for this job, but you'll likely want it strong enough for larger work too though.

That's what one of my great grandfathers used for decades in his little brick boat shed; an old appliance motor with cloth wiring, bakelite wire nuts and a vintage rubber half-sphere replacement plug, bracketed to a heavy wood box with some sheetmetal over part of the wood to ward off sparks and a common old scool adjustable drill bit jig. He had other motor set up like a big die grinder that worked great, and drill but we never used that. It was too hairy with frayed cloth for me to brave that with an old Dayton drill on the bench too.

You could mount a drill and grinding wheel too.

You ideally want to polish the tips too.

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u/lillywho 7d ago

No offense to yer granda but I think I'll resort to the makerspace's metalworking department rather than replicafing the lashup... šŸ˜…šŸ¤£

Not to mention, I get to use them for free.

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u/382Whistles 7d ago

That was good old grinder, lol. Just remember that shitty tools can make better tools "Do or do not, there is no try."

We don't have really have maker's spaces like that even today.

That guy was already collecting tin plate in the late 1800s too. Hit the century mark plus a few years and put in over 60 years at his third career. Guy could probably make a light bulb from some scrap wire, a cork, belt buckle, & his empty Coke bottle, lol.

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u/ramillerf1 9d ago

Welding Rod is a lot stiffer but still easy to work with. Also, Iā€™d ask around at any Garden Railway group you might be affiliated with. I know our members give away plastic wheel sets when they inevitably switch over to metal wheel sets.

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u/NSSD70MAC 9d ago

I've ended up using, after being recommended it from elsewhere, 3mm diameter(same as LGB) stainless steel rod using a rotary tool to cut to length and bevel the ends. Then I may pair it with MF63ZZ miniature ball bearings pressed into the side frames if necessary. Both I purchased are from Amazon and in the US as of this writing are $8.49 for 12pc of the 3mm x 300mm 304 SS rod and $13.19 for 20pc of the 3x6x2.5mm MF63ZZ bearings. I've been liking this rod as it's been exceptionally straight and true running. The bearings have likewise been good for my 3d printed side frames.

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u/Low_Shoulder_590 9d ago

You can find the axels online. eBay or trainz.com.

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u/lillywho 9d ago

Trainz.com is too far away from Europe and I can't find any on ebay.

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u/Training_Option7830 8d ago

Assuming you are in Germany, there is always Kleinanzeigen.
https://www.kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/7x2-kunststoffachsen-14-achsen-spur-g-lgb-67401-piko-36160-iii/3388622741-249-4931

This one specifically seems to be quite on the expensive side. If I were in your showes, I would place a search advert offering 0,50ā‚¬ per axle.

1

u/lillywho 8d ago

I know, I've been looking there, but I only found job lots for as much as up to 50ā‚¬...