Posts by nickelminers

nickelminers · Jan 2, 2013

Dear all,

we are a couple from Italy, and we have built, starting in 2008, our small mining layout, depicting the loading station of a nickel mine, complete with operational 2-way hoist and skips, silos, conveyors, rail link, and operating rotary railcar dumper. Attached a link to a web page of SWR with one video of their 8 Dec. broadcast. At elapsed time 6 minutes 10 seconds, there is our layout, filmed at the Intermodellbau Dortmund 2012.

http://www.swr.de/eisenbahn-romantik/775-m...mhb0/index.html

At the time of this video, the layout was not 100% complete. At the following Euromodell Bremen 2012 and Jahresausstellung Eisenbahnfreunde Breisgau Freiburg 2012, the layout was (finally..) complete with the rail link to the dumper.

1) we would like to enter in contact with other modelers interested in mining layouts.
2) we are trying to post some photos of the finished layout (but, when a layout can be considered "finished"??). So, how can we post photos? Please help.

All the best for the coming year.

Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Jan 3, 2013

Dear Pete

thanks for your reply and advice on how to post photos. "Nickelminers" means that we are just 2 (an old couple...). With regards to the video, click on the link to SWR, then click on the "Sendung zu sehen" (broadcasts to see) - "Zur videoseite" (to the video page), then go to 6 minutes something. I re-checked and it works. Another page of SWR has still pictures from the Intermodellbau Dortmund, but it is not this link. In short, with some minor deviations from reality, our place has become a purely sulfidic deposit with lodes of high-grade niccolite, exploited through conventional mining and stoping. Since the place is quite impervious, the most logic solution was a short private rail link between the loading area and the unloading (through rotary dumper), crossing a tunnel under a mesa. From the unloading/dumper area (beyond the limit of our layout) the ore is loaded onto larger trains that go the smelting factory through a class A railroad.

We try to give you some other links to videos of our layout, which a gentleman from Holland has posted onto Youtube some time ago. The videos were taken at the IMB Dortmund, and at the Euromodell Bremen.

It should work; otherwise, typing on Google either "consolidated nickel mines + intermodellbau" or "consolidated nickel mines + euromodell" , something comes out. The best available photos on the web are on the website of MOBA Deutschland, but they are a little difficult to find, since there is a misspelling of the name; it is necessary to go into the moba-deutschland website, and search among the photos of the Intermodellbau 2012.

Sincerely

Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Jan 4, 2013

Dear Pete,

thanks again for advices on how to post photos. By now, we try and paste some links to our Flickr account, we hope it works.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/...in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/...in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/...in/photostream/

I am a chemical engineer, so I have a basic knowledge of mining equipment (even though I always worked in plastics...) The layout does not reproduce a specific mine, but we designed it from scratch. This had to be "our" mine, a kind of family-run small mine, using salvaged equipment from larger sites, everything placed in a small, remote area. This design also justifies the small size of the 3-section layout, which, disassembled, packs up into a 3-layer solid piece of 120 x 90 x 45 cm (which is the limit size for transportation in our car...)

Best wishes from Milan

Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Jan 5, 2013

nickelminers · Jan 6, 2013

Pete,
you are right. The axis of the rotary couplers must coincide with the axis of the barrel of the dumper, and everything must stay there during rotation. In the modern "tippling" units, the barrel has a diameter large enough to allow keep the axis of the couplers almost into their original position (down), even if this generates a large imbalance in the barrel during rotation. In our little plant, the axis of rotation coincides approximately with the center of weight of the barrel loaded with full-loaded railcars. Take note that, in reality, nickel ore has a bulk density (weight per volume) of 2 - 2.5, much higher than that of coal or other materials. So, in the "prototypical" story of our place, the salvaged USRA 55-Tons cars that we use are carrying more than twice the load they were designed for. So, they underwent (in prototype) a series of modifications, such as reinforcement of structure and bogies (and their hoppers were permanently welded - they were not hopper cars anymore). In H0 scale, we had to do some adjustments to obtain the requested clearances and tolerances between railcars and barrel:1) We got rid of plastics wheels - spent a fortune to import from the USA some decent axles and avoid the railcars wobbling along the rails 2)We did some serious work on the plastic bogies, to guarantee a decent rotation of the bogie, no backlash, bogie axis really vertical, etc. Before adjustments, none of our cars was level or correctly aligned with the others. Now everything has been "straightened out" (in the real sense of the word), and, just to stay on the safe side, we keep the two 4-car consists in a fixed configuration.
Sincerely
Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Jan 6, 2013

Hi Norman,

with regards to the "tweaking" we would say that it was like any full-size project. Everything was planned, designed, calculated, and, when transfered into the operational phase, the usual (nasty) surprises came out. One significant design issue was to transfer into H0 scale the rotating-cone dosing units/feeders that feed the conveyors with a constant flow of ore from the silos. Obviously, the design parameters of full-size plants did not fit into the tiny H0 scale. It took some trial-and error with operating mock-ups before the system worked properly. Another "trivial" issue was the material for the conveyor belts. We tried several materials with the required combination of high tensile modulus of elasticity, and low bending stiffness. Most of the materials disintegrated after half an hour of operation. In the end, we selected specific cotton ribbons, which exhibit the required strength, and also simulate well the texture of belts composed of steel-mesh scegments (note: the ability of Bice as seamstress was fundamental in splicing the ribbons into a loop - the splice itself was another very critical issue). Some anecdotes: most of the structure of the landscape is made of fiberglass. One lot of epoxy resin we used was defective, and took eternities to polymerize (imagine some dm2 of fiberglass mat, carefully draped into the final shape, the resin carefully brushed onto the fiber, wait 24 hours, resin still wet, sticky, jelly. Spend the next day with hairdryers, heating the mess with the hope to force the resin to harden (it did, in the end). Other anecdotes: metal parts carefully machined and honed, just to realize that we carefully machined all of them into the wrong size. And so on. Anyhow, the construction started at the beginning of 2008.

With regards to exhibitions in the UK, we would be very happy to take part to some. Unfortunately we have no contacts in the UK. Can you be of help???

P.S. we post some other photos. In one, there is our control unt for the dumper. To be noted, all our simple 3-section point-to-point layout is DC. The feed to the rail comes from a benchtop current-controlled DC power supply. The advantage of current-control is that it automatically compensate for variations of rail-wheel electrical resistance, keeping the motors of the locos at a constant torque. Speed is controlled in 2 ways: one by setting a certain current with the power supply, the other with a rheostat that progressively short-circuits the selected section. This has proven to be very effective in generating a realistic braking and millimeter positioning of the cars into the dumper. OK, do not shoot at us, it is not DCC, we have no sound, etc. etc. We know. But it works.

Sincerely

Mario & Bice

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

nickelminers · Jan 11, 2013

In order to answer to the same questions from many of our acquaintances: "How do you stuff the layout into the car??? (the vehicle is a 2-door Ford Focus hatchback)

1. The backs seats of the vehicle are removed and stay in our garage as a piece of modern art.
2. All the tall components of the layout (larger rocks and peaks, silo n. 1, hoist tower) are disassembled and removed.
3. The layout is disassembled into its 3 sections.
4. The main section, 120 x 90 cm becomes the "base" and 4 plywood plates are fastened to its sides.
5. The other 2 sections (rail link and rotary dumper section), together with the large vertical underground landscape of the mine, are fastened onto the top of the plywood plates. The result is a solid piece (see photos).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

6. The smaller section with the exit from the dumper is disassembled into "flat" pieces that stay in a small box.
7. All the tools, rolling stock, other pieces are packed into flat wooden boxes, which become the first layer on the floor of the trunk of the vehicle.
8. The solid piece of the layout becomes the second layer, which enters with close tolerances into the vehicle - crushed fingers and curses are the norm.
9. All the other material (stem lamps, legs, cross bracings, personal luggage) stays either in the remaining space in the vehicle or in the roof box of the vehicle - awful, how the roof box spoils the aesthetics of our car…
10. In the end, some small space even remains available for Bice's evening dresses and high heels ;-)

As a reference:
Time for unloading the fully-loaded vehicle and assembling the layout: 12-16 man-hours (2 persons, 6 or 8 hours, mainly dependent on the amount of damage in transportation&#8230

Time for disassembling the layout and loading the car: ca. 6 man-hours (2 persons, 3 hours)

Sincerely

Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Jan 20, 2013

Hi, Norm, thanks a lot for the lead. We will post a message to Brian.
Sincerely
Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Jan 20, 2013

Hallo again,

following a frequent question that we have received: "How do you weld together steel wires?":

The issue is that "steel wire", "piano wire" , or "harmonic wire", is a wire produced by drawing, usually made of high-carbon, mild-alloyed steel. The presence of alloy elements improves the tensile strength and modulus of elasticity of the material. Also, the alloy elements allow the material to passivate, (creating a thin layer of compact oxides), greatly improving corrosion resistance. Increasing the level of alloy elements, the result is the austenitic stainless steel, which is immune to corrosion.

The average piano wire used by modelers is made of ferritic steel covered by a thin oxide. As known, the wettability of this steel with common tin-lead solder is limited. Usually solder flux cannot chemically attack the oxide layer, and the steel wire is considered "not weldable" by most of modelers.

The solution is relatively simple:

First, do a thorough cleaning of all the residues from the drawing process and excess oxide. Usually, we put the one-meter wire sections on a spindle, and grind the surface with 600-grit silicon carbide wet grinding paper until a glossy finish of clean metal is obtained.

Then, wipe away any residues of abrasive with a paper cloth (also the thin dust of abrasive repels the solder)

Then, do a chemical etching (pickling) with a mild chemical, such as Oxalic Acid or the commercial "rust converters", which usually is an (overpriced) solution of Sodium Dithyonite. The result is an increased wettability of the steel surface. Then, rinse the wire with water and dry with a paper cloth.

At this stage, the steel surface can be brazed with conventional Tin-Lead solder and Zinc Chloride flux, and conventional soldering iron. a 15-watt iron works well for thin wires (0.5 - 0.8 mm diameter ), 50 - 75 watts are recommended for larger (1.5 - 3 mm) wires

Many times, somebody had asked why we do not "harder" welding/soldering media, such as Copper/Zinc/Cadmium + Borax flux. Excellent idea, but it needs a flame (soldering temperature is ca. 550 C). The result is a very solid joint, but the piano wire itself undergoes annealing, losing its strength and warping badly. The same annealing and warping happens with spark welding or resistance welding. These methods work well for iron grids, but they are not suitable for precise modeling works. Sometimes, we have used Copper-based brazing + Borax for larger structural parts. But any times you use a flame, you parts will undergo some deformation and will need re-machining. The same logic of "full scale" welding applies to our small parts.

Sincerely

Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Jan 27, 2013

Hallo again,
following up an amicable debate with modeling friends about "materials to build layout landscapes":

1) The "traditional" materials: gypsum, papier-mache, paper, vinyl-based adhesives
2) Expanded polystyrene
3) Composites: polyester- and epoxy resin, fiberglass, and similar stuff

Advantages of "traditional" materials: they are inexpensive, cleaning their residues is relatively simple (with water and soap). They are very effective for the "final" (external) layer of the landscape, where applied onto an existing structure. We have friends who are able, with old newspapers, gypsum, and vinyl-acetate glue, to build up spectacular finishes.
Disadvantages of "traditional" materials: they are structurally weak and prone to cracking, sensitive to moisture (sometimes, storage conditions of layouts are less than optimal). Drying, especially in the case of thick maper-mache parts, takes eternities.

Advantages of XPS: relatively easy to model, lightweigth. We have friends who are artists of hot-wire cutting of XPS, and really able to create very good stuff from blocks of the white material.
Disadvantages of XPS: cutting a block of XPS generates cubic meters of white fragments. As a rough evaluation, the waste volume is the same as the volume of the final "mountain" - 50% of material is scrapped. Hot-wire cutting generates fragments, but sanding/sawing XPS generates cubic meters of electrostatically-charged dust , which sticks to everything and resists to vacuum-cleaning. Moreover, the structure is solid, and carving out passages for wires/etc. sometimes difficult.

Advantages of composites: the structure is hollow, very strong, very lightweight. Curing time from resin to the finished part is defined.
Disadvantages of composites: playing with resin and fiberglass is a very dirty job: resin is sticky, can be cleaned only with solvent (before curing). After curing, resin cannot be removed, it is solid and insoluble. Cutting fiberglass cloth generates irritant dust. It is always recommended to use industrial-grade gloves, eye protection, and overalls, and lining the floor with plastic film.

In our particular case, we have extensively used composites. The larger "hills" of the layout are made with fiberglass cloth draped onto plywood formers; the smaller "hills" and the structures at ground level, soil, etc. are made of Kraft paper infused with resin.

Just to have an idea, herewith some photos:
Plywood structure in position, plywood formers to be installed - the structure is ready to accept the layer that form the "soil" (in this case, due to the small area to be covered, it was Kraft/resin composite)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

Structure is ready to be cover, module is aligned with the previous module, in order to align the landscape in construction with the preceding landscape.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

The covering has been draped onto the straucture, infused with resin, and, after curing, the piece is detached:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

The structure of the soil is applied: the components are some wrinkled Kratf paper, sand, pigments, and eposy resin:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

The finished part with the applied soil and ground texture is ready:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

The construction continues with the subsequent module no. 4, which is aligned with the previous module (with a plastic foil as "release" separator from the contiguous parts) - The sequenc e of operations is the same: landscape base, first resin coat, structure of the soil, final resin coat, finishing with pigments . Note: an excess of pigments and sand must be used, in order to adsorb all the excess liquid resin; if any "wet" spot appears, it must be re- coated with excess pigment 8otherwise it appears as a glossy "plastic" spot.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

Comparing the composites with more "conventional" methods, the time spent in preparation of the work is considerably long. Before starting to actually make the part, it is necessary to have all the pieces into position, resin, brushes, and other components ready.
When the actual work starts, everything happens quickly. A typical long-curing infusion 2-component epoxy resin starts polymerizing as soon as the 2 components are mixed, and has a"pot life" before gelling, of approximately one hour. In one hour, before the resin crosslinks, the parts must be infused. Immediately afterwards, the structure of the soil must be applied (note: subsequent application of resin onto previously hardened resin parts has a poor adhesion - in case of very large parts, it is better to coat a smaller section, then prepare another batch of resin and continue coating another section, blending the second coat with the non-completely crosslinked resin of the first section, and so on).

Once the resin gels (one hour), there is no way to re-arrange things. The time to complete crosslinking of the resin is approximately 24 hours at room temperature. After curing, the pieces are surprisingly resistant.
The subsequent "details"of the landscape (small rocks, bushes, trees, etc.) are subsequently applied ald glued with cyanoacrylate adhesive, or 2-component fast-curing epoxy adhesive. Final nuances of color can be applied by spraying a thin layer of nitrocellulose lacquer ad dusting pigments onto the wet lacquer.

Again, time to preparation of a composite is a bit long, but then, everyting goes on very quicky. Cast-molding-grade epoxy resin can also be used as structural material for artificial rocks, with the same silicone molds usually used with gypsum.

In the end, there is no "universal" solution for material. Some of our modeling friends like to toil over square centimeters of landscape for hours, and abhor the idea of a composite that quickly freezes in to its final shape. Someone else enthusiastically sands huge blocks of expanded polystyrene, filling their homes with tons of XPS shavings (this seems to have been one major factor in model-railroading-induced divorces...), and loath the idea of playing with sticky resins. Someone else uses hybrid solutions, such as composite- or resin-based finish onto XPS.
With regards to this latter issue, one final consideration: epoxy resins are compatible with XPS. Conversely, fiberglass-grade polyester resin dissolves XPS.

With the best wishes from Italy

Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Feb 2, 2013

Dear friends,

Herewith a note relevant to the drives used to drive the machinery at Consolidated Nickel Mines Co. We have used the known technique of "hacking" radio-control servos. These servos are tiny and powerful. Depending on their size, at their nominal voltage of 4.8 or 6 Volts they produce torques of 0.5 - 2 kg * cm.
This a tiny electric motor, a cascade gear train with a gear ratio ca. 1/200 or 1/500, a tiny angle sensor on the largest gear, and a small electronic circuit. The RC input is a pulse-width modulation signal, and the electronics drives the motor until the desired angle of the exit shaft is reached.
Sizes of RC servos are rather standardized among the producers, from "normal" to "medium" "mini" "micro" and "pico".
But, for the model railroader, there are 2 limitations in using RC servos:
1) RC servos have travel limiters on their exit shaft. They are intended to operate in a limited arc (usually they drive levers, connected to steering controls) - that is fine to operate a turnout - note: the turnout on our layout is also operated with a hacked RC servo. Conversely, all our machinery (conveyor belts, etc) needs continuous rotation
2) The RC electronics and encoder is redundant and must be removed (unless, a solution for a driven specific angle of rotation is to feed the servo with a "servo tester". With this cheap electronic gadget you can drive the exit shaft to a desired angle. It can be useful for specific RR stuff.
If somebody wants to play with RC servos the following recommendations apply:
• Choose the size you want
• Choose servo type "analog" (to say, the encoder is a tiny potentiometer); there is no need to buy more expensive "digital" servos, since anyhow you remove the electronics and all
• Choose gear train material: NEVER use metal gear. Brass metal gear is prone to wear and backlash. "Standard" gear material is Polyamide - a white plastics, and resist well. An improved gear material is carbon-fiber Polyamide - a black plastics, and has an extremely high resistance to wear and backlash. In our case, some drives turn 8 hours per day continuously at the shows. We changed some plain-polyamide geared servos after ca. 100 hours a precaution, but they showed only very minor signs of wear. The carbon fiber-polyamide gears result immune to wear after ca. 300 hours.
With regards to prices, a good RC servo costs 8 to 15 Euros.

And now, how to do the job:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

First, the tools: these things are small. In order to see something, we use a stereomicroscope, in a range of magnification from 10X to 20X. A good magnifying lens is also an alternative. Other tools must be adequate (note: inspecting tools at high magnification always shows how much inadequate they are... ;-) Seriously, we did some filing/grinding/de-burring on our smaller tools.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

Then, after having cut off mounting flanges and other odd protrusions from the frame of the servo, we carefully disassemble it. The photo shows the cascade gear train, with 5 reducing steps. The larger gear has a diameter of ca. 6 mm.

Now, the travel limiter, which impedes the complete rotation, must be removed. These photos show the crown gear with its limiter. In the second photos, a needle indicates the limiter. Note the needle, which seems perfect at the naked eye, when inspected at higher magnification...)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

So, we carefully remove the larger gear. The limiter is clearly visible. The apparent burrs are traces of the original lubricant (it must be left in position). And now, a VERY important issue. NEVER use abrasive tools such as cutting discs, etc. We made this mistake in our first tests: the net effect is that even minute quantities of abrasive will stick to the gears, and, during operation, everything will wear out very quickly. Note: plastic gears must be lubricated with the original fluoro-silicone grease. Conventional lubricants do not work well on plastics, and plain silicone grease has poor lubrication properties. It is better lo leave the original grease at its place.
The tools to use are: flexible shaft with milling bits, or, simply, a micro-cutter. In this particular job, we have used a very small balsa cutter.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

With some patience, the limiter has been removed. Keep the shaft of the piece with small pliers and a soft cloth, shave off thin slices of plastics at a time, do not attempt to cut off the entire part with a single katana-style cut (also, yelling during this phase of the job does not help at all...). Be careful not to damage the teeth of the gear, work only on the flat side of the gear, and hold the piece from its shaft only. Even if you do not get a perfectly flat surface, that is right; this is the non-working side of the gear. Carefully remove burrs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

Next step is electronic surgery. Remove the small PCB, re-wire the motor, and remove the encoder. Usually, the encoder slips out easily, since it has an independent shaft and a joint (a kind of miniature dog-clutch joins the encoder to the larger gear or to the exit shaft).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

In this photo, you see the remnants of the 3 connections from the encoder to the PCB. The encoder was facing up, towards the backside of the shaft of the larger gear.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

At this stage, we carefully re-install the machined larger gear. The visible dust on the photo is non-abrasive dust coming from the atmosphere, sticking to the lubricant. Experience shows that this dust has no detrimental effect (and any attempt to remove dust from the lubricant is futile...)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

This is the re-assembled servo. Now, we have to connect it to some working machinery. The shaft exiting a servo is a short splined stub, with a longitudinal threaded hole. In its intended configuration, a plastic lever with a broached section fits to the shaft, and is fastened to it with a small screw. In our case, we install a pinion onto the shaft. The pinion of the following photo originates from scrap consumer electronics (printers, floppy disk drives).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

The pinion has been re-bored to the correct diameter to fit the shaft, and fastened with the original screw.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream

A "hacked" servo equivalent this one described is installed in the railcar positioner of our rotary railcar dumper. The pinion engages onto a larger gear, which drives a pulley and the positioner. At larger magnification, the pinion is (barely) visible at the center of the photo. The servo is under a metal sheet part, resembling the "real" piece of equipment.

At their nominal voltage, these servos have a colossal torque, far in excess to any RR modelling requirements. Rotation speed is ca. 60 - 90 RPM. Usually, we operate the servos at 3 Volts (half of the nominal). Many of our servos are also speed-controlled through rheostats, and turn at 10 - 30 RPM.

With the best wishes from Italy

Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Feb 2, 2013

Hi Norm,

with regards to the issue of toxicity/flammability of resins for composites:
Unsaturated polyester resin (the one type used for 99% of marine fiberglass) contains volatile organic components, and it has a certain smell of styrene monomer. The amount of styrene generated while playing with polyester is definitely below the limit of EU occupational standards, but, if used in the confined space of an apartment, well above the threshold value of divorce. Anyhow, modern polyester has much lower volatiles than before. Polyester (before polymerization) has a medium level of flammability; does not ignite with a match, but insisting with a torch for some minutes, yes, it burns.

Epoxy resins are 100% solids 2-component materials, virtually free from volatile components, and have a very modest smell. In fact we use epoxy, outdoor and also indoor. Our brethrens the aircraft modelers use tons of epoxy, usually indoor. Unpolymerized epoxy has a medium/low level of flammability. Before igniting, it generates fumes, as any other plastics.

The unpleasant side of resins is that they stick to almost everything (with the exception of polythene, polypropylene, and fluoroplastics), including the operators' hands. Again, always use latex gloves when playing with resins, and carpet everything with polythene film. In the unfortunate event the resins get in touch with garments, they must be cleaned immediately with solvent (acetone or nitrocellulose thinner). As soon as the resin polymerizes, it becomes insoluble (and the garment becomes a solid piece of composite).

Personally, we consider cyanoacrylate glue much more unpleasant than epoxy or polyester. CA is eye-irritant, has a strong smell, and, being its polymerization water-catalyzed, has a very nasty affinity for the human skin (a stray stain of CA glues fingers together in one second). But OK, we also use CA, with the mandatory use of eye protection and latex gloves.

Regarding model railroading in Italy, yes, it is a popular hobby (maybe a bit less than in Germany or other EU Countries). We have some EU-level modeling shows in Verona and Milan, and some good local exhibitions.

Sincerely

Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Feb 15, 2013

Dear friends,

attached please find some old photos of the construction of the barrel of our rotary railcar dumper. The issue was :

• The barrel has 5 supporting flanges.
• The device that keeps the railcars into position during tippling of the barrel is actuated by a long 1.2 mm shaft, made of piano wire, supported by 5 small journal bearings (obtained from brass tubing with a lathe).
• There is virtually no access with vernier caliper or other measuring devices, to produce 5 aligned holes in the 5 flanges
• The shaft is too long and flexible to allow a "brute force" alignment (oversized holes for the bearings, shaft and bearings into position, one ton of solder to fasten the bearings to the flanges)
So, we opted for homemade laser alignment. The laser source was a laser pointer, installed onto a photo tripod and put level. One first hole was made on one of the outside flanges, the barrel was put level, the laser beam shot through the first hole to the correct point onto the second flange. Second hole made (slightly oversized, at a slightly skewed angle, using a flexible shaft) , laser beam onto third flange, and so on.
Then, the shaft with its 5 bearings on was inserted into the 5 holes, bearings were soldered into position.

The following photos show the final verification of the alignment of the 5 holes (bearings into position). Note that each small hole diffracts the light into a slightly divergent cone, and each successive bearing remains illuminated. Each diffraction step scatters energy, and (at least with a commercial small LED-laser), it will be impossible to go beyond ca. 10 holes in 1 meter.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/.../in/photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/...in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/...in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/...in/photostream/

One photo was shot in the darkness, and shows the aligned spots of light (they should be small rings of light - the edge of the bearings), but the resolution of the camera in the semi-darkness was not enough. In another photo, the laser beam exiting from the 5 aligned holes, ends up onto a curtain.

Later, we also used laser alignment for the installation of the 2 rails inside the barrel. The rails were 2 30-com sections extracted from a Peco code 83 rail, fastened upside-down with the correct spacing to a template made of Plexiglas. Then, thin strips of "permanent" 2-side adhesive mounting tape (the one used to mount metal panels, nameplates, etc.) were mounted onto the base of the rails. Then, one of the rails was aligned by hand with the laser beam, and the 2 rails put in contact with the metal "floor" of the barrel. While playing with permanent-bond-tape, only one attempt is allowed. Once the tape touches the surface, cannot be removed. Finally, the template was removed. And, by the way, the 2 rails remain electrically insulated from the metal frame of the barrel.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/...in/photostream/

The photo shows the final verification of alignment of the rail section, with the laser.

Afterwards, we have also used laser levels for aligning the 4 sections of our layout when installed onto uneven floors at exhibitions. The system is simple and effective. We have also used laser levels for "more useful home maintenance jobs" such as alignment of framed pictures, installation of shelves, furniture, etc. ;-)

With the best wishes from Italy

Mario & Bice

nickelminers · May 11, 2013

Dear all,
in the last months we had virtually no time for modeling. But, some weeks ago, our old friend Massimo Peroni, president of the model railroading club "I Fontanili" of Caravaggio, northern Italy, has invited us and the Consolidated Nickel Mines Co. layout for a photo session with the mythical Benedetto Sabatini of TuttoTrenoModellismo, one of the leading magazines. In short, Benedetto ("Big Benny" for the friends) could only pay a visit to Caravaggio on Wednesday 8 May evening. So, during the previous weekends, in the limited available time, we moved our layout. First, it had to be placed at the club, but the photographer complained about the crammed available space around the layout. So, Mr. Peroni offered to host the layout at his country home, and we installed the contraption in his huge garage. Wednesday evening we met. Everybody (including us) was late, but finally we unloaded one carload of Benedetto's photo gear, and we shot photos from 9 p.m. till midnight. The session itself was fun, and some beers kept the spirits up. Benedetto complained about the poorly lit environment, and started using flashlights that seemed strong enough to incinerate the whole building. After some shots, everybody was complaining and wearing sunglasses. In the following days, we sent by e-mail the history and description of the layout to Benedetto, and the article itself is expected in the issue of July of TTM. In the reference list of our description, we mentioned also modelrailforum.
Herewith, some photos, with the Nickel Queen preparing one load of ore, and Benny shooting photos (amusing, to take photos of a guy who takes photos&#8230

https://flic.kr/p/8727938657 https://flic.kr/p/8728044783 https://flic.kr/p/8728029887 https://flic.kr/p/8728018929 https://flic.kr/p/8728011643
Now, our layout remains dormant at Mr. Peroni's place (not so dormant, we are pretty sure that Massimo will operate it). We will be rather busy in the next months, and, this year, we will participate only to the Famasuisse 2013 event in Bulle, Switzerland, from 16 to 17 November. Everybody's invited.
Sincerely
Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Jul 11, 2013

Dear friends,
After a long period of idleness, we have begun to do some remedial work to our layout. One long-postponed modification had to be done to the rotating-cone doing units that feed the ore from the silos to the conveyors. As in reality, these units have rotating cones that slowly turn inside a conical seat. The cones are driven through a quill drive, and they are kept at a constant pressure against the seat by springs. The output is controlled by cone RPM, and spring tension. One drawback of our dosing units was that the cones and their shafts did not have a definite travel limiter, to keep a certain "idle" opening of cones when the silos are empty. The drawback: when the silo goes inadvertently empty, it takes some time (ca. 30 seconds) before the system grinds in some ore granules and starts again with the correct flow. During this embarrassing long pause, when the equipment does not spit out granules at the correct pace, there is always somebody asking "does not work? " A more serious consideration is that, as in reality, the "maximum" opening of the cones must not be travel-limited, but only spring-loaded, in order to cope with possible out-of-spec (large) pieces of ore, or solid contaminants. Without spring-loading, large contaminants would block the unit.
So, we have installed screw-controlled travel limiters. They are small screws that act on the top end of the shaft that drives the cones. These screws limit the backward movement of the shaft. The shafts go out to the top of the silos, and the idea to hide the screw of the travel limiter has been that of building a scaled-down jackscrew unit. This design is not so far from that of real-life mining equipment (at least, we think so..) As seen in the attached photos, the jackscrew is made of a cylindrical core with 2 flanges and 4 stringers. All the pieces were made from brass rods and 0.8 mm steel sheet, with lathe and milling machine. The stringers are made of 1 mm steel wire. The flanges accept a small screw, which protrudes into the bearing of the driving shaft, and acts as travel limiter. The most challenging part of the construction was the simultaneous soldering of 7 pieces of metal, keeping everything in position. Wooden templates did the job. The boring part was removing the excess solder. As usual, we did it with our flexible shaft and micro milling bits. The smallest bits we used in this job were 0.6 mm, both round and cylindrical.
The attached photos are self-explaining. One jackscrew is installed onto the top of our silo no. 1. Now, the same job will be done with the silo no. 2. We hope that the "learning curve" effect will speed up the job, which is more or less the copy of the one of silo no. 1.
Best wishes from Italy
Mario & Bice

https://flic.kr/p/9262348079 https://flic.kr/p/9262325643 https://flic.kr/p/9262317395 https://flic.kr/p/9265095766 https://flic.kr/p/9262302449 https://flic.kr/p/9265071874 https://flic.kr/p/9265082496 https://flic.kr/p/9262312933 https://flic.kr/p/9262359165

nickelminers · Sep 28, 2013

OUR NEXT EXHIBITION:

Dear friends,

after repeated changes in our plans, it is now confirmed that we will take part as exhibitors to the MODELGAME 2013, from Friday 15 November to Sunday 17 November in BOLOGNA, ITALY. Website is: www.modelgame.it
Our "Consolidated Nickel Mines Co." layout will be together with other layouts in the "American Railways" section of the show. And now it is time to do some remedial works on the layout....

If you plan a trip to Italy, consider a detour to Bologna (besides the show, consider the famous specialties and good wines of the region...)

Sincerely

Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Sep 28, 2013

Dear friends,

The remedial and maintenance works begin at Consolidated, in preparation of the next shows. The layout has been slightly damaged during transportation. To begin with, some trees need substitution. As usual, we use raw materials having zero cost: natural lichens of various types, taken during our recent holidays in the Austrian Alps, and small shrubs and dry vegetals taken from the coastal areas of the Mediterranean.
We try and simulate the real-size shrubs and trees of the dry Arizona sub-desert. Tools are scissors, cotton thread, tweezers, some cyanoacrylate glue. A great help is the fact that Bice (aka the Nickel Queen), despite being a professional accountant, also had attended in her youth evening courses at the Brera Academy. She is the official family artist ;-)
Following photos are self-explanatory. The work itself is (relatively) amusing, and leaves room to fantasy.

https://flic.kr/p/9980866906 https://flic.kr/p/9980832104 https://flic.kr/p/9980845214 https://flic.kr/p/9980867475 https://flic.kr/p/9980899814 https://flic.kr/p/9980888465 https://flic.kr/p/9980921854 https://flic.kr/p/9980911155 https://flic.kr/p/9980985756 https://flic.kr/p/9981065913 https://flic.kr/p/9981029686 https://flic.kr/p/9980995354 https://flic.kr/p/9981004524 https://flic.kr/p/9981127793 https://flic.kr/p/9981027474 https://flic.kr/p/9981038744 https://flic.kr/p/9981159623 https://flic.kr/p/9981170893
To be noted, the micro-grass that appears on the blocks of decomposed red fir wood is formed by particular types of moss. The moss stays alive and green as long it is watered. So, one of the chores of the Consolidated layout is periodic micro-watering of the patches of green vegetation (with a small soft brush and a water cup). Not a particular problem if this moss dries up. Upon re-hydration it becomes green again.

We'll keep you posted

Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Nov 20, 2013

Double thumbs up for the Model Game 2013 and its organizers. Non-professional exhibitors have been accommodated in a nearby business hotel, free parking spaces for exhibitors have been set up just outside of the halls, and logistics has been really top-notch. Two halls full of any kind of modeling stuff, boats, cars, planes, and trains, trains, trains.
To be noted, another parallel event was taking place in a nearby hall, the Cake Show 2013. Yes, it was unlimited cakes, sweets, chocolate. The waves of smell permeated also our hall, momentarily distracting the dedicated modelers.
Anyhow, after a reasonable 3-hour drive from Milan we arrived in the morning of Thursday 14. Our layout suffered the usual minor damage in transportation, and the usual phase of curses and last-minute repairs during assembling followed on. This time we have decided to do some last-minute addition to our landscape, adding spires and balanced rocks to the assembled layout. The rocks were kept in place with cyanoacrylate and weathered on the spot with hairspray and pigments. These pieces have been then removed for transportation at the end of the show. Let us say that natural erosion causes continuous changes to our landscape….
In parallel, we have also done an experiment with light: filtering the light of our 4 floodlights (with pieces of colored plastic sheet) we tried and manage a change from the warm light of sunset/sunrise to the bright white light of noon time, to the colder and darker hues of twilight. Some of the following photos show the effect.

Twilight at Consolidated
https://flic.kr/p/10951072756 https://flic.kr/p/10951186294 https://flic.kr/p/10951102806
Sunset light
https://flic.kr/p/10951283973
Clear sky, machinery bathed in sunlight
https://flic.kr/p/10951062695
Tides of visitors to the stand
https://flic.kr/p/10951238654 https://flic.kr/p/10951147566
The sun goes down, the night shift starts
https://flic.kr/p/10951261404
Enthusiastic overfilling of hoppers and primary silo; time to stop hoist operations and leave the conveyors to get rid of the tons of ore
https://flic.kr/p/10951343253 https://flic.kr/p/10951355603
Rotary dumper in operation
https://flic.kr/p/10951199646 https://flic.kr/p/10951143405
Positioner and rotary dumper in operation
https://flic.kr/p/10951392113 https://flic.kr/p/10951170825 https://flic.kr/p/10951182355
A flying object has fallen in one of our cars and must be removed…
https://flic.kr/p/10951363414
The Nickel Queen overseeing the loading operations
https://flic.kr/p/10951418604
The Arizona sandstone glows in the sunset light
https://flic.kr/p/10951529613 https://flic.kr/p/10951300415 https://flic.kr/p/10951496584
Backstage, with some last minute repair visible…
https://flic.kr/p/10951509024
The dumper area and the loading section before sunset
https://flic.kr/p/10951905363 https://flic.kr/p/10951927183
Sunset lights again
https://flic.kr/p/10951703085 https://flic.kr/p/10951882624 https://flic.kr/p/10951964883
One loaded train moves from the loading area to the rail link
https://flic.kr/p/10951810366 https://flic.kr/p/10951821046 https://flic.kr/p/10952006713 https://flic.kr/p/10951944954
Dumper operations
https://flic.kr/p/10951973534 https://flic.kr/p/10951985584
A just-unloaded train motoring along the rail link
https://flic.kr/p/10952067143 https://flic.kr/p/10951840285
Spires, balanced rocks and mesas glowing red in the sunset
https://flic.kr/p/10951920916 https://flic.kr/p/10952135483 https://flic.kr/p/10952147293 https://flic.kr/p/10952089584
The smell from the nearby Cake Show momentarily distracts the Nickel Queen, and then she takes charge again. Hoist and conveyors work flat out around the clock
https://flic.kr/p/10951935045 https://flic.kr/p/10951949045
A somewhat colder hue of light on Consolidated's site
https://flic.kr/p/10952094716 https://flic.kr/p/10952208474 https://flic.kr/p/10952220494
The underground section of the hoist, in operation
https://flic.kr/p/10952136106
Vegetation and signs around our site
https://flic.kr/p/10952149346 https://flic.kr/p/10952093705 https://flic.kr/p/10952103815
Different lighting conditions, as the daylight fades away
https://flic.kr/p/10952352973 https://flic.kr/p/10952365503 https://flic.kr/p/10952304154
Thursday, assembling the layout, and the layout cocooned, ready for the show
https://flic.kr/p/10952229215 https://flic.kr/p/10952285926
After 3 full days of exhibition we were dead tired, but definitely 100% satisfied. Sunday 17 at 7 pm the exhibition closed, and disassembling begun. As usual, it took 3 hours to disassemble the layout and load our car. We went back to our hotel, had a quick dinner, and slept like babies till Monday morning.

With best wishes from Milan

Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Nov 30, 2013

Maintenance at Consolidated Nickel:

Over the years,our layout has reached its 40th day of operation at shows. This means some 360 hours of continuous operation of the mining equipment. To this, we must add at least 100 hours for tests and trials. Over the years, the drives of the equipment and the belts of the conveyors have been changed, but now it is time for general maintenance. We have carefully disassembled the elevator tower, the two silos, the conveyor belt no. 2, and taken everything home. Meanwhile, the layout sleeps at our garage.

First: conveyor belt no. 2. We disassemble everything:
https://flic.kr/p/11138771756 https://flic.kr/p/11138904853
The belt is still OK, but, surprisingly, the pulleys are worn out. These pieces were machined from rods of carbon fiber/epoxy. The idle pulley can be re-machined, but the driving pulley must be replaced.
https://flic.kr/p/11138879023 https://flic.kr/p/11138743096
We decide to make a rubberized driving pulley, since the resilient rubber wears out more slowly (and has better grip). After checking the available materials (from our good old pile of scrap, invaluable source of goods), we select rubber pieces from an old printer, one 5-mm rod of carbon, and pieces of 1-mm carbon sheet.

We insert the hollow cylinders of rubber onto the carbon rod (previously bored to 2 mm with negative tolerance), and fix with cyanoacrylate. Now, take it down to the specified diameter (8 mm). To be noted: rubber cannot be machined with a lathe. Solution: the rubberized pulley goes to our milling machine, and is fastened to the vertical spindle. Tangentially, we fix our "good" flexible shaft (the one with no backlash) onto the turret of the milling machine, connect the flex-shaft to an electro-spindle, and begin to play with grinding wheels of different size and shape.
https://flic.kr/p/11138757904 https://flic.kr/p/11138687046
Surprisingly, it works. The best combination is ca. 5,000 RPM on the piece and 15,000 RPM on the grinding wheels. With careful passes, 0.1 mm at a time, the rubber goes off spectacularly in a fine dust (that, charged electrostatically, sticks everywhere) and leaves a clean finish. The core or the pulley is then machined on its two faces to the required width.
https://flic.kr/p/11138818943
Then, the end flanges are installed, made of 1-mm carbon sheet, and pre-bored at 2-mm. the flanges are aligned with the help of a piano wire, and glued with cyano to the 5-mm carbon core, now coated with 1.5 mm of rubber. With the same tangential grinding wheel arrangement we machine the flanges to their diameter, thickness and profile.
https://flic.kr/p/11138622535 https://flic.kr/p/11138668104 https://flic.kr/p/11138735873 https://flic.kr/p/11138611465
We rebuild the shaft of the driving pulley. In the older one we had a weird 2.2 mm diameter, and we decide to use a more conservative diameter: 2-mm steel wire. We re-assemble everything. Meanwhile, we turn the idle pulley to a more "round" shape, and, to take it again to its nominal diameter, we "rubberize" it with a piece of electrical heat-shrink pipe. OK it works. It has taken less time than machining a new pulley starting from zero.
https://flic.kr/p/11139353193 https://flic.kr/p/11138507575 We remove the older bearings of the driving pulley, bore the frame of the conveyor to 3 mm, install a piece of 2 x 3 mm brass tube, weld it (so the 2 bearings will be aligned), cut it with cutting disk obtaining the 2 separate "bearings". We do some de-burring.
https://flic.kr/p/11138661003
Some welded joints in the lattice of steel wire that makes the frame of the conveyor have failed. We have to re-weld. We machine the soldered joints with flexible shaft and milling bits, then we do a thorough cleaning of all the metal parts with a spray gun loaded with light naphtha at 4 bar (operation done in open air in our terrace). This removes all traces of soldering flux, dust, etc.
https://flic.kr/p/11138534716 https://flic.kr/p/11138747515 https://flic.kr/p/11138503856
And then, we re-assemble. The 2-mm shafts are pressed into the flanges of the pulleys, and this is enough to keep everything in place and transmit the required torque. Next part to overhaul will be the silo n. 2.

Best wishes from Milan

Mario & Bice

nickelminers · Dec 6, 2013

Maintenance of the silo n. 2.

After disassembly, all the pieces appear in good shape and within the required tolerances. We ara very happy, no need to re-machine parts. Here, just after opening, the large crown gear that drives the rotating-cone feeder is visible.
https://flic.kr/p/11239629895
Further disassembly of the silo shows one ton of dust. The innards ,with the shaft of the feeder, are visible. To be noted, the soldering of the inner parts, inaccessible with a soldering iron, had been done with indirect heating from outside.
https://flic.kr/p/11239726413
Cleaning of the pieces, a relatively easy job, with light naphtha in a spray gun (relatively, since the spray made one small part flew away and disappear amidst the foliage of our terrace&#8230

https://flic.kr/p/11208444554 https://flic.kr/p/11239722714
Silo re-assembled, gleaming in the winter sun
https://flic.kr/p/11239713124 To be noted, some lighting has been added to the second platform of the silo
https://flic.kr/p/11239706066
Check of the wiring. And obviously, something is wrong. The LEDs of the second platform have been installed with the wrong polarity, opposed to that of the first platform.
https://flic.kr/p/11239703634
Not much of a problem; the lighting of these LEDs got electricity from 2 small 1.5Volts batteries in series. There will be one common ground, (-) of the first platform, and (+) of the second platform . In the end, 2 sets of batteries, and one more wire-wrap wire will feed electricity to the 2 platforms. That is (modeling) life.
https://flic.kr/p/11239685934
To be noted, the ground of our silo no. 2 is also the (-) of the drive of the dosing unit. Our LED lighting needs a source of electricity totally separated from the rheostat-regulated feed to the drive.

Next step will be re-installing the silo and conveyor onto the layout.

With best wishes from Milan

Mario & Bice

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