I have just a few plastic forklifts working around the layout. Some are metal and some are plastic. Well the plastic ones give the ''free help'' some excitment sometimes. So I needed to do something.
I have ''Low-temp'' from Walthers, lead shot, sheet lead, shaved lead and lead wool. Neither seemed to be the ''ticket'' to do the job. So recently I was in a second hand store and I picked up an ankle weight, The nylon bag kind that you strap around the ankle or wrist. It was heavy for it's size (2lb-5oz-4/10), felt like it was full of fine ''stuff'' and was only .50, probably because there was only one there, sold.
So I cut it open and this very fine grain (no dust) pours out in to my container. It flowed as smooth as sand in an hourglass.
Use caution because it is ferromagnetic, it will stick to a magnet.
I fill the void in the forklifts with this material and CA it in place.
Now my Safety Foreman is not having a Cow.
Works for a higher lifted load also.
Now that is one ugly forklift. The next one I will have to weigh the forklift before and after.
I often make lead castings for adding weight to cars and locomotives (I use sheet aluminum to make the moulds), but I was building a small Bowser loco (PRR A-5 0-4-0) for a friend and realised that it was not very well balanced, which could have an adverse effect on its pulling abilities.I was about to make some suitable castings, but it occurred to me that it would be difficult to get accurately-sized weights into the limited available space.
Instead, I took one of my stock square lead weights, clamped it in a vise, then used a coarse mill file to reduce it to fairly fine shavings. I poured them into the loco's hollow air tanks, located beneath the cab, then added a generous amount of ca to bond the granules together and to the air tanks...
It was quicker than making castings, and with no voids...balance restored...
Wayne
I buy 1/32” thich sheet lead for weigh, cuts easily with scissors. For small areas or hard to fit I use #8 bitd shot.10oz of #8 bird shot in this Rivarossi Cab Forward shell.3½oz added to ths Athearn passenger car.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Great photos and bravo on solving the issue.
I bought a flat sheet of led that's easy to cut and secure to rail cars. That also could work on vehicles.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Good topic and tips!
I'll be adding several "backdrop" warehouse type buildings to my shelf layout and would like to have a variety of HO scale forklift trucks that would be appropriate for the 1960's-70's, 1 to 5 ton capacity units.
Any recommendations? I'm not picky as I can even take a "toy" version, that has reasonable dimensions, and hop it up. Weight can be added, as recommended on this thread.
Thanks.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
AntonioFP45Any recommendations?
AntonioFP45 for the 1960's-70's, 1 to 5 ton capacity units. Any recommendations? Thanks.
for the 1960's-70's, 1 to 5 ton capacity units.
Any recommendations?
The forklifts in my above post are from Walthers Scenemaster #4164.
I do not know what year ''Safety cages'' where mandatory.
An extra added reply here.
I smiled when I saw that the Bear responded, I wasn't sure what to expect but I knew it would bring a chuckel to me.
How's this Bear, the tires are strapped down now.
Because the Load Shipping Bear would not always stay in place till the tires where delivered. But he did his job this time and not let the tires fall off the skid.
I also use lead sheet, and have used Wayne’s method of making my own lead castings from lead bird shot, but have never filed lead sheet. Funny that! I’m happy to work with lead fumes but not lead shavings!!
I went to a nearby tire outlet, and got a fair-size box of used wheel-balancing weights, free for the asking. Some of them appeared to be zinc, others were steel, but about half of them were lead.
There's a thread HERE that shows how to make simple moulds and the process for casting the weights, too.
JaBear, PC101, Thanks!
I checked out Shapeways and there is a nice selection. Most of the forklifts are modern but, imho, several of them are easy to back date.
If I recall correctly, safety-type enclosures for small, American forklifts became common during the early 80's. Until then, hundreds of forklifts looked similar to the Scenimaster unit posted by PC101. If they're available, I'll likely get a few.
Thanks!
Ah, the search is on. Maybe you'll want some pallet jacks also.
RedDogF5Another option is tungsten if you need more weight, it is 70% more dense than lead. I used TIG welding electrodes, they can't be molded, but if you have an area that can accommodate rod shaped weights, it can get you almost twice the weight. I used them on an N-scale loco running on a layout with far too optimistic assumptions about grades and minimum radii :)
How do you cut Tungsten rods? Hacksaw, cutoff wheel, sheers?
CharlieMHow do you cut Tungsten rods? Hacksaw, cutoff wheel, sheers?
Naw, I just snap 'em over my knee, then roll them into a coil and bite-off any loose ends, much the same as anyone does with re-bar.
Doc Wayne,
All this time and I didn't know that you have a twisted sense of humor, LOL!
You get an A+ on the "Cool Scale" !
BTW: For a time back in the 80's, one of my duties on the job was to operate a forklift truck. Toyota unit with a Mitsubishi diesel engine. It was nearly identical to the one in the photo below. That little bugger was tough and had (trying to remember) either a 5-ton or 7 ton capacity. Lasted about 17 years.
doctorwayne CharlieM How do you cut Tungsten rods? Hacksaw, cutoff wheel, sheers? Naw, I just snap 'em over my knee, then roll them into a coil and bite-off any loose ends, much the same as anyone does with re-bar. Wayne
CharlieM
Hi guys,
I thought that this might be relevant to our forklift discssion.
I was looking at images of New York City in 1976 and found this forklift truck with a cool looking enclosure. Looks like it's designed for use in rainy weather and dusty coniditions. I've never seen a prototype unit that looks like this but it would it be a cool challenge to try and model it. Anyone have an idea as to who the manufacturer is?
Hyster. Sometime around 1964.
New York City around 1976, I'd say ''all weather cab'' more then a ''rock guard'' to protect the operator. Remember when locos had ''rock guard grills'' over their front windows.
Thanks PC101 ,
Spot on with your description! I googled "Hyster forklifts" and a number of photos came up with the same basic body style (minus the cab) as in the above photo. Found a manufacturer called "Wheels of time" that makes a Hyster forklift. Here's a link. Click on the "HO Products tab on the page:
http://www.wheelsotime.com/