Any advice on what products to use to clean up the old tin lithographed items. I just purchased a Hafner 1010 set, haven't received yet but just trying to get prepared. Other advice on oiling or anything with a set like that would be appreciated. Couldn't help myself, trains have taken over my life. Lol.
I just use soap & water to clean litho; hopefully others will chime in with some suggestions. Litho ink can be dissolved by alcohol, so I'm wary of using harsh cleaners and chemicals for fear of damaging or removing the litho.
Hafner made good clockwork motors, they are typically very reliable. If the motor needs to be cleaned, I like to use WD-40 to flush it out, then blow that out with compressed air. I prefer to use Norvey Turbine Oil to actually lube the motor; it is made for fan motors that receive lubrication very infrequently, so it stays in place without gumming up like most oils. It can normally be found at hardware stores, although you will have to look for it - they don't seem to realize they carry "Turbine Oil". I also use it to lube the wheels and axles on the cars. The only caution I would give you is to be careful not to overwind the motor; the most common weak points that I have seen in the Hafners is either a tendency to break the mainspring, or the spring hubs can break since they are diecast and susceptible to zincpest. Careful winding will minimize the chances of either problem occurring.
Hope you can post pictures of your train when it arrives!
- James
Dish soap and water will do the job. In fact anything I buy used gets that treatment. Never know where it's been.
"IT's GOOD TO BE THE KING",by Mel Brooks
Charter Member- Tardis Train Crew (TTC) - Detroit3railers- Detroit Historical society Glancy Modular trains- Charter member BTTS
Thanks for the advice. Really appreciate it.
if it starts feeling tight stop
Life's hard, even harder if your stupid John Wayne
http://rtssite.shutterfly.com/
RTraincollector is right, and I'll add the following suggestion... Count the number of half-turns it takes to wind it until it gets tight. From then on out, wind it up almost that much. That way, you are avoiding winding it to spring-bind everytime, which is the point when the spring and hub are under the most stress and most likely to break. Hafner mainsprings and spring hubs can be repaired, but it can be a daunting task if you have never done it before...
A broken Hafner spring hub:
All parts machined and ready for assembly:
The new hub assembled using the original brass gear, shaft & catch:
I've got another O-L-D Hafner motor on the workbench right now with a broken hub; it belongs to a friend of mine. I'll try to get it fixed in the next week or so. Don't let these horror stories scare you - overall, Hafners are very reliable. I just enjoy picking up the broken ones at a cheaper price and repairing them for fun. Careful winding is just extra insurance to help the motor stay in one piece. Got any pictures yet? Us tinplate junkies always enjoy seeing more litho...
Needs cleaned up a bit but I think it's freaking cool. Hope to stumble across more soon.
That is great! You should be able to find a tender to go with your 1010. I see you have a tank car, I think those Hafner tankers are very neat. Thanks for the pictures...
For cleaning them, just as James said, use soap and water. For the soap most people use dish soap, including myself, and scrub it with an old toothbrush. That'll take all the dirt and dust off, but to make them shine really nice I use automotive wax, although furniture polish will work just as good.
Trevor
Any clue what this might go with? It was in the box with the Hafner.
It is a tender for an early clockwork locomotive - either cast iron or tin body - probably an American Flyer tender if I had to take a guess. Hopefully one of the more knowledgeable tinplate collectors on here can give a positive ID. That is a great bonus to get with the Hafner items... these little tenders aren't exactly rare, but they tend to be less common than the locomotives. The great thing about them is that they will work with a variety of early locomotives from different manufacturers, since many of them have a single post under the cab that will engage the hole in the front of the tender.
This picture will give you an idea of the type of engine that would go well with your tender, it will work with nearly every engine surrounding the turntable except for the Marx locos:
That would be an American Flyer 328 tender, later variation that has either been repainted black or is a black version with no markings.
NWL
Thanks gentleman. James, that is an awesome looking little collection there. Thanks again.
James, I haven't had a chance to look for the turbine oil yet but I'm not optimistic in the town I live. What would be an alternative lube you would recommend? As far as application, is it the same idea for electric trains, a little goes a long way and oil anything that moves? Thanks again.
Oils tend to elicit a lot of strong opinions... so keep in mind, this is just my own humble opinion based on my personal experience. With clockwork motors, we don't have to worry about plastic compatibility, so a quality oil will do the trick. I have used full synthetic motor oil in the past with good results - Castrol Syntec or Mobil 1 are OK. They will not gum up as bad as a conventional oil. The normal cautions apply - oil all shafts and axles where they rotate in the sideplates, oil the pawls of the ratchet, oil sparingly and wipe off the excess - and very important - try to keep from getting oil inside the governor hub (it will make the locomotive run faster, possibly too fast to stay on the track). I prefer to oil the spring, also... but let me add another viewpoint. The classic English view on clockwork mainsprings is that they perform better if they are perfectly clean and dry, or perhaps lubed with graphite at most. However, on a Hafner motor, it is difficult to pull the spring in order to clean it. I much prefer to leave it in place and lube it with oil... again, just my opinion.
However, just because you live in a small town, please do take a look in the local hardware store for the turbine oil. Our local Ace had it in stock - but they didn't know they had it. Here are some pictures of it:
I hope that helps! Good luck with the Hafner...
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