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Making Mansell Wheel Inserts.
Having built some Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway horseboxes, I needed some Mansell type wheels for them to run on. One can obtain these from Slaters Plasticard, together with brass bearings at £12.50 per set, plus postage. These wheels are quite nicely made, and all the sets I have obtained run truly with no wobble or eccentricity. Slaters wheels have steel tyres fitted to moulded plastic inserts.
For my goods wagons I have used the wheelsets provided by Peter Korzilius for some time. These are equally well made with a choice of spoked or disc wheels. Peter always checks them for true running before handing them over and I have never had a problem with his wheelsets, which are competitively priced. Peter also markets some 3’ 6” coach wheelsets. These are all steel but only available in disk format. I like the extra weight of all steel wheels, bringing the centre of gravity of the coach down, but needed Mansell type wheels for my horsebox vehicles.
As it happens, Markus Neeser (Switzerland) and Peter Davis (USA) had both posted 3D printer files of Mansell wheels on the Gauge 1 3D Circle website for group members to make use of. These drawings are for the complete wheel, including tyre and flange, ready to be produced on a 3D printer in one’s filament of choice. I downloaded the drawings and modified them (cut off the tyre etc and opened up the centre hole) in CAD to fit the recess of Peter Korzelius’ wheels.
Top row, left to right: one of Peter’s wheels, an initial test print of an insert, an insert within the wheel recess.
Bottom row: three printed inserts before cleaning up ready for insertion.
The inserts are a push fit into the PK wheels but unfortunately, as currently drawn, will not fit into Association wheelsets, which have a much larger central boss. If using those wheels, I would turn down the boss on the lathe to fit the hole in the insert.
I have printed the inserts from two materials. The first sets were printed using Polyethylene-terepthalate (PET-G). I have also printed some with High Impact PolyStyrene (HIPS). So far, I have not found any difference in the suitability of these materials for the purpose. Both came out with a matt black finish. Other colours are available but not (so far) unfortunately a dark brown material. They could be printed in PLA, and I believe a dark brown colour can be obtained in this material.
Was the exercise cost effective? Slater’s wheels are £12.50 per two axle set. Peter charges £9.50 per set. The material cost for printing was about 20 pence or less. Saving some £2.30 per set of wheels. Modifying the original drawings took under an hour to carry out using Fusion 360 for the 3D CAD system.
The drawings for both the original complete wheels and the wheel inserts can be downloaded by members of the Gauge 1 3D Circle. The group was established by Adrian Johnstone. One will find lots of information regarding CAD, 3D printing (and other techniques) on the site. It is not necessary to be a group member to visit the website, but one has to join to download the drawings in the members’ files area. We also have a weekly chat session on Zoom which is open to group members.
If you own a 3D printer, or are simply thinking of getting one, I recommend that you join the Gauge 1 3D Circle.
L&Y Horsebox Drawing
L&Y Horsebox 3D print below (before fixing roof)
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