Kato low pro geared wheelsets in current Atlas trucks?

[peteski]

that's a nice little arbor press.  Might I ask where you found it?

Yes, at an electronic hobbyist's treasure trove:  ESS in Manchester, NH.  They have all sorts of oddball surplus from various electronic companies. I could spend hours there just browsing. And since many items are one-offs, you find new stuff on every visit.  When I spotted that nice small arbor press there during one of my visits, it was love at first sight. And it cost me almost nothing (don't recall, probably less than $20).  It is ideal for what I need in my hobbies.  Actually, it was a part of a customized fixture for some repetitive task. I disassembled the fixture and used the nicely machined aluminum plate for a base.

The label on it states:
Janesville Tool & MFG, INC.
Milton WI, 53563
608-868-4741
And the side of the press has "1LP 500" molded on it.

[narrowminded]

A very useful little modelling press can be fashioned from this watch case press from Harbor Freight.  $13 less a 20% coupon.  

It is the frame and accurately guided ram as well as size and appropriate force that make it useful.  If you own a lathe and mill that's a real bonus as you can make all sorts of upper and lower tooling for many jobs.  The pilot holes are there and in alignment and the frame is cast iron so very rigid, maintaining alignment.  Just a good, handy little press frame.  With a couple of little fixtures it would do axles like no tomorrow.
https://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/index/?dir=asc&order=EAScore%2Cf%2CEAFeatured+Weight%2Cf%2CSale+Rank%2Cf&q=watch+case+press

[MK]

Mark, I didn't see that on HF!  Should make for a good press for our N-scale needs.  Their real arbor press is $60 but in N-scale we don't need tonnage rated presses. 

[Tom L]

I wanted to "resurrect" this thread because I finally got around to modifying some Kato wheels for my Atlas locos. Here's a couple pics of my set up built from stuff I had lying around. A steel plate and magnets that I use a gluing jig otherwise, clamped to my drill press, a piece of 1/8 inch MDF board (which happens to be the right thickness) with a hole for the wheel shaft drilled in it and a piece of brass (you can see the indent from the points on the Kato axles). I chucked in some sort of drill bit extension thing I found in my tool box as the ram. Works like a charm per Peteski instructions! I also add a .010 spacer on the gear side of the axle to ensure proper guage as he suggested.

It took me only a few minutes to do 24 axles. I converted a Atlas GP-9 with one truck original and one truck with the modified Kato wheels and ran it through all my turnouts, crossings, etc to compare performance. It works as original and looks much better, as previous photos show. I especially notice the improved look on RS-1 trucks, which show the wheels a bit more than gp trucks.  I also upgraded some older Kato RS and RSC locos (no axle modification required). They look so much better without that big flat wheel rim and wide tread.

So thanks to those who contributed to this thread, a huge improvement IMHO.

Tom L
Wellington CO

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[peteski]

Nice setup Tom!
Yeah, those wheels look much better, and IMO the Kato treads don't get as cruddy as the Atlas wheels.

[MK]

Thanks Tom for the pictures!  I still have to get off my lazy a$$ to do it for my Atlas SD50 where the wheels have worn off their plating showing the brass (or whatever base material they use).

Interesting you use the brass piece as the back plate.  Was the indent seen in the photo from the first wheel pressing or did you "pre-indent" it before using?  And how thick was the brass plate?  It's probably irrelevant in this instance but just wanted to ask anyway.

[Tom L]

Thanks Tom for the pictures!  I still have to get off my lazy a$$ to do it for my Atlas SD50 where the wheels have worn off their plating showing the brass (or whatever base material they use).

Interesting you use the brass piece as the back plate.  Was the indent seen in the photo from the first wheel pressing or did you "pre-indent" it before using?  And how thick was the brass plate?  It's probably irrelevant in this instance but just wanted to ask anyway.

The Indent was from pressing wheels. The first couple I did were experiments using the old style wheels I took off my Kato RS and RSC locos. I didn't see any deformation of the axle points though, so using new ones from the start would be OK. The brass was just a piece I had on hand, it's about 1/8 thick. If I wanted to get "fancy" I would get some brass or copper rod and chuck it in the drill chuck instead of holding the brass plate while pressing but this works and it probably would have taken me longer to find some thing like that in my garage than it did to process the 24 axles I bought using the plate.

When Kleins restock these, I'll probably get another 4 or 5 packages.

Tom L
Wellington CO

[Tom L]

Nice setup Tom!
Yeah, those wheels look much better, and IMO the Kato treads don't get as cruddy as the Atlas wheels.

Yeah, judging from how often I clean my Atlas wheels vs those on my Newer Kato F units, I tend to think the same thing.

Thanks again for the photos and info on how to do this!

Tom L.

[davefoxx]

The Indent was from pressing wheels. The first couple I did were experiments using the old style wheels I took off my Kato RS and RSC locos. I didn't see any deformation of the axle points though, so using new ones from the start would be OK. The brass was just a piece I had on hand, it's about 1/8 thick. If I wanted to get "fancy" I would get some brass or copper rod and chuck it in the drill chuck instead of holding the brass plate while pressing but this works and it probably would have taken me longer to find some thing like that in my garage than it did to process the 24 axles I bought using the plate.

When Kleins restock these, I'll probably get another 4 or 5 packages.

Tom L
Wellington CO

@Tom L,

I may have a few packages left over from when I moved to HO scale.  Let me check, and if you want them, I'll give you first dibs.

DFF

[Tom L]

@Tom L,

I may have a few packages left over from when I moved to HO scale.  Let me check, and if you want them, I'll give you first dibs.

DFF

Sure, that would be great, let me know.
Thanks!

Tom L

[davefoxx]

Sure, that would be great, let me know.
Thanks!

Tom L

D'oh!  I forgot to check last night.    I'll write myself a reminder right now.

Sorry,
DFF

[MK]

I picked up a set at Amherst earlier in the year.  They are hard to get as most places are out of them.

[davefoxx]

Sure, that would be great, let me know.
Thanks!

Tom L

Here’s what I found: four unopened packs of Kato #932090 wheel sets (6 axles per pack).  PM sent

DFF

[sd75i]

  Does anyone know if these will work for the intermountain tunnel motors?  Thanks

[central.vermont]

I can't figure out why no one here has suggested ordering direct from Kato. I did this 2 months ago and ordered 20 packages so I could do all
my loco's.
There only $8.00 a set and you get 6 wheeled gear sets. That as cheap as you'll find anywhere.
Just checked there web page and they have them in stock.

http://www.katousa.com/parts-catalog/information.html
 
Part # 932090


http://www.katousa.com/images/932090.jpg

Jon