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Steel cable transmission

Started by Peter_T1958, October 29, 2012, 12:13:07 PM

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Peter_T1958

Hi there everyone

This transmission system had been built in 1864 in my hometown Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland. The whole system was very innovative for its time and was a very ingenious one
too (It won the gold medal at the world exhibition in Paris in 1889). The turbine house had to be placed on the left Rhine riverbank, so the motive power was led to the industries on the
opposite side by steel cables. It worked the same way the belt and pulley system used inside mills and machine shops. The whole arrangement consisted of a turbine house (T) and five
pylons (1-5) with the pulleys.



Those pylons were really huge constructions - e.g. the pulleys measured 4.5 meters in diameter (15 ft.).



The biggest problem is the lack of clear detail photos of the pylons. Until this year, I could only find photographs of poor quality. But now I discovered more by chance than anything else
in one of the factory archives an original plan with all the mesurements. That could be the perfect prototype for a something different project, I thought.



With this new informations I could finally draw some plans in 1/50 (approx. O-Scale). First I'was playing with the idea of doing it in 1/32 but in that case it would have covered the whole
writing desk. So I am planning to build a 1/50 scale model of pylon No 4 which can be seen here in two different time periods.

early



later



From such pylons the rotary motion was led into the factory buildings by drive shafts.

The mayor dilemma in my project: I suffer from a chronic shortage of time and so every modelling project becomes a long term build.
Nevertheless I already did some preliminary tests for imitating roughly cut sandstone. Thought I could create some different masters for casting the required number.
Here my first attempts...




Hope you understand my Englisch ...

Cheers, Peter

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" -Leonardo Da Vinci-

https://industrial-heritage-in-scale.blogspot.ch/

mabloodhound

Peter, your English is just fine.   And that is an ambitious project an sure will require some tedious work.
I am looking forward to some photos as you go along.
8)
Dave Mason
D&GRR (Dunstead & Granford) in On30
"A people that values its privileges above its principles will soon lose both."~Dwight D. Eisenhower

marc_reusser

A fascinating looking piece of machinery. Great close-up photos.

So let me get this right...these cables were electrified with high voltage?....they appear to be less than 2m above the water!? (Just the kind of thing a kid like me would have poked at with a stick.  :)  )

The drawing that you show...is that the one you did, or is that an old/original one?

I like the stone pieces. What did you use to carve them...looks like a soft Limestone (Kalkstein).

If you were to make a mold, my only concern would be that at some point one would begin to see the repetition of the chiseling patern, unless you did a more basic/simple, one, and then came back in and modified each exposed face seperately. Also thinking about this when I see the back side of the tower which shows the different stones with their water wear/erosion patterns...which is a very neat detail/feature.

The english is perfect...no worries.


M
I am an unreliable witness to my own existence.

In the corners of my mind there is a circus....

M-Works

billmart

Marc -

No electricity.  It's a mechanical system that uses steel cables as very long belts.  The pulleys and gearing at each pylon transfer power from the cables to a shaft that enters some factory.  You can see the horizontal shaft in a couple of the photos.

Bill Martinsen

lab-dad

Great project!
And yes very unique!
I love all the gears and pulleys!
-Marty

marc_reusser

#5
Quote from: billmart on October 29, 2012, 04:15:23 PM
Marc -

No electricity.  It's a mechanical system that uses steel cables as very long belts.  The pulleys and gearing at each pylon transfer power from the cables to a shaft that enters some factory.  You can see the horizontal shaft in a couple of the photos.

Bill Martinsen


AH!...thanks Bill.


Marc
I am an unreliable witness to my own existence.

In the corners of my mind there is a circus....

M-Works

Peter_T1958

#6
Hi gents

Quote from: marc_reusser on October 29, 2012, 03:08:45 PM
The drawing that you show...is that the one you did, or is that an old/original one?

No, no, this is the original one. It measures about 3.50 x 2.00 Meters! Unfortunately there was no opportunity to scan/copy the whole plan so I had to take pictures from every detail in the darkish cellar with my iPhone  :-[ :-[ :-[


Quote
I like the stone pieces. What did you use to carve them...looks like a soft Limestone (Kalkstein)

Here I am still in the try and error modus. Both previous attempts to get as close to the original were cast with decofill plaster (something like hydocal). At one of them I lined the mould with a thin layer of Latex Rubber with some duplicated stone surface. The second one was carved with two types of needles fixed in a drill chuck and then brushed with some old toothbrush. But you are right: It looks more as a Limestone than a chiseld sandstone. To mention is that there some original boulders still exist. They are today in use at some foundation nearby. Here what it schould look like:






Quote
If you were to make a mold, my only concern would be that at some point one would begin to see the repetition of the chiseling patern, unless you did a more basic/simple, one, and then came back in and modified each exposed face seperately. Also thinking about this when I see the back side of the tower which shows the different stones with their water wear/erosion patterns...which is a very neat detail/feature.

Good spot! On one hand I can't modify each of the more then hundred stones and on the other there is a danger, that one would see the repetition of the chiseling pattern. Any idea?
As you wrote the erosion is a prominentand neat detail. Especially those parts of the stones that periodically are located under the surface of the water. There the erosion is logically stronger and this is well visible in the close-up photos.


Quote
The english is perfect...no worries.

Thank you very much. With al lot of help (Altavista babelfish... ::)


Quote from: billmart on October 29, 2012, 04:15:23 PM
Marc -
No electricity.  It's a mechanical system that uses steel cables as very long belts.  The pulleys and gearing at each pylon transfer power from the cables to a shaft that enters some factory.  You can see the horizontal shaft in a couple of the photos.

Bill Martinsen

That's what I wanted to say, but couldn't express. Thanks, Bill!

Regards, Peter
"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" -Leonardo Da Vinci-

https://industrial-heritage-in-scale.blogspot.ch/

Malachi Constant

Quote
QuoteThe english is perfect...no worries.

Thank you very much. With al lot of help (Altavista babelfish... ::)


Peter --

This is a very interesting project!  Definitely look forward to seeing your efforts here.

When I visited Basel, my friends there were nice enough to teach me lots of funny "Basel deutsch" so I could confuse everyone when I reached Wien!  ;D

All of the American forum members speak "funny English" and even some of the members from the U.K. do that!  ;D

But, the modeling project is a common language, and I am glad that you are here to share yours!

Cheers,
Dallas
-- Dallas Mallerich  (Just a freakin' newbie who stumbled into the place)
Email me on the "Contact Us" page at www.BoulderValleyModels.com

Lawton Maner

As for the cut stone, making 10 or 12 masters should not be too difficult as the face of the stone in the photograph is fairly smooth for hand cut stone. 

First make a mould and cast as many smooth blank stones you need for the masters and chip away at them to get the basic texture.  Make one or two at a time so they do not end up looking alike.

Make a mould of these stones and make as many stones as you think you will need + 10% for waste.  Then add additional detail to each stone as needed during construction. 

If you get stumped for something to say about the model, just post a picture and let us share in envy.

Lawton Maner

Peter_T1958

#9
Hi all

Best wishes from the other side of the world to all who were impacted by the storm.  Hope you're all okay!

Here some new attempts. This time I used a wire brush to to reproduce the chiseling pattern of the sandstone.



I have the feeling that it comes a little bit closer, but isn't it too uniform now?


Peter


"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" -Leonardo Da Vinci-

https://industrial-heritage-in-scale.blogspot.ch/

marc_reusser

Peter,

personally, I feel those are perfect. "Spot-on" as out UK friends would say. I wish I could do so well.

I do not feel they are uniform at all.

I would think that in real lfe there would often also be some similarities between the faces of some stones, as the individual stone masons/cutters, would likely have worked/cut on more than one stone, so his specific technique/"hand" would likely be present on multiple pieces. Plus the specific grain of the stone, would likely be repeated in areas, as well as the overall effect of the weathering, would likely have somewhat unified, or homogonized certain faces or areas on the abutment. 

Also the scale that you are working in is quite small, so though you want to express and give the feel of the finish and texture of the individual stones, you dont want to overdo it or exagerate it, because it could quickly become a bit of a caricature.
I am an unreliable witness to my own existence.

In the corners of my mind there is a circus....

M-Works

finescalerr

I agree with Marc. Most impressive. -- Russ

Ray Dunakin

Visit my website to see pics of the rugged and rocky In-ko-pah Railroad!

Ray Dunakin's World

lab-dad

Looks like a winner to me too!
Marty

NE Brownstone

Those look to be as close to the real thing as any that I've seen and I've  stared at a lot of stones.

If you move a #11 blade over a piece of plaster at an angle close to 80 degrees so that it digs in a little (not dragging it across) it will start to "chatter" (common machinist term used when the cutting tool does not dig in correctly and jumps up and down, or chatters.  You can hear it too.)
This chatter will create many smaller chipping cuts not unlike hammering with a masons chipping hammer.  You need to rotate the piece to make sure that the chipping is not in one direction.  This is how I dress all of my stones that require a hammered finish and it's fairly quick to do once you get the hang of it.

my two sents
Russ
The other, other Russ