ModelPlan 147 £9.00 John Ince's Two More Meccanographs
These two Meccanographs are a development of those in MP138. Both produce patterns with up to fourteen peaks or sides, by gearing the table rotation and reciprocal motion so that one relates to the other by factors of two to seven. Once again the Schmidt coupling provides the means of driving the table rotation when the table is moving to and fro. Either may be constructed from a No.10 Set with a few extra parts. The Mark III is the simpler of the two. Instructions include Frame, Designing Table Support Cage, Schmidt Coupling, Pen Cam & Drive, Primary Drive, Table Rotation Gearbox, Designing Table & Rear Pen Support Transverse Motion (Optional), Pen Arm, Designing Table and operation. The Mark IV incorporates a more elaborate gearbox to allow table rotation speeds to be varied through five different ratios. Instructions include Frame, Primary Hand Drive, Pen Cams, Reduction Lay Shaft, Table Rotation Gearbox, Schmidt Coupling, Designing Table Support Cage, Transverse Motion drive, Cam, & Table Link, Pen Support Parallelogram & Arm Support, Pen Arm Drive Strips and OperationPeter Matthews' latest offering is based on Snowdon Rack Railway Locomotive 'Eryri' and runs on Meccano Track. The challenge of building a rack railway with standard Meccano Parts lies with the rack and pinion drive. Due to the scale of the model it was not possible to use standard Meccano Rack and Pinion Parts. Instead, Peter decided to use Flexible Track Links inverted to represent the rack, engaging with which is a plastic Sprocket Wheel mounted on the locomotive. The instructions are illustrated with large and clear IsoMec diagrams throughout. They cover Inner Chassis Frames; Outer False Frames; Complete Chassis and Cab Floor; Driving Cog arrangement; Connecting Rods, Complete Chassis and Pony Truck; Valve Gear Arrangement; Cylinder Arrangement; Walkway and Front Buffer Beam; Boiler and Walkway; Boiler Front; Steam Dome; Chimney; Cab Rear, Front, Sides Roof & Components; Water Tanks and Coal Bunker; Firebox Front; and Track Bed & Track Support Some of the Parts employed are among recent introductions to the Meccano system in current Meccano Sets, and these are illustrated alongside the comprehensive Parts List which is included. There is also an appendix of parts required for Motorizing. The Arc Angle Robot is a small version of an industrial machine, designed for computer control. It has three axes of movement with base rotation, a horizontal arm, a vertical arm, and an end effector/hand or gripper. Motors are standard low voltage gear motors, but all movements have potentiometer feedback or can be easily adapted for optical encoders or limit switches. The hand is activated by a servo motor, but a gear motor can be substituted for this. |