In-situ spreading wheels along an axle

viaEstrecha

Spanish metre gauge in G scale (on the cheap)
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Silly me. I made my first ever wooden coach kit and thought I'd be smart and use a pair of small-wheeled axles of unknown origin I had sitting in the bits box, in place of the supplied plastic ones. It didn't occur to me to check the back-to-back distance. So now I have a built model with wheels which could do with sliding 2mm further apart (they are splined and ready and there is enough room between the axle boxes). However, the way in which the kit goes together makes it nigh-on impossible to remove the axles now, so I need to make the adjustment in-situ. Fat fingers have failed to budge the wheels. My own ignorance astounds me sometimes.

Any suggestions as to how I can use a standard DIY tool or something to squeeze them apart, without wrecking the model? So far, all I've come up with is an idea to cut a bolt to fit between the wheels and slowly undo a nut, but that seems a bit risky, even for me.

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Small plastic "sash type" cramps can be reversed to widen and not close, like the clamp on the right..

Streetcar_Bogie_01.jpg
 
not to argue, but the key is controlled expansion, when you tighten a nut, it only moves by amount you moved it.

Spring type with a non-controlled, non-limited pressure will not work, you will likely over tighten, because when the static friction lets go, the kinetic friction is less.

Really won't work at all.

Take this simple example, tighten down on an egg with a "C" clamp...do it slowly and you can just crack the egg.

I defy you to do this with your hand (unlimited and uncontrolled force)... now try it with you hand operating a spring clamp... it will be worse.

Greg
 
Like Dan and Greg said: slow and careful! It looks much easier to spread the wheels in your situation than tighten the gauge if you overdo it!
 
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