Some nifty old Mabuchis
#1
Posted 11 February 2017 - 11:00 AM
The front four are of the Russkit 22/23 type and have had their blind bushings removed, with the holes reamed out to accept 2 mm x 5 mm through-bushings, with the cans also having been drilled for endbell mounting.
For the color, I shot a coat of VHT yellow, and then immediately overshot a coat of the VHT "Universal Gold" on top of the wet yellow to brighten it up some. The VHT gold is quite dark, so this helped to give it a little more "pop." When that was cured, I shot two coats of the VHT Hi-Temp gloss clear, because the gold has a flat slightly rough finish like #600 sandpaper sort of. The clear doesn't have that much holdout over the gold to give it a good finish, hence the second coat. The good news is that the clear will flash quickly and then become dry-to-the-touch in minutes, so I could back up the first clear coat in no time. Over paint (as opposed to bare metal), the clear has an almost lightly frosted/slightly "milky" look to it when air-dry, but final-cures to a smooth gloss after oven-curing.
Anyway, the final effect is pretty nifty-looking and way better than typical rattle-can gold which is really fragile and easy to mar. Then again, even the original Russkit gold was probably the least durable of all the old Mabuchi colors. This still isn't as bright as the old Russkit gold, but should prove to be better able to stand up to handling and just plain old "use."
In the background, I dug out a Cox FT16D can and put the shine to it, and to finish off the group, there's an NOS "Olsen" FT36D. These will all be wound to be what would have been nice, but not "stoopid" period type motors, making for a group of "nifty old Mabuchis"!
-john
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#2
Posted 11 February 2017 - 06:43 PM
The FT36D is now wearing a new shiny coat of red, all the 16D cans have had their bushings installed, and the magnets are all back in. That allowed me to press all the lams and space the stacks, so everything is ready for powdercoat.
These babies will look better than they did 50 years ago. I can smell the oil of wintergreen already.
- Jairus, Samiam, C. J. Bupgoo and 1 other like this
#3
Posted 11 February 2017 - 07:17 PM
Don Weaver
A slot car racer who never grew up!
The supply of government exceeds demand.
L.H. Lapham
If the brain-eating amoeba invades Washington
it will starve to death...
#4
Posted 12 February 2017 - 06:47 AM
The arms are H-Power. , The lams are one of two wide crown types from RJR/Viper I got from Bill Bugenis. These ones have a rounded groove, the other ones have three V-shaped grooves.
I go for the wider crowns on the Mabuchis whenever I can.
-john
#5
Posted 12 February 2017 - 12:44 PM
Wow, John those are coming along great. I'm really looking forward to putting them to the track.
You are an artist!
- havlicek likes this
#6
Posted 12 February 2017 - 01:23 PM
Hi John,
What kind of armature shafts are you using to press the laminations on?
Thanks,
g
- havlicek likes this
Yes, to be sure, this is it...
#7
Posted 12 February 2017 - 04:47 PM
The shafts are all drill blanks. While there are some milder steel shafts that can work fine, or at least "well enough," it's easier to use the good stuff all the time. Most of the ones I use are from Bill Bugenis, and I haven't had any problems with them at all.
-john
- Geary Carrier likes this
#8
Posted 12 February 2017 - 10:48 PM
Yes, to be sure, this is it...
#9
Posted 13 February 2017 - 08:13 AM
I should have clarified that the 36D shaft is the original, as is the stack. Generally, these shafts are fine... round and straight enough. Being thicker, they are also pretty good about resisting bending unless you really manhandle them.
This is all good because I've never found drill blanks in that peculiar diameter, or really any material that would work well enough. The odd thing is that it's a size that is still used on modern Mabuchi (and other) motors, but it's not even a "normal" metric size (maybe it's a wire size?). It's apparently just a size that's there because it always was!?
More modern Mabuchi motors in the "RS36xxx" size do have what appear to be very nice stainless steel shafts in this exact size, but pressing-out the stacks on these, just to get the shafts isn't worth it when the old shafts are fine. Also, the modern shafts on these motors often have a flat ground in them, and removing that flat would make the shaft too short.
#10
Posted 19 February 2017 - 08:42 AM
...and done. All assembled and tested, so they get "the sticker". The FT36D is a #29 wind, and the FT16Ds are all #30 wire. These winds have worked really well for me with the Mabuchis. They're smooth and fast, and still provide a good measure of "insurance"
-john
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