3573 replies to this topic

[havlicek]

Hi Ernie,

Well you're getting there yourself!...and you have some of my craziest hand grenades, including a Walnut that should be there in a few days Kim does have a pretty hot #26 Mura I sent him that he says is a lot of fun and an SCX-based Walnut, so I think you guys are in pretty much a dead heat at this point! Thanks to you both for supporting "the vintage black arts" and helping to keep rewinding alive and kicking Next up on my table is a bunch of tweaks and assembly jobs on some nifty period Mabuchi rewinds. I always find those interesting as it's a way to see first hand what the "name" rewinders did back them. I don't put my stickers on those (for obvious reasons), but they are still fun jobs.

-john

[Kim Lander]

John,
I want to thank you for all you do, not just for me but for the Hobby of Slotcars, I rank you right up there with the "Big Winders" as you call them, if not above, what you do is just wonderful and with the aditude and love for the hobby it puts you in a league of youre own, on behalf of all recipients of youre work and knowledge...THANK YOU ....its people like you that keep the hobby going for the new racers and going on for us old timers, you keep the want in our blood to keep on . I have even started to rewind a few arms that I had just to see if I could still do it, all beit by hand as I dont have a winder anymore , but it is gratifing to see an arm turn over when you hit the juice to it. Thnks again John.....Kim

[Horsepower]

Next up on my table is a bunch of tweaks and assembly jobs on some nifty period Mabuchi rewinds. I always find those interesting as it's a way to see first hand what the "name" rewinders did back them. I don't put my stickers on those (for obvious reasons), but they are still fun jobs.
-john

Why, no fire insurance?

[havlicek]

Thanks Kim...it's guys like yourself that keep me inspired to try and continue to improve. The ultimate would be to see a bunch of guys rewinding and a small resurgence in the "craft" that approximates what things were like in the 60's. I don't know that will ever happen, but I'll keep chugging-away at this stuff (I'm in waaaay too deep to stop now any way!) in my quest for ...well...whatever it is I'm questing for In any case, there are a whole bunch of people keeping the vintage slot car thing alive and kicking right here starting with the resident racer, builder, walking encyclopedia and sometimes curmudgeon Philippe. I'm just happy to be in the mix, if somewhat out on the lunatic fringe

Why, no fire insurance?

Exactly Gary!

-john

[Alchemist]

John,

I concur, to the letter, with what Kim has spoken! I'd like to add that Dokk's knowledge is not only phenomenal, but for me also leaves me wanting to learn more in regards to slot car historical details.

John, your passion for rewinding only fuels my excitement about motor performance in such that I need to be careful so I don't self-ignite - LOL!!

I'd have to say that Kim is far ahead of me because he is able to put your motors to use readily. I'm having to, and I want to build custom chassis's for the motors! I'd also like to shout out my appreciation to Jeff Easterly and Dennis Samson for sharing their fabrication skills too!

Hoo-rah John, Dokk, Jeff, & Dennis!!

Thank you!

Ernie

[Alchemist]

I just received my "walnut" motor and what a exceptional piece it is! I feel like a kid that got something real KOOL from the toy store!!!

Thanks John!

Ernie

[havlicek]

Hi Ernie...boy that was pretty fast, and I'm glad the little guy got there OK. Yeah, I really like the Walnuts and think they're pretty danged cool motors. The ones like yours that start out as a Mura C can make a sturdy package and they don't seem to lose much, if any, magnet strength. I've done some smaller ones like those using an SCX motor as a starting point, but they're a bit more fragile and the magnets (epoxied-in) and the endbell are actually helping to hold things together. I could cut away a bunch more of the can on the Muras and use smaller magnets, but I don't really see the point. Enjoy!

-john

[havlicek]

I got two of the JK Hawk motors and had some time this afternoon to take the first one apart and see what's what. From the outside, it's a pretty conventional-looking motor...and a small one at that. The general construction of the can looks very much like the SCX RX42 motors and it wouldn't surprise me to find out they're made in the same factory. The endbell is a step up from the SCX motors though and looks very much like a PS C can endbell with regular type springs, brushes and hood arrangement. A nice touch is that the endbell is fastened with four #0 phillips head tapping screws. Taking the thing apart is easy because of this and after doing so, I had my first surprise (well, actually it was my second surprise), the magnets came right out with the armature. There was some sort of glue holding the magnets and there was as much on the face of the magnets as there was on the back . The can has the built-in type magnet clips and they were completely loose and not doing much. My first surprise was that both brush springs were hung up on the hoods and people who use these motors should just make sure everything is A-OK in the hardware department.

The armature is a normal looking short stack, but was balanced and pretty well fried, so there was nothing to do with it other than toss it. I kept the com, which looks like the average modern D motor type com...but shorter, and made up a new armature by removing lams from a Mabuchi 16D armature and reused the com. The magnets in this little guy are pretty danged stout, measuring just under 1000 on my meter (one was around 990 and one was around 975), which puts them in the same neighborhood as those found in 2-hole Muras, so I wound a #28 arm figurinmg this shouldn't be a problem. My only concern with all this is that my welding setup would probably destroy those thin com tabs, so I soldered the com connections. A more heavy duty com could probably be installed, but it would have to be shortened...I think.

Surprise #3 was that the can and endbell bushing alignment seemd a little off, most probably from tightening the mounting screws when mounting the motor as the can steel is very mild/soft. Probably would be a good idea to solder these motors in while barely holding it in place with the screws just snugged.

So I have the arm wound and just have to balance it before giving it a spin. So far, so good:

[havlicek]

Arm is done and the motor's back together. I couldn't balance it all the way, probably because the shaft is a little out, but the motor sounds very strong. Will it last?...who knows! Cool little motor though.



-john

[Alchemist]

I was wondering when someone was gonna send you one of the Hawk motors since there was quite a bit of talk about them in another thread. I hope we'll find out soon how it will hold up after what you were able to do with it. Looks real nice as usual John!!

[Robert V.]

Hi John
Nice work on that hawk motor looks like the little guys have some potential, it also sounds like from what you have said and others that these motors out of the box are hit or miss maybe bad quality control.

[havlicek]

Hi Ernie and Robert,

The motor does have some cool points to it. It's very small and light, has strong magnets and a nice endbell and comes with our screws holding the endbell. The arm is definitely the weak spot, no surprise there from the reports others have given, but the motor can be a good one with a better quality arm whatever else is out there that fits. So what you get is a rebuildable motor with lots of potential for $12 or so and, unlike say the SCX motor, comes with a better (and much more compact) endbell and fullsize brushes and springs. I guess QC isn't great, but I wouldn't judge that from only seeing one motor.

-john

[Kim Lander]

Hey all,
And John....I recieved the motors John did for me....man are thye awsome, in the process of reassebling the Dynamic Chssis they came out of...cant wait to see the folks at the track when I put these babies on the track.......I`ll be in touch...Kim

[Alchemist]

Hi Kim,

Looking forward to hearing the field report.

John,

From my perspective, the SCX motor has competition - huh!?! We'll soon find out. Do you think you could get the MURA stacks and com to work with this motor? Just a thought.

Ernie

[havlicek]

Hi Kim,

I'm glad they all got there OK...I always worry about shipping and try and pack them well. You have a really nice collection of restored motors and vintage chassis to put them in...next stop, the concours d'elegance (I'm sure I misspelled that. corrections will certainly follow )

Ernie,

The JK Hawk is a potentially very cool little motor, but it would probably be best for a "motor-builder's class" if there were such a thing anymore Think something along the lines of the Frankenmotor stuff that happened recently. It's not really competition for the SCX as both are for different types of cars. The SCX motor is a very cool little motor as well, and can be hot-rodded pretty easily and mounted right back in the car it came from. It's a fairly long motor though and for getting it in tighter places...as well as for using standard brushes and springs, replacing the endbell is a good thing to do. The JK Hawk has features that make it a natural for installing it in scratchbuilt chassis and is so small that it could even go anglewinder in a 1/32 car with no problems. I see it as more of a scratchbulder's motor, but it seems as though people should consider that they're basically getting a starting point for their $12 as the arms aren't that good from what I've read and seen. It could be though that simply epoxying and tieing the arm, as well as generally going over the setup is all that would be needed to make the motor last. I'm not sure what off-the-shelf arms could be fit in there, but that of course would be another way to go. People will have to figure out if there's a place for the motor when it seems the TSR and similar motors that cannot be rebuilt have proven themselves by this time. However, the Hawk is definitely a cool and interesting motor for tinkerers!

On the question of the Mura stacks and coms Ernie, yes...any .510" or so arm will fit and a short stack arm like an x-12 should be very close, although I think the com and tail spacers (or spacing) would have to be shortened as the overall length of the arm is very short. I may play with all that when Vic's motor gets here and see about a better com that I can weld and using a drill blank shaft. Once again, these motors are very much like a modern version (and with some improvements) of a Mabuchi in that there is potential there...MUCH more than any Mabuchi ever had...but they really need some TLC out of the box.

-john

[havlicek]

Victor's JK Hawk got here today, so I did it up. The motor was in a little better shape than Guillermo's, but I did similar stuff to it

1)Same #28 wind
2)Made sure I used a straight shaft and it balanced OK. There's still a little vibration going on, nothing hairy, but it may be because the endbell bushings in both motors are kind of loose.
3)This time I used a Mura com and cut it down to fit, epoxying a fiber washer on the end as a way to hopefully keep the com together. Using the wider com meant radiusing-out the brush hardware inside the endbell so it would clear the com...but at least this time I could weld the com connections. I also had to shorten the brushes a bit as they were sticking out far enough to interfere with the springs because the Mura com is so much wider than the stock one.

As with Guillermo's Hawk, the motor sounds very strong and both wind up and down very quickly. The little guys seem as though they're going to have some torque. This time, my worry is about the cut down com holding together. We shall see!

[Alchemist]

Fantastic work - as always John!

Yes, I was considering one of the Hawk motors for a "scratchbuilt" car - to add to my "Havlicek" collection of motors!!!

How does its size compare to the "walnut" motor? About the same? Weigh in about the same too?

Thanks John!

Ernie

[havlicek]

Hi Ernie,

I think the JK Hawk is about the same size as the Mura-based Walnut (I don't have a Walnut here to compare it directly), but there's no comparison between the two. The Mura Walnut is a lot more motor and you have one of those

-john

[Don Weaver]

Hi John,

Could you make a "peanut" motor out of one of these?

Don Weaver

[Victor Poulin]

John,
The arm looks fantistic !!! You da man !! I was thinking what I might do when I get it back, is take it up to Ralph at Need For Speed raceway and have him test it on the Hill climb in a C-11 chassis. That way we can get a better feel for what this little thing can do. I know Ralph would be more than happy to see what these can do with a good arm in them. He was telling me last week that he had tried one the week before, and it went like stink till it threw a wind

Vic

[havlicek]

Could you make a "peanut" motor out of one of these?

Hi Don,

These things are so small that you could make a filbert Seriously, there's not much room if any to shorten these things. You could pretty much not use any can at all and make some sort of cheap strap motor I suppose. As relatively strong as the magnets are, you'd no doubt be sacrificing some field strength by hacking-away the can. I'm supposed to get another one sometime, maybe that will be something else to do with one of these...hey...it might make a heckuva HO

Hi Vic,

Glad you like it and it does sound and feel very stout for it's size and weight. Super light motors like this seem a natural for a bare-bones lightweight car that would let the motor spin without resorting to crazy gear ratios. Still as this is purely for fun and experimenting, have at it and whatever happens happens...just like the 60's! I'll try and send out yours and Guillermo's motors tomorrow...but maybe not until Monday. Enjoy!

-john

[Victor Poulin]

You know what else I was thinking? This just might make one heck of a drag motor Because of its light weight and high revs, plus it wouldnt really have a chance to heat up. I would think it would have a much longer life and a cheep price to boot!! Everyone seems to be thinking this motor was intended to be a D-3 motor, or to take the place of the Falcons. I didnt see anywhere, that this is, or was the intent. Did I miss something? Its just a new rebuildable mini motor that needs to find its place in slot racing.


Vic

[Alchemist]

Its just a new rebuildable mini motor that needs to find its place in slot racing.

Vic,

I believe after John's mods to the motor, we'll most definitely find a place for it!!

Ernie

[Victor Poulin]

Vic,

I believe after John's mods to the motor, we'll most definitely find a place for it!!

Ernie

Ernie, I think your right !! I just think its neet to have a new motor to toy with.

[Bill from NH]

Vic, I got brush springs bigger than that motor!