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TRAIN UPDATE 3/4/22
3 years ago
I spent about 2-3 hours working on my new Hafner clockwork train today.
I used my Dremel on a stand with a cutting wheel to cut a square access hole in the metal casing of the motor so I could get to the spring, and found out that there's a metal tab on the ratchet hub and that the inside end of the spring is bent around itself in a parallel loop with a half-circle cutout in it.
The end of the spring somehow detached from the tab (probably overwound) and had moved to the wrong side of the tab. I spent over an hour trying different ways of using the key, moving the drive axle backwards and forwards, holding the spring in place with a dental pick while moving the axle to get the metal tab to come back around to the other side of the spring, and using a needle-nose pliers to physically move the end of the spring to the correct side of the tab.
I got it to where I thought it was close, but needed further adjustment, and decided to test it. I gradually used the key to wind the spring up while I was holding the motor, and it actually worked!
I left the body off for a while and did some floor testing to make sure it would actually move under it's own power, and after several successful tests, I screwed the body back on, and now I have a working 1940s Hafner streamlined clockwork train!
I used my Dremel on a stand with a cutting wheel to cut a square access hole in the metal casing of the motor so I could get to the spring, and found out that there's a metal tab on the ratchet hub and that the inside end of the spring is bent around itself in a parallel loop with a half-circle cutout in it.
The end of the spring somehow detached from the tab (probably overwound) and had moved to the wrong side of the tab. I spent over an hour trying different ways of using the key, moving the drive axle backwards and forwards, holding the spring in place with a dental pick while moving the axle to get the metal tab to come back around to the other side of the spring, and using a needle-nose pliers to physically move the end of the spring to the correct side of the tab.
I got it to where I thought it was close, but needed further adjustment, and decided to test it. I gradually used the key to wind the spring up while I was holding the motor, and it actually worked!
I left the body off for a while and did some floor testing to make sure it would actually move under it's own power, and after several successful tests, I screwed the body back on, and now I have a working 1940s Hafner streamlined clockwork train!
