Tipping Talk Three

 The cliffhanger from the last post was intentional…

Things had gone pretty well with the tipping part of the sequence. But I had paid absolutely no attention to what was going to happen after the bucket had been emptied. The way I had set the rail up, it was fouling against the frame of the skip chassis, derailing it, as I shoved it past the tipping point.

"No problem." I thought. It would just be some simple twisting and bending of the rail until it cleared the frame. But it wasn't as easy as that. As I twisted the rail in one angle, it changed the slope so that the rail didn't tip the bucket any more. Another twist and it tipped the bucket too early, another and it tipped too late. All very frustrating. Then even more frustrating, the rail fractured and broke as a result of all the twisting. It was at this point I took a break and published the previous post complete with abrupt cliff hanger, I was that frustrated.

After a couple of cups of tea and a few pieces of Kendal Mint Cake, I felt refreshed enough to try again.  It took quite a while to get it right, but I got there in the end. I was also much more careful with my bending and twisting of the rail.

The redesign progressed slowly

Much testing was done with the tipper to make sure it functioned OK and that there was enough clearance. In fact, I’m still testing it out daily.

Test runs look good as you can see, and yes I still have to add a bumper to return the buckets to their proper position. I haven't decided quite where that's going yet as I like to see a short train of skips in the tipped position wending their way down the layout. 

I’m gradually feeing better about all the work I’ve done and all the problems I’ve been through. A chute is still a likely addition to stop any overspill, as you just can’t trust how the material will tip into the bin. 

One little detail I’m quite pleased with is the addition of the figure at the tipping point. He looks like he’s about to operate a lever to actuate the tipping mechanism.

Terry the tipper man.

So there we are, it has taken the better part of three days to get this working well enough. The hobby is full of ups and downs and I’ve just had my fair share.