JohnnieWalker posted:Fantastic job ! I am kitbashing/creating my own standard gauge engine and would like to know what timing belt pulleys and belts you used . Can you supply a link to where you got them ?
By the way , your engine would look awesome running under a live catenary system . I have a home made/ kitbashed standard gauge MU set that I run off my homemade live catenary system . Its very toy like but it does work and works well. Cheers !
Hey Johnny,
I am using '2GT' style pulleys, 16mm pulley size (also available in 20mm). You can get them with different axle sizes, I am using 5MM. Had to rebore the Lionel wheels for the slightly larger axle size (a few thousandths).
Bought mostly on ebay, search for 2GT or GT2. Belts are typically 6mm wide. You'll need to determine the belt size using a calculator that factors in the size of your pulley and the spacing between the axles. I had belts that were ever so short, so had to get the next larger one and then add tensioner pulleys in between. If you are designing, you'll want to get the exact axle spacing for the pulley and belt combination so you can avoid the pulleys. I should have done that first. Another 1mm spacing and I would have had a tight fit.
Here's a belt calculator, a little tricky to use:
https://www.bbman.com/belt-length-calculator/
Click 'Metric' and GT 2mm for the belt size. Pick pulley sizes (I'm using 16 for both). Enter 6mm for belt width (doesn't really matter for length of belt.
Put in your desired center distance in MM, then click on the box with numbers in it on the right side, it will then calculate and tell you the next closest belt and actual center distance. Belts are specified in the number of teeth. I used 186 teeth belts for the B1. Originally going to use 180's, but centers were just a little too far apart. Could not find a source for 182's. (so check on availability before you finalize center distance). These belts are super tough and smooth running.
Jim
