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       The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum Forum Index -> Technical tips, Details, Home Builds and Help Me!!
Atticman

At last a use for dental floss- Line shaft drive band

Well its my 500th post,  so to celebrate I have been polishing up my Dads old Doll lineshaft, and thought Id share a tip. He used meccano string to drive the accessories, but the wheels of some accessories are so poorly defined that the string easily slips  off.


Even for the mamod press its a bit thick



Then I fixed up my SE2 ready to run it and found no string to drive the shaft  

After a bit of thinking I realised that no string was up to the job- the knots are too thick and its got too much give to satisfactorily stay taut. the alternative i could find-the mamod drivebands are short and maddeningly fiddly .

I then thought about fishing line, but thought the material would be too slippery.

Finally i realised that Dental floss was ideal. Its waxed (at least mine is) so slightly sticky, and its a very fine guage, and the reef knot I tied in it was tiny but strong. Also I dont use it now- not that I ever really did, but i used to assure my hygenist I did, but theres these interdental gizmos- bit like minature toilet brush - but cleans well between teeth




the floss is white but after oiling up my fingers werent, so the floss looks old now. The pic shows how fine the floss is compared to the string



And round the older accessory, doubled up for extra strength it fits much more snugly



It worked a treat- sorry no vids, as we were busy getting lunch ready- bit of a lame excuse I know , but all of mrs Attics family came- all 20 in total      
Yup I wasnt popular when discovered fiddling with old dental floss
Mamodman123

Very clever!

String always slips for me  
mc_mc

Great idea.  I'll have to give it a try.    The wax should make it nice and grippy.    I'll be great to find a good use for it!
Mister Occlusion

Hah!

If we had a Clever Bugger Of The Week award here, you'd get my vote
Wallace

That's a great idea Atticman. Never would have imagined it would work.

Well done  
Nick

mc_mc wrote:
Great idea.  I'll have to give it a try.    The wax should make it nice and grippy.    I'll be great to find a good use for it!


And if you use flavored stuff it will taste good too.
Steve_S

That's a great idea.
Reid

What a great, great idea.  

This will prove a boon to hundreds of people.

Waxed dental floss!  I'd never have thought of it.

Hat is off, you should be lauded across the landscape of toy steam.

Sometimes, rarely, the greatest results come by the most obvious, long-overlooked means.

Freedom from costly, breakable spring drive belts.
Freedom from cotton string and clumsy knots.

Waxed---beeswax it may be, makes a peculiarly good grip.

Here you have floss, which could even be tripled, twisted, braided,
if that were wanted for any reason such as for appearance, or to fill a clamshelled pulley groove;
super grippy, not elastic (a power loss, that) to any great degee--but a high-efficiency power conveyance.

I think this is an utterly brilliant stroke of luck for us, and a stroke of genius shown by you.

Thank you!
Stilldrillin

Now. That`s a good un!  
Reid

Damned if it don't work!

Huzzahs for Atticman!  

I've  just tried my first dental floss belt.

I made a long 'un and put it between the Hog stirling and the Wilesco colour wheel.

It's that flat, waxed (beeswaxy), minty flavoured kind.
Am not sure that the mint is required but it does smell good.

THE BELT is superior to anything else I've tried.
THANKS to Atticman!  Hail to ATTICMAN.

I'm excited, see?

--This is a grippy belt material
--It's cheap and easy
--It is super-compliant: no internal friction of its own, so no power loss to speak of

Dental floss Rulz me now.

And it LOOKS so great, having the Wheel a foot away from the Hog,
and I can now appreciate/see the belt speed by the little knot's passing around.
It makes for a much better -show- of mechanical motion, such a belt with a knot or other visual indicator upon it.

SUPER ATTICMAN ,  I must write for thee a hymn; and for your steam-tolerant wife,
a hyrmn.



Nick

Reid wrote:
It's that flat, waxed (beeswaxy), minty flavoured
kind. Am not sure that the mint is required but it does smell good.

And it LOOKS so great, having the Wheel a foot away from the Hog.

How did it taste?

I have a new competition for the floss, who can build the largest workshop (as in furthest distance from engine)? So far I have the engine on top of my house and my workshop on top of the neighbors house across the street.
Reid



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXbJlkGZkrI
Nick

Great video Reid, it does look good with the distance.

There's only one problem I tried your flossing idea and now I think I need to take a trip to the hospital.
Les

ncseverson wrote:
Great video Reid, it does look good with the distance.

There's only one problem I tried your flossing idea and now I think I need to take a trip to the hospital.


Why's that?  
Reid

Les Marsh wrote:
ncseverson wrote:
Great video Reid, it does look good with the distance.

There's only one problem I tried your flossing idea and now I think I need to take a trip to the hospital.


Why's that?  
You had to see the video's silly finish.
It was like this,  and Nick is fast on the funny draw.  Shoot:








-----I don't want to be jacking Atticman's thread...so I will stop now and let others try Atticman's idea.

If a belt is oiled it might loose grip.
This belt was fresh, and despite running on small diameter,  polished pulleys, there is no slippage possible.

I can pull on the floss and crank the Hog over against its compression.
The absence of elasticity in the belt further increases the Hog's power to drive the toy colour wheel.
I was using small diam. rubber band before on a lately-polished pulley;
its serrations removed because they chewed the rubber band



The Hog's integral pulley is a smooth, wide land of small diameter;
that's why no spring belt could work.
That's why I was using rubber band until this new technique came up.

It's just so good I know I will never use o-rings and spring belts for -moveable- things
where I can set them apart manually to unslack the belt.

The floss will be a great power saver.
Regular belts of other sorts eat power.

Atticman knows his beeswax



kudos, sir.
Les

Reid wrote:
Les Marsh wrote:
ncseverson wrote:
Great video Reid, it does look good with the distance.

There's only one problem I tried your flossing idea and now I think I need to take a trip to the hospital.


Why's that?  
You had to see the video's silly finish.
It was like this:






Unfortunately Imageshack is a filtered site on my computers, so I have not been able to watch them, or look at any of your pictures either.  
Reid

I am sorry about that.  Then, they don't filter Photobucket?
The two are the same sort of service, in competition.

You may as well erase (please) the image code texts in your post above
so the images all see there don't dominate this new page.

Sorry for the frustration.  
Can you not get a cheap-enough line of your own for use at home?
mc_mc

Les, try going here: http://www.the-cloak.com/login.html

(assuming it's not blocked as well)

In the starting URL box near the bottom of the form try pasting in the URL of this thread  http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/about8045.html and then click the 'Start Surfing' button.    

If it works the page will load much slower as the data is being sent via a proxy, but it should bypass any local firewall / isp restrictions that are in place and should mean that you can see the images.   (Which is why the-cloak.com might be blocked by your isp / firewall as well.)   Definitely worth a try though.
Les

mc_mc wrote:
Les, try going here: http://www.the-cloak.com/login.html

(assuming it's not blocked as well)

In the starting URL box near the bottom of the form try pasting in the URL of this thread  http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/about8045.html and then click the 'Start Surfing' button.    

If it works the page will load much slower as the data is being sent via a proxy, but it should bypass any local firewall / isp restrictions that are in place and should mean that you can see the images.   (Which is why the-cloak.com might be blocked by your isp / firewall as well.)   Definitely worth a try though.


Thats blocked as well.  

Thanks for info.
Sandman

I don't get the movies either Les.

Just an invitation to join image shack.    
Les

Sandman wrote:
I don't get the movies either Les.

Just an invitation to join image shack.    


Because my internet connections both at home and work run through Bournemouth Borough Council, and that pupils also access it in schools, it is heavily filtered. The only way round it is to pay for my own internet connect, and thats against my principles. The more I spend on an internet provider, the less I have to spend on engines.

I can use Photobucket, so all is not lost.
Graham-Jilly

Sandman wrote:
I don't get the movies either Les.

Just an invitation to join image shack.    

same here  
johnreid

Look Ma, no cavities!
mc_mc

Les Marsh wrote:
mc_mc wrote:
Les, try going here: http://www.the-cloak.com/login.html

(assuming it's not blocked as well)

In the starting URL box near the bottom of the form try pasting in the URL of this thread  http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/about8045.html and then click the 'Start Surfing' button.    

If it works the page will load much slower as the data is being sent via a proxy, but it should bypass any local firewall / isp restrictions that are in place and should mean that you can see the images.   (Which is why the-cloak.com might be blocked by your isp / firewall as well.)   Definitely worth a try though.


Thats blocked as well.  

Thanks for info.


That's a shame.  Try this link instead http://216.127.72.7/login.html

Just to see if the blocking is done at DNS level rather than IP address level.
Les

mc_mc wrote:
Les Marsh wrote:
mc_mc wrote:
Les, try going here: http://www.the-cloak.com/login.html

(assuming it's not blocked as well)

In the starting URL box near the bottom of the form try pasting in the URL of this thread  http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org/about8045.html and then click the 'Start Surfing' button.    

If it works the page will load much slower as the data is being sent via a proxy, but it should bypass any local firewall / isp restrictions that are in place and should mean that you can see the images.   (Which is why the-cloak.com might be blocked by your isp / firewall as well.)   Definitely worth a try though.


Thats blocked as well.  

Thanks for info.


That's a shame.  Try this link instead http://216.127.72.7/login.html

Just to see if the blocking is done at DNS level rather than IP address level.


No, still blocked    

Thanks again for trying.
Stilldrillin

Graham-Jilly wrote:
Sandman wrote:
I don't get the movies either Les.

Just an invitation to join image shack.    

same here  


Me too!
Reid

Sandman wrote:
I don't get the movies either Les.

Just an invitation to join image shack.    
Sorry, my oversight.

Those images of the YouTube screens are just images, not working players.

And imageshack is set to take you to their load page if ever you click on an imageshack hosted picture.

I forgot to add the disclaimer: this is a screenshot, not active, don't click on it.

----

Back to topic,

Lets wrap some floss and run a steam toy!
I just got a ca. 1920 Hess edge mill from US eBay.

auction photo

I can only run it with the hog, and the hog runs rather fast.
The edge mill should be run at scale speed for best effect.

Let's try Atticman's floss belt, a long one...

Pictures later.
Nick

Make it stretch all the way across the room, just to see if it works!
Reid

ncseverson wrote:
Make it stretch all the way across the room, just to see if it works!
It will work that way fine.
Just the other night I ran the color wheel fully six feet away from the (anemic) little hog stirling.

There was no noticeable loss of power or speed.

Floss is a good belting.
Les

I think I will have to buy some dental floss and start experimenting.
Nick

That's a real neat steam toy, I'm jealous. Can I ask how much it was?
Reid

Les, I think you will like it very much.
Les Marsh wrote:
I think I will have to buy some dental floss and start experimenting.


No exaggeration: this is the best tip I've ever met with yet in this hobby.

Again: Atticman, I am floored and awed by the perfect solution
waxed floss affords.

Am making a video demo right now.
I'll post it to a separate thread when it's ready.


Reid

ncseverson wrote:
That's a real neat steam toy, I'm jealous. Can I ask how much it was?
It just came the other day.
I was the only bidder.

Here is the listing
Nick

That seems like a good price, but I don't have a clue what something like it is worth.
Nick

Is that the rollabout making another mamod forum appearance?
Reid

ncseverson wrote:
Is that the rollabout making another mamod forum appearance?
You will be seeing so much of it, too much of it in the near future.
Many videos will be made from that table.
I find it so much easier and better to make the vids out of doors.



As for the edge mill, it is what? Near ninety years old.
They don't make them anymore. THis one shows zero signs of prior use.

It cost less than a new Wilesco toy of similar-sort of play value.
So I consider it an OK buy.

Edge mills go back to ancient times.
They were used for mascerating olives prior to pressing,
and for rendering various seeds such as flaxseed for their oil,
and also, in the paper mill, for chewing rags to bits for pulping.
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