Pantographs

[Ray Marinaccio]

Clamp the assembly, apply flux to the two arms where the bottom wire is inserted and touch it with a tinned soldering iron.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Clamp the cross brace in possition and solder it into place.
It is important that this assemply is square and dimentions accurate.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

The completed assembly.
Two of these are required for each pantograph.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Take two of the triangles formed on jig #2 and insert them through the end loops of the lower assembly as shown.
Sorry about the poor quality of the photo.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Cross the two triangles, hold them in jig #2 and solder the ends.
Set these assamblies aside.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Cut out the collector peices from .010" brass.
Form the bends where indicated to look like this.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Clamp them to a popsicle stick and solder the assembly.
The brackets should be 1/2" apart.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Remove the exccess solder with a small file.
Cut a 1/2" long peice of 3/32"dia. brass tube.
Insert the tube through the holes in the brackets.
Clamp the assembly to the popsicle stick and solder the tube in place.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Fabricate the two equalizer arms from .020" wire as shown in the drawings.
To install them you must install the first one then turn the two assemblies 90 degrees as shown to get the other one to install.
Both arms must face the inside to give clearence for the locking tabs on the collector.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Install the mount brackets and temporarily mount the assembly to a peice of wood.
Trim the extra wire where the lower arm assemblies pivot.
The equalizer levers may need to be adjusted to make the ends of the lower arm assemblies lay on the wood block evenly.
At this point you will find out how accurate the mount brackets and lower arm assemblies are.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

Install the collector.
You may need to file the ends that insert into the collector tube for it to opperate smoothly.
I had to do a little tweeking to get it straight.
Don't be afraid to twist it a bit, it may look fragile, but it's amazingly strong.
Adjust the locking tabs so they will latch onto the mount brackets.
In the photo I have one spring installed to show where they attach.

 

[Ray Marinaccio]

This photo shows the pantograph in the locked position.

Happy modeling.

 

[ezdays]

This thread was moved to the Academy July 2005. Some posts were deleted to provide clarity and continuity the this important thread. It has been locked, so if you have any comments on this thread, please make them in the appropriate forum. Thanks.