1/14 Grader Caterpillar 12F

[fuchs301]

here comes the next pics: the frame, some gearboxes and a video from the first test moving the blade:























...and here is the youtube-links to the video :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoA8lS4G920

[td9clyde]

nice work works really good very impressive for the size too keep it up this is going to be a cool build

[ihbuilder]

Chris , that is sweet I like all your little gear boxes

[Jared]

That's really cool! Where's the motor for the circle turn mounted? Inside the frame?

[fuchs301]

@Jared,

yes, the motor (Faulhaber-motor with planetary gearbox, dia. 12mm) is inside the front frame. Here is a bottom view of the front frame. The movement goes about 3 little gearboxes:

[Espeefan]

That is very cool! Love the gearboxes. On the plus side, you'll have no hydraulics to worry about, which will be nice.

[fuchs301]

Originally Posted by Espeefan

On the plus side, you'll have no hydraulics to worry about, which will be nice.

Hi Nathan, that's why I love the mechanical solutions of such oldtimer...

[fuchs301]

Here is the last part of the update: the powertrain.

The hole powertrain unit is fixed with 4 screws at the bottom of the rear frame. I decided to use no differential.

At present I am at the unloved job of lathing the rims.














an here a bottom view from the powertrain. Later I will close the gearbox with a cover plate.

[9W Monighan]

Outstanding gearing! Looking better with every posting of your progress!

[Hofabooz]

Hi Looking Great

Very high standard of craftmanship going into this cannot wait to see it unfold.

Regards

Mark

[pumptech]

Wow,what a build,awesome skills you have,looking forward to seeing this grade some dirt

[dirtpusher9]

I broke out on an F model many moons ago. This thing brings back memory's.

Wow, what an excellent job on this so far, can't wait for more. My hats off to you.

[fuchs301]

Thank you for your friendly comments. Now the grader is standing on his own 6 wheels:
















here are the piece parts of the rear bumper:

[modelman]

This is a great project and you do very good machine work!! Keep the pictures coming.

[Smokin Joe]

Beautiful work! Looks like Swiss watch. More pics. please.

[Espeefan]

Wow. Everytime I look at the photos of the grader, even in a half assembled state, my mind keeps saying it's a full-sized 1:1 machine because everything looks so exact and beautifully made to scale, yet I know better, if only because the gear head motor for the drivetrain is visible. If it wasn't for that, I'd think for sure this was a 1:1 Cat 12F, going through a restoration, in someone's shop!

I really like the way the gear is keyed to the shaft, on the flat. I would have never come up with something like that. That is far superior to a set screw (grub screw) threaded through the gear hub. Much more robust with the key. I'm always learning something new.

The one thing I am a little surprised about is you decided to include some plastic gears in the drivetrain. Were you thinking of doing that for sacrificial purposes, to prevent any damage to other components? The weak link, being the 'fuse'?

Is this grader going to have cab, or will it be an open station model?

[D8R]

This is a very interesting build, very well built with some new technics (like said above about the key inside gear). By studing builds here in this forum you get a lot of new knowledge, atleast myselves.
Building a mechanical grader is a challange, looking forward to more pics showing the progress.
Dan

[fuchs301]

thank you for your comments,

Originally Posted by Espeefan

The one thing I am a little surprised about is you decided to include some plastic gears in the drivetrain. Were you thinking of doing that for sacrificial purposes, to prevent any damage to other components? The weak link, being the 'fuse'?

Is this grader going to have cab, or will it be an open station model?

@Nathan,
when you look at the tables for strength of such plastic gears (POM), you will find, that the values are not much lower than for normal steel, like C45 (sometimes even higher). I use the plastic gears because they are running quieter.

I buy my gears at Mädler in germany:
http://www.maedler.de/Product/1643/1...1050/1053.aspx

I will make an open station model, because I like this kind.

[Fired up]

great work love to have the tools and skill that a lot off you have keep it up

[fuchs301]

I made a new gearbox for the grader: it is for the transverse movement of the entire blade.

The movable gear segment consists of two halves which are screwed together. This gear segment is driven by a worm gear. After assembly I have mounted the drive motor temporarily to test the function (so you can see my hand in the video).












In this video you can see how it works:

http://youtu.be/1GGAO1b0fa0