Hi all, Reading the current talk of CAD/Laser cutting etc I thought that I would mention my own experience in this matter.
When I built the "Big" WAVERLEY, I was faced with the prospect of wheels of over 14" diam. and originally was going to fabricate them as per the real things. Looking carefully at the real ship I soon noticed that one could hardly see the fine details of the wheel which was dished in the centre, and opted for a simple but almost a scale wheel with flat sides. I have done flame and plasma cutting in steel as a ship builder and thought I would do that,but at such a small scale, heat would be a problem...Laser cutting was brought to my attention and a local firm made me four sides in 4mm steel plate!! Yes real heavy stuff.[£25.00] The resulting paddle wheels have been a total success but require a desalting with WD40 and lots of thick oil.
I am now looking into making 1:48 scale wheels in etched brass as a complete kit, floats,bearings, link rods and all. these will be in .9mm brass and will be soldered to a brass boss with a 4mm hole. Will keep all posted when in production.
Waverley Mike.
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