Join the discussion on the following article:
HO Wig Wag Crossing
Superb idea and construction! Are you using the 3 coils from a small coreless motor to move a small rare-earth magnet on the top of the wigwag?
Very well done indeed!
Very nicely done, Bruce! One question: Is there any way to slow the “wagging” down a bit? Or, does it need to be a faster speed to overcome the resistance of the mechanism?
GEOFFREY: Yes. The wires are connected to the coil where the brushes made contact (after the contacts are removed). A soldering iron can not be used! I used low-temp silver solder paste applied with a .010 needle under a microscope and heated it with a SMD repair blower for 5 seconds to connect the 45 awg magnet wires. The wig-wag target is attached to the small motor bushing removed from the motor housing. You can not use any magnetic attractive materials on the signal and all motor parts have to be kept perfectly clean to keep the very close tolerance fit.
Thanks Tom - I’ve been working on getting it to move slower and more “fluid”. I’ve been working on the dither commands to try and break the friction as I need the help from the mass of the target on the down swing. It’s been a pretty complex project.
Thank you for posting