i see several on ebay, but looks like most are for 1/24 or RC motors. anyone have an idea on where to find or how to get a com lathe for HO motors?

Lucky Bob sell com lathes for HO's http://www.lucky-bobs-slot-cars.com/

I know scaleengineering use to sell the HO cobra lathe as well.. But, it appears his site is down or gone?

http://www.scaleengineering.com/PG_110_PRICE_LIST.htm

i see a bunch of com lathes with diamond bits on ebay for $100 or so. anyone have experience with corbra, trinity, or hudy com lathes and the modifications needed to use them for HO arms? detailed steps please, i catch on a little slow sometimes :dude:

I think a few of the hudy lathes can be used with little effort to convert. The hudy lathe has a v-block, which is a v grove where the shaft of the armature goes.. You would still have to be able to space the blocks closer together to hold the smaller HO armatures compared to R/C & 1/32 scale cars. Other brands have blocks with "U" shaped blocks exactly the size for the armature shafts, so they are too big hold the armature steady while rotating.

Cobra, I believe is the only lathe that makes one specifically for HO cars.

The others I believe all required a skilled machinist to make work/convert.

Good luck, let me know what you find out. I have 2 to convert. A R/C Cobra and higher end hudy.. the hudy has different design.. where the DC motor drives an axle, which then drives the armature via a belt. When I move the block over to support the smaller length of the HO armature.. the drive axle is now too short. I need to order some round stock in the right size to be a little longer to reach.

This is one I have: hudy (http://www.hudy.net/xhudy/showimage.php?img_id=521&crt=07563a3fe3bbe7e3ba84431ad9d055af)

Looking at the pictures.. I remembered Hudy also have options for ballbearing "V-blocks", it sounds good in principle.. but, I'm not too sure it would be good for this application. Hopefully someone else can chime in on this?

-Robbie

James Banta and Greg Williams both have Hudy's. Lucky Bob's Hudy is made for HO. I used on old Cobra but can't find it. If you need contact info for James or Greg let me know. I watched James use his at the G3. :)
Here is the link to Lucky Bob's Hudy.
http://www.lucky-bobs-slot-cars.com/hudy-com-cutter.jpg

James Banta and Greg Williams both have Hudy's. Lucky Bob's Hudy is made for HO. I used on old Cobra but can't find it. If you need contact info for James or Greg let me know. I watched James use his at the G3. :)
Here is the link to Lucky Bob's Hudy.
http://www.lucky-bobs-slot-cars.com/hudy-com-cutter.jpg

its actually a 1/24 lathe that uses these brass tubes, these will work to turn any 1/24 to HO by raises the center of the com to the right spot w/out having to have the blocks machined

http://www.lucky-bobs-slot-cars.com/LB3003.jpg

I have the same Hudy that roffutt has an I love it

I have the same Hudy that roffutt has an I love it

Kevin, did you have the same issue I had with the drive shaft being too short? how did you fix it? I'd love to get mine up and running!

Thanks,
Robbie

Kevin, did you have the same issue I had with the drive shaft being too short? how did you fix it? I'd love to get mine up and running!

Thanks,
Robbie

If your talking about the shaft with the 2 pulleys, one for the motor o ring an the other for the arm o ring, I just loosened the pulleys an slid them farther apart. other then that the only issues I had was I couldn't get the blocks close enough to each other to keep the arm from moving back an forth, I fixxed that with some custom spacers made from brass tubing. I think the brass tubes I posted a pic of will fix the movement prob I had too

Kevin

so a Hudy from the bay and the brass tubes from lucky bobs ought to work?

do i need those purple clamps from licky bobs also?

thanks!

mike

so a Hudy from the bay and the brass tubes from lucky bobs ought to work?

do i need those purple clamps from licky bobs also?

thanks!

mike

Yep that's all you need, The purple clamps should come on the lathe. Try an get one just like this pic, They are better then the other due to the extra pulley, the one that the o ring comes from the motor to the arm creates vibration that this one don't create

Kevin

BTW Mike I think you emailed me on fleabay about this

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/GoodwrenchIntimidator3/100_1044.jpg

Yep that's all you need

You will also need a decent power supply that can put out at least 5A at around 3-6 VDC. A 3A supply will not work, it needs the full 5A. One very good source of power supplies for this application that that I've found is surplus mini or micro ATX power supplies. These usually have a 3.3 VDC, 5.0 VDC (and other voltages) outputs and gobs of amperage for less than 20 bucks. But a good middle of the road supply for most purposes is a 5VDC/5A unit like this one: http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=17431+PS . Look around and you may be able to find some really nice, compact units with a standard PC style power plug and a switch. I picked up a few from Alltronics a while back that had the standard PC style power plug and a switch, and they put out 5VDC @5A and 12VDC @2A.

An ideal power supply would be a linearly variable one that can go between 3.5 VDC and 6.5 VDC, but the 5VDC/5A unit I linked above would definitely do the job and is dirt cheap. You can also use forward biased rectifier diodes (50V, 6A, $2.49 for 4 at the Shack) to give you output steps in approximate 0.5V increments for a poor man's variable output supply. Using a 2-pole, 6 position rotary switch ($2.99 at the Shack) you could turn a fixed 5V supply into a 5V, 4.5V, 4.0V, 3.5V, 3.0V, 2.5V stepped output unit. The slower settings may be just the thing to get that last pass just right. If you use rectifier diodes, make sure their current rating is higher than the output of the power supply.

If you get an open frame or terminal strip style make sure you get a data sheet that tells you which pins are connected to what, mount it in a "project box" with binding posts for external connections, and put in an on/off switch for the primary input (120/240 VAC). Maybe even add a fuse or breaker. This is a cheap and easy option for powering a lathe if you don't have a spare power supply laying around that you can drag to races. You could also use it as a break-in power supply. Saving a little on the power supply will help justify the purchase of the diamond bit, which is the only way to go.

You will also need a decent power supply that can put out at least 5A at around 3-6 VDC. A 3A supply will not work, it needs the full 5A. One very good source of power supplies for this application that that I've found is surplus mini or micro ATX power supplies. These usually have a 3.3 VDC, 5.0 VDC (and other voltages) outputs and gobs of amperage for less than 20 bucks. But a good middle of the road supply for most purposes is a 5VDC/5A unit like this one: http://www.mpja.com/prodinfo.asp?number=17431+PS . Look around and you may be able to find some really nice, compact units with a standard PC style power plug and a switch. I picked up a few from Alltronics a while back that had the standard PC style power plug and a switch, and they put out 5VDC @5A and 12VDC @2A.

An ideal power supply would be a linearly variable one that can go between 3.5 VDC and 6.5 VDC, but the 5VDC/5A unit I linked above would definitely do the job and is dirt cheap. You can also use forward biased rectifier diodes (50V, 6A, $2.49 for 4 at the Shack) to give you output steps in approximate 0.5V increments for a poor man's variable output supply. Using a 2-pole, 6 position rotary switch ($2.99 at the Shack) you could turn a fixed 5V supply into a 5V, 4.5V, 4.0V, 3.5V, 3.0V, 2.5V stepped output unit. The slower settings may be just the thing to get that last pass just right. If you use rectifier diodes, make sure their current rating is higher than the output of the power supply.

If you get an open frame or terminal strip style make sure you get a data sheet that tells you which pins are connected to what, mount it in a "project box" with binding posts for external connections, and put in an on/off switch for the primary input (120/240 VAC). Maybe even add a fuse or breaker. This is a cheap and easy option for powering a lathe if you don't have a spare power supply laying around that you can drag to races. You could also use it as a break-in power supply. Saving a little on the power supply will help justify the purchase of the diamond bit, which is the only way to go.

Ahh yeah an a PS(forgot that) I use a old RC car battery 1400 MAH An 7.2 volts