The Stone Storage Bin

I want to animate limestone being loaded into HOn30 quarry cars and then taken to a standard gauge line for further distribution.

First I need a bin to hold the "bird gravel". Bird gravel are small stones that almost have the color of crushed limestone. I have some on order. The bin started out as a bird feeder project that never got finished.

This is the base. I made the auger on the lathe. It's made out of plastic. The motor is a Tyamia Planetary Gear box.

This are the components temporarily assembled.

The upper part was originally built to hold a one gallon jug to hold the bird food. It'll now be used to hold the gravel.

I modified the inside by adding four taper slope sheets and a small funnel to funnel the gravel into the auger.

Temporarily set up in the place the bin will be located. The bin will be hidden behind some scenery.

The motor will be mounted on a bed of Smooth-On silicone rubber to quite it down. The wood would of made a great sounding board. There are screws buried in the rubber to bolt the motor on.

The motor mounted on the rubber.

That's it for now.

Bernd

Following....

Hi Bernd,

This looks an interesting project with a different spin on augers. Previously most of the ones on the web I have seen have been based around modified auger drill bits.

If you have jam up problems in the tube, please have a look at the Consolidated Nickel "shaftless auger" See Mario's explanation of how it works at "augers in HO scale" at  https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/one-for-dr-geoff-working-tipple-and-rotary-unloader-12202444  It might provide another way forward if you need it.

Motor mounting:

Congratulations, that is one of the neatest resilient motor mountings I have seen on the web.

Spillage Minimalisation

This is probably some time away yet. Try adding a curtain of fine (cheap cosmetic jewellery) chain hanging around the opening where the rocks drop to the wagons below. If the chains are long enough to hang inside the wagon being loaded, then:

• the chains tend to minimise any ricochets of the rock particles when loading commences by channelling the rock particles straight down into the wagon. any rebounds from hitting the bottom of the wagon hopper are straight up into the stream of incoming rocks. This minimises any sideways spray when the wagon is empty.
• as the load builds in the wagon to a heap the chains lay out on the top of the heap, absorbing the energy in the dropped rock particles and again helping to minimise ricochet spillage from the growing pile inside the wagon.

 I'll be following as this develops. Please keep up the good work ,

@ John

I might change the auger if it doesn't work to what is used on the Consolidated Nickel system. Mario helped me out with the type of material to use as belts for the conveyor system. The auger will empty onto a  conveyor belt which will then empty on one of two belts that will run over the holding bins. At each of the bins there will be a plow to direct the stones into the proper bin.

Thanks for stopping by and supplying some more info. Much appreciated.

Bernd

Curious

I'm sure the answer will come as the project progresses, but what are the additional holes in the copper pipe for?

Those Holes

Jim,

I'm a bit embarrassed to answer that one. I made this tube so long ago I don't remember the reason. Maybe it was to watch and see if the auger really worked like it should. That auger may get redesigned once I get the bin in it's final location. At present the auger is a bit to long so I'm sure I'll be making another tube.

Bernd