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doug72

Giant Block Setting Crane

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As a boy I used to play with Meccano mainly building cranes and dreamt of building the Meccano Giant Block Setting Crane - but I never did as it needed a No. 10 set.

Much later in life I took up building Lego Technic models and have recently started building MOCs.

I set out to build a MOC of the Block setting Crane that use to be on the South Pier at the entrance to the Tyne - NE England and my home town of South Shields.

This was used to maintain the pier and lowered 40T concrete blocks onto the seabed to prevent scour of the breakwater foundations.

The original crane was steam driven use shafting, gearing and wire ropes to operate which I have replicated in my model.

My MOC has four functions:

1/. Under carriage travel with all 8 wheels driven.

2/. Slewing of upper part and boom.

3/. Traversing along boom of hoist carriage.

4/. raise and lower lifting hook.

The 4 motors ( 2x L & 2 x M) are house in the rear structure.

All four drives use worm gears to give realistic speed and to make 90 deg drives down the legs.

The boom made of parallel sides - as proved impossible to replicate the tapered boom of the original crane.

Most difficult part was getting the rope drive to traverse the hoist carriage to work.

Full size Lego Trains can run underneath and this will be part of my lego train layout once i build a breakwater for it to run along with maybe a lighthouse at the end !

For photos and video click here:

12431685423_0c1c906377_z.jpgMVI_0748 by Doug Ridgway, on Flickr

 

Next project is to try and make a rail mounted dockside container crane using similar transmission to the rail wheels..

Edited by Doug72

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Great model, but don't give up on the tapered beam just yet. It will take some tinkering and possibly some extra tension in your structure, but it is possible to create these angles in lego as well. You can actually use the tension in the structure to your advantage. If you can achieve a compressive strain in the lower, angled beam it will help to counter the sag due to gravity. It will make your model look just that little better.

In the Hispabrick no 15 I explain how I used this kind of triangle shape to strengthen my Sukhoi frame.

I'm looking forward for the greater setup.

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Maybe also consider a proper block grabber using bent liftarms and probably rubber 2-long parts for extra friction.

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Thanks for the comments - I had another try at a tapered boom with success - see attached image.

Now have to order more mid grey parts from Lego Direct.

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Thanks for the comments - I had another try at a tapered boom with success - see attached image.

Now have to order more mid grey parts from Lego Direct.

:thumbup::thumbup:

It'll be worth it! good luck with the rebuild :classic:

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Mark 3 boom built and fitted to the crane.

Photos of new boom plus some close ups at:

http://www.flickr.co.../116189129@N03/

Re block grabber: will see what i can come up with but it probably will be way oversize and not look great.

Block can rotate as used a 2X2 x1 mini studded turntable, between hook and lifting eye on the block.

Edited by Doug72

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Mark 3 boom built and fitted to the crane.

Photos of new boom plus some close ups at:

http://www.flickr.co.../116189129@N03/

Re block grabber: will see what i can come up with but it probably will be way oversize and not look great.

Block can rotate as used a 2X2 x1 mini studded turntable, between hook and lifting eye on the block.

Better looking, however it looks like the arm is bending downwards a bit and the house on the back is bending downwards as well. Is it possible to connect the upperside of the arm to the house directly? That way the bending will be reduced I think.

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Hi Doc,

There's a video of the Mk 1 crane in post #1 on my Flickr page.

Currently redisigning the structure that sits on top of the turntable to be more rigid but still be able to get 4 motors plus gear drive inside,

and top of boom right through to engine room housing.

Re boom sagging - partly due to the high tension of the cord that pulls hoist carriage to & fro to ensure it moves under load.

The drive uses is a large wedge pulley which cause the cord to follow a long shallow triangle.

Have added a small pulley above drive pulley to eliminate the triangle effect.

Lego standard braided cord is used but trying to source rubber cord that fits the wedge pulleys which will give better grip and less tension needed - rubber string approx 1mm diam required.

Wish Lego would make a bigger turntable - say 9 or 11M wide.

ps My grandchildren thinks it "cool"

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Crane now improved with boom tapered and rear housing extended by 2L so that battery box counter blances the boom better.

Boom deflection less than 1mm when load on hook and hoist trolley at head of boom.

Gear boxed now better braced and a 24T clutch gear added into the drive to the hoist trolley traversing to protect the 8T / worm gears.

Mini Figure crane driver added !!

Large PF controller - which gives better speed control - operates the under carriage travel and slewing of crane boom.

Small PF controller operates, hoist trolley travel and hoist.

Temporary Lego Train straight in use.

Waiting on an order from Lego for more single track rails (3228) for crane to run on.

New photos and video here:

http://www.flickr.co.../116189129@N03/

Edited by Doug72

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You seem to have gone for a far more sensible scale. You are right - mine is rather huge, but it doesn't flex or bend noticeably when in use, so I'm pretty chuffed. There's plenty of space for the mechanisms. The challenge was in getting the beams and bracing to line up. There's a little bit of distortion, but not much.

I will try and find some time to do a video or two. It may have to wait until the weekend though.

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