Axle ends

Problem solved: the Standard Vanguard's rear axle clip could be replaced by lugs as soon as the axle ends were covered by the changed casting. No doming needed at all! Kind regards, Jan

Thank you Jacques. Matters often appear to be more complicated than one assumes ....

Perhaps before the war Meccano did not know how to dome the second end of axles, Tootsie knew as far as 1933 when they launched the Grahams series which was soon copied by Meccano. The photo shows how it was done in Bobigny. The axle is held by some sort of pliers so that it would not spin. but on the 24 series it was not possible to hold the axles although this could hardly be done for the 25 series trucks. The first end of domed axles was probably made on an automatic lathe which cut a lenght of wire and spun one end. These partly made axles were given a different job number for each length. Some models were fitted with different length axles for the front and rear. The fact that both ends of an axle were made by two very different machine explains why these ends are different. A pre-war Lincoln Zephyr ref. 39c with smooth hubs and domed axle ends. Are the axles thin or thick ? The first Dinky with both domed axles ends is the Lincoln Zephyr ref. 39c issued in June 1939. The front axle was not finished on the car which allowed the use of pliers, the ends of the rear axle were not finished at all as the axle was maintained by the car's body. This is the only occurence of domed axle on the 39 series. As all the axles of the 38 series were pre-assembled, it was easy to dome both ends of the axles as shown on the photo of Bobigny above. The next model issued was the van ref 280 which had crimped axles. Next comes the US Army jeep in April 1946, it has still the crimped axles and the Riley ref. 40a has the same construction as the 38 series. 1947 sees the issue of the Guy Vixen and the type 1 Fodens. All their axles were pre-assembled and this explain why they are attached with clips. It is also the case for the early Berford artics ref. 521 on which the axle of the trailer was crimped to the casting. Underside of an early Triumph 1800 with diecast posts for the rear axleThank you to the nice guys at QDT who provide photos of the undersidefor most of the models they sale. In july 1948 the B.E.V. electric truck and the early Triumph with diecast posts for the rear axle have pre-assembled axles. photo by courtesy of Jan WernerThe Garden Roller ref. 105a was issued in June 1948, with the Wheelbarrow ref. 105 b which was issued a year later. These are the first two Dinky Toys on which both ends of an axel were spun directly onto the model and on which the axel could not be held by pliers.August 1948 sees the issue of the first Dinky on which axles domed at both ends have been fitted directly onto the casting. This was on the large trailer on which there was ample room for a pair of pliers to hold the axles. 700 265Also during 1948 Meccano France issued the first model of the Ford series, the 'plateau brasseur' ref. 25h which had domed axel ends made directly without pliers on the trucks body and base plate. From then on all French Dinky had domed axle ends. Later in 1948 the Dumper and heavy tractor have pre-assembled axles and in November the Standard Vanguard's rear axle is attached by means of a clip la Guy and Foden. The French Autocar Isobloc ref. 29e and the 1950 Ford Vedette ref. 24q are the only other Dinky with such a clip. I do not know how the axles were domed by Meccano but I can remember the machine which Solido used, it had two motors spining a doming tool each and both ends of the axles were domed at the same time. This machine has been auctioned to a Polish buyer with many other items from the Solido factory. Now we can understand why Meccano used clips which were not economical and we have the explanation why the Triumph 1800, the Vanguard, the Guys and Fodens have been modified for cost reductions as soon as Meccano knew how to dome both ends of the axles directly on the model. The two French models remained un-modified for all their life span. Jacques

Hello Jan, Photo by courtesy of David Cooper The clip has been removed before the spats were added to close the rear wheel arches. This picture of a poor Vanguard shows a rare intermediate model with open arches and without clip. This is the variation 2 out of four and it is rare. I will welcome a better picture. Kind regards.Jacques