Paces Races Restoration Progress February 5

My compressor pressure control switch melted.  I replaced it but needed to find some sensor hose, small diameter but high pressure.  I cleaned the shuttle and the brackets on the ratchets.

paces races ratchet brackets

I bead blasted the brackets and installed new bumpers.  The manual suggests using double thick bumpers.  I hope modern technology will dampen better than the hardened rubber and so one layer will be sufficient.

paces races shuttle clean

The shuttle needs to go back and forth along the length of the game.  The lever determines which tooth grabs the chain.  The chain is a loop going one direction at the top and the other direction on the bottom.  The latch has a slot and two shoulder screws, shown on the right.  On the back side of the latch are a finger top and bottom.  The latch goes up and down, grabbing the chain with a finger.

paces races ipad use

I have a new innovation at the Sands Mechanical Museum!  At the beginning, I would  hand draw all the assemblies, similar to a parts catalog.  The pieces would be drawn in sequence and notes will describe the disassembly.  It was tedious.  Now I have a camera with a close up lens.  I really liked my Nikon CoolPix 900 because it was small, had a swivel head, and could focus to within two inches.  Great for documenting a game.  It eventually died and I got a CoolPix S6800.  It works but not as well due to size and focus problems when working up close.

So the latest innovation is the use of an tablet.  I have avoided tablets because they are slower, lower resolution, and no keyboard.  However my workbench is across the house from my computer screen.  When putting complicated mechanisms together I sometimes needed to make five or six trips across the house to review some of my pictures.  My son no longer needed his Nexus 10 so I tried it out.  What a revelation, pictures at the workbench, at my finger tips!