Curve radius limits for different trains?

[gavino200]

Thanks. Yes, there are two things that I need to cut. One is the subroadbed for the elevated track. The second thing is the flex track curve guide.

 

I’m pretty comfortable with the idea of using the jigsaw for curves. But I’m very curious about how curved cuts were made in pre-industrial times. Probably with chisels? 🤔

[cteno4]

If you ever see old wood shops from pre industrial times for furniture, violins, etc you will see a host of different sized and shaped coping saws. I think a lot was rough cut the smoothed to the final shape. Foot treadle scroll saws have been around a long time as well, I’ve seen some pretty big ones which I always assumed was for larger furniture making. Keyhole type saws as well, again rough cut and then smooth. Files, chisels, planes. Planes were used a lot for final shaping, there are a huge variety of them. I had a friend (sadly deceased) that had an enormous antique hand tool collection and I think maybe a third of them were planes. I use to marvel at all the shapes and uses. They basically are chisels, just nightly controlled to make certain cuts in limited ways.

 

another friend who is an exhibit craftsman and developer really got into Japanese wood working techniques. In contrast it’s a much simpler set of tools used, but very highly refined and sharpened! He would go to week long courses and they would bring their own tools and first day of class was just adjusting and sharpening their tools before starting on any woodworking! He really enjoyed the classes. He did loads of traditional powered woodworking for exhibit production and furniture making, but he really enjoyed doing the Japanese hand woodworking the best.

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

On 4/4/2022 at 11:35 PM, gavino200 said:

Thanks. Is it the Piko screws that you use? If I were leaving screws in, I'd probably prefer them to go into the ties themselves. But in n scale there may not be enough space. I'll investigate.

 

Nah, I have some really cheap small screws that I bought like 1000 of. They fit perfectly in between 2 sleepers, and the head of the screw keeps the track in place. The advantage of this is that it's easy to move the track a little bit if needed. For hidden sections these screws work fine, for visible sections I'd ballast the track, remove the screws and then touch up the holes where the screws were.

 

[cteno4]

Gavin,

 

for temp hold down of flex track, these little pan heads should work well. Self tapping and should t spread the sleepers. I have a few different ones but most of mine are longer for securing unitrack from under the baseboard, but if you have cork or foam road bed you have to go thru that as well to screw into the baseboard. Yell if you want me to pop some in the mail to you to play with.

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003242404586.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef18026skvlq

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

Those screws will definitely work. Mine are similar in size, but don't have the built in washer. My yard and helix have 2mm cork on them, and the screws are just enough to go through the cork. They are self-tapping as well, but it doesn't always work well, so I pre-drill the holes real quick with a pin vise.

 

[cteno4]

The pan head with the built in washers are great for holding stuff down. I keep ordering a wider variety of sizes as they are inexpensive and handy. They are especially great for Ttrak modules and affixing the track down from underneath. I have templates with holes drilled at the screw pylon points for straights and corner modules. I drill a 2.5mm hole so there is slop with a M1.4 screws to do any minor adjustments if needed and don’t have to have the holes absolute perfect. The washer heads span the larger hole fine and allow you to tighten well w.o screw dragging the track around when to fend down on the hole.

 

for getting them started you can also just use a finely sharpened all to just make a little start bit. Having good 00 and 000 Philips screwdrivers also helps. I also use one of the little electric hand drivers as they have a ton of torque and it’s easier to hold down hard on the driver as you drive. Hand driving you have to be careful at the end of a turn you tend to stop pushing and can tilt the screwdriver some and this can easily lead to stripping the head out. We used screws on the JRM layout and it held up amazing well with all the stresses of assembly/disassembly and transport twerking.

 

Cheers

 

jeff

[gavino200]

4 hours ago, cteno4 said:

Yell if you want me to pop some in the mail to you to play with.

 

 

I'm pretty sure I ordered a variety box of tiny screws a while back, that I've never used. I'll take a look and see what I've got.

[cteno4]

Probably regular pan heads and not the washer, not noticed box sets of the washer pan heads in smaller sizes when I went searching awhile back to get a variety, so I’ve just been buying 100 of different sizes. Happy to pop some in an envelope for you to play with.

 

jeff

[gavino200]

Thanks Jeff. I'll have a look and let you know. I'm curious now about what I have.

[gavino200]

This is what I have.

Top right various M1 screws

Top left various M3 screws

Left, I think these were random screws I got from my old local train guy

 

Three bags in the bottom right

left 2.8 x 8 millimeters I'd assume

middle 2x 8 again looks like mm

right 1.2 x 12 I've no idea what I had in mind when I bought these but there are 1000 in this little bag 😳

 

Edited April 6, 2022 by gavino200

[cteno4]

Maybe screwing down unitrak on the old layout?

2 hours ago, gavino200 said:

right 1.2 x 12 I've no idea what I had in mind when I bought these but there are 1000 in this little bag 😳

 

I’ll toss a few pan washer heads in the mail to you to play with.

 

jeff

[gavino200]

Awesome sauce! Thanks Jeff! 🙂

[cteno4]

On 4/6/2022 at 9:24 PM, cteno4 said:

I’ll toss a few pan washer heads in the mail to you to play with.

They are in the mail along with another interesting bit.

 

jeff

[gavino200]

Thanks, Jeff.

 

If I have good results making knock-off "Tracksetta"s I'll post my results here.

[cteno4]

let me know if you like any of them and want some fast i have like 100-200 of each here and can just order more as i dont use them that fast. they take a few weeks from aliexpress. you can find them on amazon, but usually 2-4x the price, but ive used them in a pinch when i needed some for ttrak modules that needed to get dont fast.

 

jeff