Buffer Stops

[Chris Mitton]

Hi all - sorry if this is already documented in another thread but......

any bright ideas on bending the rails to form buffer stops? The vertical bits are no problem, but the main members, being (hopefully!) bent in their strongest dimension, tend to take the line of least resistance and go all over the place. It would be nice to have the four rails that make up each buffer's main members looking vaguely similar to each other.....is there any favourite way of doing this? Does a suitable jig exist, before I start trying to devise one?

Regards
Chris

[grovenor-2685]

See http://www.scalefour.org/history/p4bendingops.html
Maybe its time we had some more made?
Regards

[Chris Mitton]

See http://www.scalefour.org/history/p4bendingops.html
Maybe its time we had some more made?
Regards

Thanks Keith for the very prompt reply.
Does your question imply this gizmo isn't available at present? If so, any idea where I might lay my hands on a second-hand (and not too stupidly priced) one in the not-too-distant future?

Regards
Chris

[grovenor-2685]

I have seen tool suppliers advertising larger versions, too big for us, but for some reason, after the demise of Studiolith the Society never seems to have produced these again, however they are pretty simple and anyone with a little bit of metalworking skill should be able to make one. Perhaps some idea of the demand needs to be generated to provide a bit of incentive.
Regards

[Tim V]

It is best to anneal the rail before bending, you'll find that you can do it with pliers, however, be careful you don't squeeze the rail too hard, as it will be very soft.

[DavidM]

Yes Keith, certainly easy to make but how many of us will actually get around to making one? Too many other things to do...

Perhaps it's the sort of thing the Society could think about, or even ask George Watts (GW Models) to supply as part of his range. Add me the list if estimating demand!

David

[dcockling]

There's an article by Steve Hall on how to make your own jig in MRJ no 48.

All the Best
Danny

[frizby]

I still have mine , but somewhere along the line I have lost all the washers/formers.
Does anyone have the dimensions?

[grovenor-2685]

I knew where mine was, fitted with the washers I use for bending up buffers. The rest of the set of washers I have not seen in years, however, a root around the bottom of the toolbox located them, in a plastic bag and going a bit rusty. So I have now cleaned them all up and run thecalipers over them.
There are 9 washers in total, of 3 thicknesses and 3 diameters:
ID, OD, thickness (all in mm)
4.5, 6, 0.3
4.5, 6, 0.7
4.5, 6, 1.2
4.5, 8, 0.3
4.5, 8, 0.7
4.5, 8, 1.2
4.5, 10, 0.3
4.5, 10, 0.7
4.5, 10, 1.2
For bullhead rail use the 0.3 and 0.7 together to give a thickness of 1.0
The 8 mm diameter gives the right bend for the ex-Midland buffer.
Useful for me to find them and clean them up but all the dimensions are actually given in the manual that I linked to earlier
Regards

[frizby]

Thank you
Andy

[martin goodall]

I can vouch for the usefulness of the old P4 wire bending tool as supplied by Studiolith. I found it very good for producing buffer stops, but then Chuffs (from an address somewhere in Suffolk) produced some very nice whitematal castings for GWR bufferstops, and as these wre complete with bolt heads and other details, I no longer needed to bend up bufferstops from rail.

I recall that you had to calculate an allowance for the bending when working out dimensions, but it was not difficult to do that and then to bend up the parts for a pair of buffer stops using the wire bending tool.

[martin goodall]

It is best to anneal the rail before bending, you'll find that you can do it with pliers, however, be careful you don't squeeze the rail too hard, as it will be very soft.

I should have mentioned that using nickel silver rail I never found it necessary to resort to annealing. But steel rail might be less yielding. If faced with that problem, I think I would use N/S rail for the buffer stops, rather than going to the trouble of annealing steel rail.

[grovenor-2685]

I have built around a dozen buffer stops using steel rail and the bending tool, I have never had to anneal the rail. I think that idea relates to bending with pliers etc where you have minimal restraint against the rail bending the wrong way.
Regards
Keith

[beakie]

Hiya Guys

Interesting thread, I could certaily use one of these tools and dont have the skills to make my own.

As a newbie I would think there must be others like me.

I have tried the Cast option, not sure whether it was the (chuffers one ), got it from Mainly Trains,but would preffer to make my own .

Regards

Dave

[Chris Mitton]

Thanks all for your input folks. I too don't have adequate metalworking skills or facilities to make my own - but I looked up Keith's reference and thought about how the Studiolith tool works, and tried to make up an equivalent from a couple of pieces of scrap hardwood (oak), fastened together with a lock-nutted bolt and a washer in between, about 1 mm thick and 8 mm diameter, which was about right for the design I was after. I added a 6 BA bolt on one part, projecting just enough to provide the bending pin without gouging the second part, with another 6 BA bolt and washer on the second part to act as a clamp. Twenty minutes flat and it works! Sometimes I think we can over-engineer..... I did find it necessary to anneal the (nickel silver) rail - a few seconds in the gas cooker flame while SWMBO wasn't looking! - otherwise it fractured before the rail was bent far enough. With this tool I managed to produce four rails, more or less identical and flat, in a couple of minutes. Straight into an assembly jig consisting of four pins in a copy of the scale drawing and - my soldering iron died.....oh well, maybe this railway will get built any decade now!

Regards
Chris

[jim s-w]

It is best to anneal the rail before bending, you'll find that you can do it with pliers, however, be careful you don't squeeze the rail too hard, as it will be very soft.

I should have mentioned that using nickel silver rail I never found it necessary to resort to annealing. But steel rail might be less yielding. If faced with that problem, I think I would use N/S rail for the buffer stops, rather than going to the trouble of annealing steel rail.

Hi Martin

The steel used for model rail is actually softer than Nickel silver. Might mean Steel is easier to use than Nickel Silver

Cheers

Jim

[martin goodall]

I should have mentioned that using nickel silver rail I never found it necessary to resort to annealing. But steel rail might be less yielding. If faced with that problem, I think I would use N/S rail for the buffer stops, rather than going to the trouble of annealing steel rail.

The steel used for model rail is actually softer than Nickel silver. Might mean Steel is easier to use than Nickel Silver

As others have confirmed, the P4 wire-bending tool (if you have one) can be used for bending both nickel silver and steel rail without annealing or any other preparatory treatment.