Wah , Ive no rivet punch tool

[junctionmad]

Im considering building using ply and rivets for turnouts with cosmetic chairs

since the J.B-S tool is now like the proverbial hens teeth. what is a girl to do , has everyone abandoned JBS to go from functional chairs, I still find that complex track work still requires soldering as not all chairs are available for all combinations etc

Has anyone considered producing drawings for a replacement, surely the Society should be addressing this defect

thanks from a newbie

Dave

[LesGros]

Dave,
If you go to the stores you will find lasercut Brooke-Smith sleepers, these will give you most of what you will need; however, you will need to mark and drill sleepers for turnout rivets. Probably best to use a low speed Dremel or similar.

[Terry Bendall]

A batch of rivet punch/press tools in in the course of production and with a bit of luck and not too many other things to do, should be completed in the next week or so.

Terry Bendall

[Mark Tatlow]

It is easy enough to drill a hole to form the penetration through the sleeper and then close the rivet with a tap of a light hammer with the sleeper on a solid base.

You do need to develop a knack of hitting the rivet at about the same amount so that it sits at about the same height as its neighbours but I don't find this difficult.




PS, like you I find it better to use rivets for complicated track.

However, be careful to physically isolate these sections from any that uses either C&L/Exactoscale plastic components or ready made track from the same source. This is because the rail in C&L/Exactoscale systems are designed to slide through the chairs (so needs regular breaks to accommodate this) whereas the soldered construction is held firm by the soldered joints.

[junctionmad]

A batch of rivet punch/press tools in in the course of production and with a bit of luck and not too many other things to do, should be completed in the next week or so.

Terry Bendall

Wooo hooo. Keep me one please

[junctionmad]

It is easy enough to drill a hole to form the penetration through the sleeper and then close the rivet with a tap of a light hammer with the sleeper on a solid base.

You do need to develop a knack of hitting the rivet at about the same amount so that it sits at about the same height as its neighbours but I don't find this difficult.




PS, like you I find it better to use rivets for complicated track.

However, be careful to physically isolate these sections from any that uses either C&L/Exactoscale plastic components or ready made track from the same source. This is because the rail in C&L/Exactoscale systems are designed to slide through the chairs (so needs regular breaks to accommodate this) whereas the soldered construction is held firm by the soldered joints.

Small hammers develop a knack of hitting my thumb , that's about it.

Slightly confused about your last paragraph . I mix C &L components and rivets.

I'm currently experimenting with shortened veropins held in with high temperature cyanoacrylate and then soldered , pin has a 1mm head and makes fitting cosmetic chairs easier. It has the advantage that the sleepers are fixed down once to the template and everything is done from the top. Bit fiddky , but interesting. I'll build a complete turnout with this method soon , there are some consistency issues to deal with first.

As I mentioned on Templot club, I'm first trying to get my Cnc Milling machine set up to do blades and crossings.

All good stuff

[Terry Bendall]

I'm first trying to get my Cnc Milling machine set up to do blades and crossings.

I would have thought that the biggest problem is being able to hold the rail securely whilst it is being cut and so that it is adequately supported to withstand the forces involved. I cannot think of an easy way of doing this apart from soldering the rail to a piece of metal than can then be held in a vice. In the long run, probably just as easy to file the blades and vees by hand.

Terry Bendall

[junctionmad]

I'm first trying to get my Cnc Milling machine set up to do blades and crossings.

I would have thought that the biggest problem is being able to hold the rail securely whilst it is being cut and so that it is adequately supported to withstand the forces involved. I cannot think of an easy way of doing this apart from soldering the rail to a piece of metal than can then be held in a vice. In the long run, probably just as easy to file the blades and vees by hand.

Terry Bendall

The rear of the face being cut of the rail has to be supported as it tends to bow away from the cutter, Thats simply solved with a simple delrin support

The rails are held in a delrin fixture ( cmc milled !) , which is simply a slot either side of the taper area, the excess is chopped off beyond the taper after removal

I have 25-30 turnouts to construct in the new year, if I can automate the process it helps, the jig could allow several blades to be done together , also machine consistently help too

I had examined doing the crossing vees by cnc milling but the bending makes it less then useful , but it could be used for the Brian Harrap ( sic ?) method of V construction since there is only one bend made before machining