Machined rail components now available from Finetrax

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Martin Wynne
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Machined rail components now available from Finetrax

Postby Martin Wynne » Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:40 pm

Wayne Kinney doesn't do P4 turnout kits, but he has just announced that the machined rail parts from his 00/EM Finetrax kits are now available separately (equally usable for P4):

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/160234-us ... nt=4911518

In 3 sizes of bullhead rail including code 75 -- several crossing angles and A, B, C, switch planing.

Machined vee splice and point rails are also available separately.

Martin.
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Re6/6
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Re: Machined rail components now available from Finetrax

Postby Re6/6 » Fri Aug 26, 2022 4:23 pm

Thanks for that Martin. I missed the RMweb post.

The switch blades are a bargain at just over half the price of the competition. I do have all the 'Portsdown' filing jigs but I can't get the precision of machined ones! Most useful.
John

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Rod Cameron
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Re: Machined rail components now available from Finetrax

Postby Rod Cameron » Fri Aug 26, 2022 11:31 pm

Very useful, but a shame they're only available in N/S and not steel, at least for now.
Rod

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Martin Wynne
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Re: Machined rail components now available from Finetrax

Postby Martin Wynne » Fri Aug 26, 2022 11:59 pm

Rod Cameron wrote:Very useful, but a shame they're only available in N/S and not steel, at least for now.

Hi Rod,

Wayne is very helpful. If you sent him some steel rail he might be willing to run off a batch on his CNC. Worth asking at least.

He's not likely to get in a stock of steel rail, when there is no demand for it in his kits -- the separate components are a by-product from his kit production.

cheers,

Martin.
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kelly
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Re: Machined rail components now available from Finetrax

Postby kelly » Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:41 am

Very interesting and useful development.

The Vee and blades are probably a couple of the things that would 'put off' a newbie to track building, so having them affordable ready made is important regardless of scale and having more options is never a bad thing I think. Whilst Wayne might not plan or offer P4 items, at least some of the extras like these are of use beyond his core kits.
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Rod Cameron
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Re: Machined rail components now available from Finetrax

Postby Rod Cameron » Sat Aug 27, 2022 9:05 am

Martin Wynne wrote:
Rod Cameron wrote:Very useful, but a shame they're only available in N/S and not steel, at least for now.

Hi Rod,

Wayne is very helpful. If you sent him some steel rail he might be willing to run off a batch on his CNC. Worth asking at least.


Thanks Martin, I might well do that :D
Rod

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Julian Roberts
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Re: Machined rail components now available from Finetrax

Postby Julian Roberts » Tue Oct 04, 2022 1:55 pm

I bought some B length blades. They came well packed, the ends of the blades being encased in a bespoke plastic block. On inspecting them I found they were much shorter than the length indicated on Templot, and were more or less the same as an A blade.

A switch 20220915_131532 (1).jpg


I wrote to Wayne asking if there had been a mistake. He explained as follows

Thanks for your email.

The templot plan shows the blade tapering down to an infinitely thin tip. The blade would be too thin and weak at the tip. I can assure you that the angle milled is B, but they are cut shorter as not to give a weak tip.

You should be fine as you would gauge the diverging stock rail using a gauge which would prevent any gauge narrowing.

If however you feel the blades are not suitable for you, I will of course offer a refund.
Thanks,
Wayne Kinney



I wrote back asking if perhaps I could swop them for a C blade, thinking that might give me something nearer what I wanted. He replied

If you’re templot template is using ‘B’ blades, then you won’t want to swap for C blades as it will be the wrong angle. Again, for you don’t use the blades, I am happy to refund them.



I took up his very fair offer of a refund, and he didn't want me to bother sending them back.
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Tony Wilkins
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Re: Machined rail components now available from Finetrax

Postby Tony Wilkins » Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:46 pm

I think this example exemplifies all too clearly the problems faced by any prospective manufacturer of P4 track. Standards that are suitable for OO and EM are unlikely to work when applied to P4 track. So I can totally understand a reluctance to take that step, which is a pity. I would have thought that it was possible to produce switchblades with a finer tip using this production method. I see no reason why the back of the rail could not be cut down until the web is reached, which would lengthen the planing, but perhaps Wayne has tried and had too high a failure rate. From the photo it appears that the rail has been ground across the width, which will apply an increasing stress to the rail toward the tip. It would be much better to grind the rail along its length so that it is in tension. The lack of the inner rail foot does not help as this materially weakens the resulting blade. I learned this the hard way many years ago.
Exactoscale under the P4 track company banner managed to produce quality switch blades as part of their point kits, admittedly at a price using a different production method. Perhaps we should just accept that we are likely to have to do some degree of filing and fettling of commercially available switchblades to achieve the result we desire.
Regards
Tony.
Inspiration from the past. Dreams for the future.

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Julian Roberts
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Re: Machined rail components now available from Finetrax

Postby Julian Roberts » Tue Oct 04, 2022 4:02 pm

Tony Wilkins wrote:The lack of the inner rail foot does not help as this materially weakens the resulting blade. I learned this the hard way many years ago.
.


Hi Tony
I thought the railfoot seemed intact still. Here's another shot though not a lot clearer.

I remember seeing some pre production shots that showed the blade starting a distance from the set; thus the end of the planing would be at the stockgauge, so the blade wouldn't be narrow to gauge (I think)?

Anyway I expect the Vs and crossings should be fine for us.
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Tony Wilkins
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Re: Machined rail components now available from Finetrax

Postby Tony Wilkins » Wed Oct 05, 2022 3:34 pm

Hi Julian.
Ah! I thought from the picture that the top rail was the running face and the lower rail the stockrail face, my mistake.
If the end of the planing of the switch blade is set to the stock gauge then the angle will match, but the toe will be way short of the set and the tip far too thick for our purposes.
It should be possible to thin the head of the rail on the running face, but the planing length will need to be extended to preserve the angle.
Regards
Tony.
Inspiration from the past. Dreams for the future.


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