Copper clad sleepers

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murphaph

Copper clad sleepers

Postby murphaph » Thu Jan 28, 2021 4:33 pm

Hi all,
Apart from SMP/Marcway, C&L Finescale and perhaps Wizard Models, are there any other known suppliers of simple 34mm wide (8'6") pre-cut sleepers in copper clad format?

I just want to practice basic track building using this method (I will definitely use it in the fiddle yards as it's the most cost effective system in 21mm gauge) and as I believe my society order of jigs and gauges has arrived (stuck in post office waiting for me to pay the VAT to the German customs).

Regards,
Phil

nberrington
Posts: 575
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2008 2:15 pm

Re: Copper clad sleepers

Postby nberrington » Thu Jan 28, 2021 7:47 pm

Phil - these guys might have something. (Canada based)

https://www.handlaidtrack.com/fixtures-ho

Philip Hall
Posts: 1947
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:49 pm

Re: Copper clad sleepers

Postby Philip Hall » Fri Jan 29, 2021 12:19 am

Phil, I decided upon PCB based track for my storage yards, but the present high cost of PCB sleepering led me to consider cutting up my own, and a friend’s donation of some 1mm sheet cemented the idea. I bought a small Proxxon table saw and a diamond blade and it was quite simple to produce lots of sleepers and sleeper strip. It takes time (especially the deburring) but at the end of it I have my sleepering and a very useful little table saw!

In the absence of a suitable donation, PCB sheet can be had from various suppliers at a reasonable cost. If you would like to pm me with your address, I could let you have some of my spare sheet.

Philip

murphaph

Re: Copper clad sleepers

Postby murphaph » Fri Jan 29, 2021 1:16 pm

Thanks chaps, much appreciated.

Philip, your offer is particularly generous, however I am an "electronics guy" so I actually have plenty of copper clad sheet lying around already and I'm also over in Germany so postage rates and our old friend VAT would be stuck on by our "enthusiastic" customs, so I will very politely decline but I note the idea of a Proxxon table saw.

I have actually placed an order with Marcway but I'm just waiting for it to arrive and was wondering are other sources available but your idea of making home made strip (especially for the off scene areas where one doesn't need to be overly precise on sleeper width) is certainly interesting and worthy of further consideration.

One thought though....are there any concerns about the dust from the glass fibre board when cutting with a saw rather than chopping it with a guillotine? (the method I know from making actual PCBs)

I will most likely pick up a Proxxon table saw anyway as I reckon for modelling they are pretty useful all round.

Phil

Philip Hall
Posts: 1947
Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:49 pm

Re: Copper clad sleepers

Postby Philip Hall » Fri Jan 29, 2021 3:26 pm

Phil,

The Proxxon saw has a socket on the back which I connect to the workshop vacuum cleaner. There is a square aperture next to the socket which seems to be open to the interior, so when I turn the vacuum on I put a piece of card against this aperture which is held there by the suction. I also wear a dust mask, and set the saw up near the doorway. I cut most of the PCB up in a few sessions during some warm weather last year so the door was left open.

Now it does produce some fine dust but so far I have found very little settles on the surfaces around the saw, so the suction system seems to do its work well. Dust mostly collects inside the saw table and needs separately vacuuming out every so often. Lots of individual sleepers can also fall down the slot alongside the saw blade so these have to be extracted first!

I find it cuts quite accurately for even visible trackwork and the occasional dud strip or sleeper is not a problem. Deburring the strips is a pain but done in small batches gets done quite quickly. I have a couple of boxes of 34mm sleeper still to do! Bear in mind I am using 1mm thick material, thicker (like Marcway) will not be so speedy to cut.

Philip
Last edited by Philip Hall on Fri Jan 29, 2021 7:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

murphaph

Re: Copper clad sleepers

Postby murphaph » Fri Jan 29, 2021 5:08 pm

Ah that's good to know about the vacuum aperture. I'm a bit restricted in where I can saw such things right now. The garage is just a slab foundation. I have to build the rest before I can move my "workshop" outdoors lol. It's currently in the basement room that will one day host the layout.


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