Hayfields turnout workbench

[hayfield]

Jol

 

Sorry for my rushed answer, but along with British finescale kits Templot Plug Track system is bringing a whole new choice to the average railway modeler. Track building is seen by some as a black art needing specialized skills, expensive tools and costly parts. Even finescale RTR turnouts cost a kings ransom

 

Now Joe public who models alone has access to finescale products which are relatively easy to build and can be very inexpensive

 

For the modeler who wants finer flangeways British Finescale produce easy to build 00SF kits, for the more adventurous EM and P4 kits are available

 

Templot plug trach takes it much further as you can have bespoke trackwork with an easy to build track building method

 

Yes you are right to bring up costs and for most buying two printers may be out of the question, but why not find a group of like minder modelers and spread the cost between you

 

With a C&L classic kit costing £48 ( no preformed crossings or switch blades) or a Peco bullhead turnout between £30 and £40 anyone building a layout is in for a few hundred £'s. Excluding the rail using the plug track system for a standard turnout uses about a £1 worth of resin and filament. The end product as I have said is up with the quality you would expect from top builders, 

 

But the system is far more flexible than that, the builder can use it in many ways. I have just printed a 0-16.5 track base for about 50p I will glue and pin code 100 fb rail to it. Its a bit more involved than the plug track system but I have a bespoke turnout different from anything out there, just about using a bit of new tech and some older methods

 

 

 

 

[St Enodoc]

8 hours ago, hayfield said:

why not find a group of like minder modelers

Is that what we used to call a club?

[Donw]

I have a couple of questions relating to practical matters. These printers particularly resin ones dont sound like something you can use in the house. Can they be used in an unheated shed? Secondly I have seen mentions of additional items that may be needed as well as the printers are there essentials?

The other issue of course is the stock of chairs sleepers etc. I have  plus the gauges (2mfs,EM, 0/31.5 0F).  

 

Don

 

 

[hayfield]

10 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Is that what we used to call a club?

 

In one way yes, but most railway modelers for one reason or another do not join clubs, so find one or more people who are either railway modelers or 3D print users who are willing to collaborate / share costs with each other

 

Not all clubs are interested in either finescale modeling or members into 3D printing

[hayfield]

8 hours ago, Donw said:

I have a couple of questions relating to practical matters. These printers particularly resin ones dont sound like something you can use in the house. Can they be used in an unheated shed? Secondly I have seen mentions of additional items that may be needed as well as the printers are there essentials?

The other issue of course is the stock of chairs sleepers etc. I have  plus the gauges (2mfs,EM, 0/31.5 0F).  

 

Don

 

 

 

 

Don

 

Gauges are only used to check the work, and certainly for 00 gauge un-necessary 

 

Martin and others use printers in house, modern printers keep the odor within the case and it only escapes when the case is opened. Use water washable resin, but I don't advise printing in the kitchen, dining room or lounge. FDM printers are small, quiet and odorless.

The shed temperature for resin must be above a certain figure, the extra is a UV light box, James suggest small light boxes used for gel nails, I brought one for about £16

 

You print your own stock of sleeper/timber bases with the FDM (filament) printer . Chairs are printed with a resin printer.

 

You must plan in advance to print the items you require for the build, which you would have to do using traditional methods by ordering in advance

 

Watch James's videos as its much better to see what's involved

[martin_wynne]

9 hours ago, Donw said:

I have a couple of questions relating to practical matters. These printers particularly resin ones dont sound like something you can use in the house. Can they be used in an unheated shed? Secondly I have seen mentions of additional items that may be needed as well as the printers are there essentials?

@Donw

 

Hi Don,

 

For printing PLA filament (used for plug track timbering bases, filing jigs, model parts such as point-motor brackets, etc.) FDM printers are very user-friendly. PLA is made from sugar-cane and is non-toxic and emits no significant smell. The printer can be run in living areas, although there is some fan noise so perhaps not in the quietest rooms.

 

(Using other types of filament, such as ABS (which is the similar to plastic kits and can be assembled with solvent) or flexible rubber-like materials, the fumes can be unpleasant and not suitable for living areas.)

 

Resin printers are not generally suitable for living areas. The resin is toxic and smelly, although the water-washable resin we are now using for chairs has little smell. The resin needs to be at 20-25degC for good results, so an unheated outbuilding is not really suitable. The resin printer needs to be in a heatable room with a door, away from living areas, such as a model railway workshop or spare bedroom. Also while using a resin printer there needs to be no natural daylight, so that means working on winter evenings, or with a window blackout board.

 

Additional items needed for FDM printers are none.

 

Additional items needed for resin printers when using water-washable resin are a pastry brush, a small bowl, a plastic bucket, and some means of UV curing. That can be sunshine on a window cill, or a simple UV lamp such as the ones used for curing nail varnish.

 

cheers,

 

Martin.

[figworthy]

21 hours ago, St Enodoc said:

Is that what we used to call a club?

 

Or see if you have a local Maker Space, which is a sort of club.

 

Adrian

[hayfield]

Another useful item on the printer which is also very useful to non plug track builders

 

 

 

Part two of 3 jigs to easily and quickly form switch rails. The first jig was for switch rail backs, this second one is for the front of the left hand switch rail. This is a very clever design which maintains the foot of the rail but allows the head to be correctly formed

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by hayfield

[Siberian Snooper]

3 hours ago, hayfield said:

Another useful item on the printer which is also very useful to non plug track builders

 

 

 

Part two of 3 jigs to easily and quickly form switch rails. The first jig was for switch rail backs, this second one is for the front of the left hand switch rail. This is a very cleaver design which maintains the foot of the rail but allows the head to be correctly formed

 

 

Are you doing some butchery, as your using a cleaver, or is your smell chucker working overtime?

 

 

[hayfield]

15 hours ago, Siberian Snooper said:

 

Are you doing some butchery, as your using a cleaver, or is your smell chucker working overtime?

 

 

 

My big fingers 

[hayfield]

 

This is a jig to file the inside of a switch rail (left hand), its designed to file the head of the rail but not the foot. As you can see its designed to be clamped to a work bench or workmate. I prefer using a bench vice and with the jig being vertical the top is at an angle, which is not an issue

 

 

The jig is at an angle but the photo is distorting it. As you can see the rail slides through at an angle to the top face, protecting the foot but exposing the head

Edit

The backs of the switch rail have previously been filed in a Switch rail back jig as shown 14/11/23 page 3 second post

I now need to print a right hand jig to complete the trio

 

Jig in my bench vice, the left hand end you can see the head has been filed leaving the foot intact

 

 

Sorry its not as clear as it could be, as you can see the tip has been filed at an angle, this first attempt has had the side of the foot filed, the bottom is just under full width. The magnification of the rail exaggerates the affect.  

 

Either I have not filed the back enough or the rail needs to stop a bit (3 or 4 mm) further back. But as a first attempt goes, which took no time at all to do, its a fantastic result. One which the average modeler would be very happy to produce, and for the perfectionist a great start

 

 

Edited December 15, 2023 by hayfield

[martin_wynne]

35 minutes ago, hayfield said:

 

This is a jig to file the inside of a switch rail (left hand), its designed to file the head of the rail but not the foot. As you can see its designed to be clamped to a work bench or workmate. I prefer using a bench vice and with the jig being vertical the top is at an angle, which is not an issue

 

 

The jig is at an angle but the photo is distorting it. As you can see the rail slides through at an angle to the top face, protecting the foot but exposing the head

 

 

Jig in my bench vice, the left hand end you can see the head has been filed leaving the foot intact

 

 

Sorry its not as clear as it could be, as you can see the tip has been filed at an angle, this first attempt has had the side of the foot filed, the bottom is just under full width. The magnification of the rail exaggerates the affect.  

 

Either I have not filed the back enough or the rail needs to stop a bit (3 or 4 mm) further back. But as a first attempt goes, which took no time at all to do, its a fantastic result. One which the average modeler would be very happy to produce, and for the perfectionist a great start

 

 

 

Hi John,

 

The point you didn't make is that the front jigs are designed to accept blades which have first been filed on the back in a back filing jig (of the same switch size).

 

While still in the back jig, mark the rail at 20mm from the end of the jig. This will be the position of the finished blade tip. After removing it from the jig, you may want to pre-trim it at the 20mm mark using sharp flush cutters (e.g. as supplied with the Kingroon printer).

 

When inserting it in the front jig, the trimmed end should again be at 20mm from the end of the jig. At that point the end of the rail foot should be just flush with the filing face, so that it doesn't get filed. If not you can move the rail forward or back a little until it is -- this is due to normal variations in FDM printing. At that business end of the jig the bolt should be barely tight (almost loose), otherwise the rail will be pushed away from the jig and over-filed. Tighten the bolt at the other end fully to prevent the rail moving.

 

After filing, the blade should come to a sharp knife edge at the tip, with the rail foot barely touched. Some care is needed in locating the rail in the jig to achieve this. If filing the back has caused the filed end to curl slightly, it needs to be straightened to lie flush in the front jig.

 

The default filing angle for the front jigs is 17.5 degrees. If you find with your rail section that you are filing too much of the rail foot, the angle can be increased in the Templot settings and another jig made.

 

There is more to these jigs than meets the eye, and some practice is needed. 🙂

 

Full jig instructions: https://85a.uk/templot/club/index.php?threads/using-the-templot-rail-filing-jigs.728/

 

cheers,

 

Martin.

[hayfield]

14 minutes ago, martin_wynne said:

 

Hi John,

 

The point you didn't make is that the front jigs are designed to accept blades which have first been filed on the back in a back filing jig (of the same switch size).

 

While still in the back jig, mark the rail at 20mm from the end of the jig. This will be the position of the finished blade tip. After removing it from the jig, you may want to pre-trim it at the 20mm mark using sharp flush cutters (e.g. as supplied with the Kingroon printer).

 

When inserting it in the front jig, the trimmed end should again be at 20mm from the end of the jig. At that point the end of the rail foot should be just flush with the filing face, so that it doesn't get filed. If not you can move the rail forward or back a little until it is -- this is due to normal variations in FDM printing. At that business end of the jig the bolt should be barely tight (almost loose), otherwise the rail will be pushed away from the jig and over-filed. Tighten the bolt at the other end fully to prevent the rail moving.

 

After filing, the blade should come to a sharp knife edge at the tip, with the rail foot barely touched. Some care is needed in locating the rail in the jig to achieve this. If filing the back has caused the filed end to curl slightly, it needs to be straightened to lie flush in the front jig.

 

The default filing angle for the front jigs is 17.5 degrees. If you find with your rail section that you are filing too much of the rail foot, the angle can be increased in the Templot settings and another jig made.

 

There is more to these jigs than meets the eye, and some practice is needed. 🙂

 

Full jig instructions: https://85a.uk/templot/club/index.php?threads/using-the-templot-rail-filing-jigs.728/

 

cheers,

 

Martin.

 

Martin

 

As usual thanks for tidying up my explanation. As I said it was a first attempt and far better to anything I made using the society jigs, practice will produce even better examples

 

What this post does not convey is the ease of making them against other methods  

[hayfield]

There have been a few comments about the printers both being expensive and what do you do with them once you have built your track

 

Firstly with the FDM printer costing less than a top quality loco, they are hardly expensive. Secondly with the turnout bases and chairs costing under £1 and £2 to £3 for rail the saving against finescale turnouts either RTR of kit/scratch built the printers are self funding on modest layouts, They will be even cheaper if you join up/share with friend(s)

 

I was asked by a contact if my printer with a printing bed of 180mm square could print a building 183mm long, well it does if printed diagonally. I asked if he could send me a small section to do a test print

 

 

Well this is the result, took 2 hours to print and cost about 40p to print. Its size is roughly 90mm x 50mm

 

The 183mm building would take 13 hours to build and cost about 3.50

 

The answer to the questions is  whole new modelling method opens up

 

 

[Wilton 34041]

On 09/12/2023 at 08:31, hayfield said:

Not all clubs are interested in either finescale modeling or members into 3D printing

Our club is like that, stuck in the 1960/70s. I'm the only one interested in and using recent technology, DCC, MERG kits etc.

Phil B.

[hayfield]

1 hour ago, Wilton 34041 said:

Our club is like that, stuck in the 1960/70s. I'm the only one interested in and using recent technology, DCC, MERG kits etc.

Phil B.

 

Certainly in many clubs there will be folk within the club, if not the club who are using 3D printers or have access to someone who has a printer(s) 

 

At the last Scaleforum even whilst on the C&L stand (C&L have nothing to do with 3D printers) and also with James on his stand, I was extremely surprised but the number of modeler's who either have or have access to a printer. One modeler had a son whilst not being a railway modeler himself had a printer, and seemed to understand what to do. The fact is I then bumper in to someone in the village who has and uses a 3D printer and is a member of my local model railway club which is a very conservative club

 

Simply if you don't look you will not find, sales of these items are growing every day in large numbers and its likely many modeler's have sons with these machines and are simply unaware of the possibilities open to them.

 

I have spent the equivalent of buying one of the top class locos on buying both types of printer. For anyone considering building a finescale layout, these are very much self funding. I now am quite comfortable using a FDM printer, next up are the chairs and learning the resin printing process. The help from Templot club is invaluable.

 

Soon I think there will be some people offering printing services simply to recoup their expenditure. So those without the ability to print will be able to access them

 

New Years Resolution 

Find/make a friend with 3D printers

Edited December 25, 2023 by hayfield