What kind of wire to use for sand pipes?

[ejstubbs]

Having had persistent issues with the pickups on my Hornby Fowler 2-6-4T (see also this thread - not mine, but my experience was similar, although my solution was different) I replaced the lot - chassis bottom plate, pickups and keeper plate - using the Hornby X9182 spare parts pack for this loco.

 

Unfortunately I failed to notice that the chassis bottom plate and keeper plate as supplied in the spares pack did not include sand pipes (there is pair of sand pipes on each of those parts on the original model), and of course by the time I did notice it, I'd thrown the original parts away and couldn't recover the original sand pipes.

 

I've measured the two remaining sand pipes on the model and they appear to be 0.6mm in diameter.  I think I can fairly readily source wirre of the correct diameter from places such as Eileen's Emporium and the like, but what would be the best type of wire to use?  Eileen's seems to offer piano wire, brass wire, nickel silver wire, soft iron wire and many more types besides.  I can imagine that piano wire might be a bit of a mare to shape accurately, whereas soft iron wire might be rather too prone to getting bent out of shape.  So which type would folks recommended for this job?

 

Of course this problem wouldn't arise if the spare parts pack from Hornby actually contained all the necessary replacement parts...

 

 

[JeremyC]

I would use brass wire, but nickel silver would be equally good and rather than painting them I'd use a blackening chemical.

[doilum]

Florists wire lacks memory and stays where you bend it. Available in different gauges too.

[Enterprisingwestern]

2 hours ago, ejstubbs said:

I've measured the two remaining sand pipes on the model and they appear to be 0.6mm in diameter

 

As that's cracking on for 2" in diameter, I'd thin them all down and use 0.3mm steel rod, suitably blackened, less chance of being bent or damaged.

 

Mike.

[ejstubbs]

Thanks all for your suggestions.  I already have a bottle of Brass Black so I've ordered some brass wire.

 

Regarding the diameter: 0.6mm is what I measured the two remaining sand pipes at, and I'd prefer to keep the look of the thing vaguely consistent.  It's only a Hornby model, albeit a supposedly "super detail" one; I've done nothing to it apart from sorting out the pickups that had gone a bit haywire.

 

I've looked in to florists/florist/floral wire and, frankly, there seem to me to be at least a couple of issues.  Firstly, it seems to be difficult to be sure what you're actually getting - apparently it can be stainless steel, aluminium or iron (presumably 'soft iron') but most retailers don't seem to bother saying what their particular product is.  OK for flower arranging I guess, when you don't expect the thing to have to last too long, but for a model I'd prefer to know what I'm getting, like I do when I buy from Eileen's and their ilk, or even eBay sellers.  On top of that, florists/florist/floral wire seems to be sold in quantities rather greater than I am ever likely to need.  It's not as if it works out significantly cheaper per metre than wire of a known material - and even if it did there's no saving in paying more in total for more than I need versus paying less in total, albeit perhaps slightly more per metre, for the amount that I do actually do need.  Bottom line: I prefer to stick with known materials in the right quantities.  Others may feel differently, and that's fine too.

[Il Grifone]

I'd use soft wire myself (e.g. copper). It's better to damage the sand pipe than stab your finger.

Edited May 8, 2022 by Il Grifone

[doilum]

6 hours ago, ejstubbs said:

Thanks all for your suggestions.  I already have a bottle of Brass Black so I've ordered some brass wire.

 

Regarding the diameter: 0.6mm is what I measured the two remaining sand pipes at, and I'd prefer to keep the look of the thing vaguely consistent.  It's only a Hornby model, albeit a supposedly "super detail" one; I've done nothing to it apart from sorting out the pickups that had gone a bit haywire.

 

I've looked in to florists/florist/floral wire and, frankly, there seem to me to be at least a couple of issues.  Firstly, it seems to be difficult to be sure what you're actually getting - apparently it can be stainless steel, aluminium or iron (presumably 'soft iron') but most retailers don't seem to bother saying what their particular product is.  OK for flower arranging I guess, when you don't expect the thing to have to last too long, but for a model I'd prefer to know what I'm getting, like I do when I buy from Eileen's and their ilk, or even eBay sellers.  On top of that, florists/florist/floral wire seems to be sold in quantities rather greater than I am ever likely to need.  It's not as if it works out significantly cheaper per metre than wire of a known material - and even if it did there's no saving in paying more in total for more than I need versus paying less in total, albeit perhaps slightly more per metre, for the amount that I do actually do need.  Bottom line: I prefer to stick with known materials in the right quantities.  Others may feel differently, and that's fine too.

My Florist wire came from my mother's. It is available from my garden centres and craft shops. I agree,  it isn't something I would buy blind on line. Once you have some you keep discovering new uses, lineside wire fences, securing fiddly items whilst the glue sets. One day the roll will run out and I will have to buy some more!

Edited May 8, 2022 by doilum
Predictive text error

[Right Away]

Bit late to this thread, however in 00 scale, 0.45mm brass rod (wire).

Useful for sand pipes - engines and goods brakes, cylinder drain pipes, coach handrails, not to mention all those other things that at some time or another decide to fall off!

[Captain Kernow]

On 08/05/2022 at 15:38, Il Grifone said:

I'd use soft wire myself (e.g. copper). It's better to damage the sand pipe than stab your finger.

I couldn't agree more! I'd tick the 'Agree' box more than once, if it allowed me to!

 

I've done lots of sandpipes on various locos, both detailed RTR and etched chassis kits and I almost always use a soft fuse wire, 10 amp, I think - the sort you get with two other types of fuse wire, wound round a little card from hardware stores.

 

I abrade it gently with some wet and dry, holding one end in a pair of pliers or vice and then cut and shape to fit. Having abraded it, perhaps so that the slivery coating is removed or partially removed, revealing the soft copper underneath, I find that it takes paint well.

 

I sometimes find that it's necessary to bend the sandpipes out of the way, if the sandboxes are attached to the loco body rather than the chassis, so the soft wire makes this a lot easier.

 

Also, if the sandboxes are part of the chassis, you may still want to remove just the keeper plate and the wheels, so it still helps to be able to gently bend the sandpipes out of the way to do this. You can always carefully bend them back to the correct shape afterwards.