Where do I find brass strip for chassis building?

[Virgil]

I could use some advice on where to obtain brass strip of suitable dimensions in order to build a chassis to go under a SECR C class 0-6-0 tender engine, this one being an Amercom static model.

I'm looking for brass strip 1.25mm thick by 9.55mm wide by (preferably) 305mm long being the sizes of 2 old kit chassis I have which looks to be ideal for the task.

All the metal suppliers I have researched don't seem to have suitable sized strip, the narrower widths all being not thick enough to make a suitably robust chassis..

Any thoughts out there please?

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

I obviously don't know if you've searched for them, but the live steam engineering/model engineering type of stockists might be worth a try?

 

Mike.

[ikcdab]

Are you sure you need it 1.25mm thick? That is quite heavy for OO chassis.  You will find that thinner brass works just as well. 

I would also be wary of buying the exact width you need.  Strip brass is normally guillotine cut and leaves a chamfered edge.  You are better to bit slightly wider and file it to the exact width and get a square edge 

[chris p bacon]

I use 0.4mm Nickel Silver for my OO (4mm) frames.

[Virgil]

I'm just following the precedent of the two chassis I have, one is definitely K's, the other is similar but possibly K's.

The idea is to fit a geared motor?gearbox between the frames lying flat and parallel to them so that there is no need for the motor/gearbox to protrude above the footplate, that's the plan anyway.

 

[Virgil]

5 minutes ago, chris p bacon said:

I use 0.4mm Nickel Silver for my OO (4mm) frames.

I would prefer something a little more robust but I hadn't though of using nickel silver, does it come in strip form?

[micknich2003]

Try K&S Brass at most model shops, a near match is 3/8in by 40thou. Another source Mac Models, model engineer supplier, I deal with him regally. 

[Jeremy Cumberland]

K&S do 1 mm x 12mm. Widely available, but if you struggle to find it then look at Macc Models. Personally I'd try to get it in person if you want to make sure it's flat.

 

I suspect that what you have is 3/64" x 3/8". Although brass is widely available in imperial sizes, I don't recall seeing 3/64" for some time.

 

Edit: It's 64ths not 32nds, and I see @micknich2003 got in before me.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Jeremy C

[chris p bacon]

6 minutes ago, Virgil said:

I would prefer something a little more robust but I hadn't though of using nickel silver, does it come in strip form?

I draw the frames and have them etched so can't answer that question. 

[2750Papyrus]

1 hour ago, ikcdab said:

file it to the exact width and get a square edge 

that does assume you can file square!

 

Fortunately, I was never faced with the challenge of filing a 1" cube.  

[Jol Wilkinson]

2 hours ago, Virgil said:

I'm just following the precedent of the two chassis I have, one is definitely K's, the other is similar but possibly K's.

The idea is to fit a geared motor?gearbox between the frames lying flat and parallel to them so that there is no need for the motor/gearbox to protrude above the footplate, that's the plan anyway.

 

With thick frames and OO chassis spacing you may struggle to find a readily available motor to fit between them. The Mashima 10xx series motors may have done, but they are difficult to find as they are no longer manufactured.  Using thinner frame material could make your task easier. 0.4mm nickel silver is more than adequate.

[PaulaDoesTrains]

The 1mm brass sheet I buy off that well know auction site tends to be closer to 1.2mm. You could just buy a sheet and cut off a strip to the desired width. At the other end of the spectrum there are companies out there who laser cut all manner of materials (including brass) for the model engineering community.

[Bucoops]

Alan Gibson does milled frames - "LM1-139 SECR Class C 0-6-0" if that's any use?

[Virgil]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254942541046

This is the motor unit I'm planning to use, 12vDC dual shaft.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Virgil

[Virgil]

6 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

Alan Gibson does milled frames - "LM1-139 SECR Class C 0-6-0" if that's any use?

Thanks for the info, but I'm aiming to do it on a very restricted budget.

[Barclay]

Hi - brass strip in various thicknesses and widths is available from the K&S range, either on-line or your local model shop, if you're lucky. Hobby Holidays also sell this kind of thing.

 

I would say that 1.25mm is overkill - I use 16 thou brass (about 0.4mm) for my smallish locomotives, it is so much easier to cut, drill, and file to shape. I generally buy it in sheets, score and snap to get the correct depth of frame, and then shape them up from there. 

[doilum]

10 hours ago, Virgil said:

Thanks for the info, but I'm aiming to do it on a very restricted budget.

£5 spent at any KS stockist will suffice. If you are using commercial frame spacers this may influence the thickness of the brass too.

Most good model shops have a range of brass strips which for our purposes can be considered straight and square. This inlcides shops mainly selling RC aircraft y boats.

[Jol Wilkinson]

10 hours ago, Virgil said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254942541046

This is the motor unit I'm planning to use, 12vDC dual shaft.

The dimensions drawing on eBay shows that it is narrow enough at 10mm if you use "thin" frames. However the axle diameter is shown as 3.0mm, whereas the standard axle for 4mm wheels (Markits, Alan Gibson, etc,) is 1/8", 3.175mm.You would have to ream out the bearings and final gear to suit.

[Virgil]

1 hour ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

The dimensions drawing on eBay shows that it is narrow enough at 10mm if you use "thin" frames. However the axle diameter is shown as 3.0mm, whereas the standard axle for 4mm wheels (Markits, Alan Gibson, etc,) is 1/8", 3.175mm.You would have to ream out the bearings and final gear to suit.

That's right, the dimensions are close to what's needed.

I started modifying the motor/gearbox some time ago for a project that in the end I decided that  it would not be man enough for, - a K's whitemetal pannier tank using Gibson wheels, (still awaiting completion)!!.

I pressed out the original motor/gearbox 3mm axle using a vice and carefully broached the axle bearings and steel drive gear using an appropriatley sized fine round file. It was then reassembled using a Gibson axle and it runs nicely

I had already bought an Airfix Railways LMS 4F complete chassis cheaply and this was to form the basis for a motor drive conversion for the Amercom C class.

The Airfix wheels, axles (1/8) and coupling rods are fine for purpose, the plastic chassis not so, so hence a brass replacement is needed but using the pickups etc on the Airfix baseplate.

So here we are, maybe not perfection but an interesting challenge.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Virgil

[Bucoops]

Markits/Romford 3mm axle - not suitable for Airfix wheels of course. https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/shop/wheels/00axle3/

[Virgil]

23 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

Markits/Romford 3mm axle - not suitable for Airfix wheels of course. https://www.wizardmodels.ltd/shop/wheels/00axle3/

Indeed thanks Rich.

Here's a link for an Airfix chassis currently on EBay, 1/8" axles of course but very nice wheels axles and coupling rods.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134437946874?hash=item1f4d2045fa:g:JFEAAOSwxtdj34cD&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoE0yoRa%2F1gVUE84Ag70k4SkvJxAtAyqaY1NRP8h4NvHnuksfslDloVmtDRKHsFLsqhEbfUzS2K1vco2rJhGfOvr6D%2FHH4zY90PYt0u284D%2FN7wAEjNOuIiBven%2B7%2FXVmhwM7rXlagwViVk2TcDXnhiwIyTeZxgmN7t0oXE62FgOB6NN9zvzxJdLHUiYGDa80TuOWtyK8rtWyMAHNDitps8I%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR4bMkurEYQ

[Sophia NSE]

I've used one of these motors in a brass chassis with the Markits 3mm axle. The original axle needs some persuasion with a hammer and some Araldite was used to fix the final gear into place.

 

The Airfix 4F wheels are a couple of mm too large so the loco ends up sitting too high...