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What size folding tool for OO gauge kit building ?


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What size folding tool do people recommend if I am going to build OO gauge locomotives and wagons ? I should imagine that building a coach would require the longest size of folding tool ?

 

Does any UK retailer still sell those HO/OO truck tuners ? I bought one a few years ago but I cannot remember who sold it. It is used to ream out axle bearings on wagons if the wheels are not running smoothly.

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Hi Brian - I have been using a combination of the 5.5" and 2" hold and Fold tools for years in my kit building and although I have never needed to build a coach I have successfully made long folds with the larger tool by carefully moving the workpiece along the clamp.

 

As for the truck tuner I failed to find a UK supplier and ordered my spare up from Micro-Mark in the states - quick and not too costly,

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Ultrascale supply a 26mm axle "drill", which I believe is the same thing. It is available F.O.C. (see their website http://www.ultrascale.co.uk/mis0001.php).

 

I started kit building before the Hold and Fold tools were invented and have found that two 9" pieces of right angle 1" x 1" aluminium strip clamped (bolted) together are good for long bends, while good quality box hinge pliers do the job on small items. I'm sure that the H & F items are very good, but having found a satisfactory way of doing it, I can't now justify the expense.

 

Jol

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Another 5.5 inch hold'nfold user (Eileens Emporium supplier)

 

Though I use it a lot less than the good old fashioned bending bars (6 inch) and I also use two lengths of steel strips (13") in a bench vice for the bigger folds.

 

I actually find the hold'n'fold more of a fiddle to set up and use with the problem of starting the fold more difficult (the need to get the blade under the sheet and fingers under that) to start the bend. Though the resulting bend is often crisper.

 

As for truck tuners?? never needed one - I drive a car.

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