Crossing V's and point blades?

[Jintyman]

I've been looking through Gordon's layout thread again, and found an alternate way to construct crossing V's by folding the rail with a vice, soldering in the correct position and then filing away the excess, to leave a neat 'V'.

 

I gave it a try and it works quite nicely with bullhead. Please excuse the neatness of it, it was only a trial one.

 

 

This particular one is a 1:10 I think is the angle of the 'V'.

 

My question is, Most of my main running line is FB rail, I'm only using BH in the sidings, Can I file one side of the foot off the FB rail, in the area where it will be folded to create the same?

I appreciate that the foot would have to be outside the vice jaws to complete the tight fold, but other than that, it , in my mind, should work just the same.

 

My second question is that after reading Gordon's thread further, I noticed that the stock rail doesn't have any rebate filed into it for the point blade to sit in.

On my first attempt (as pictured below) I created a rebate for the blade to sit in. Is this a choice thing, or is it not necessary?

I do believe that using the 20p piece as a measuring device, my point is 20p gap between the rebated face and the blade, so actually, it's too tight.

 

 

Thanks in advance for answers. If the FB rail can be so made into a 'V' then I will make up all my crossing 'V's till my OO-SF gauges arrive.

 

Jinty ;-)

 

Edited to state: The folding of the BH rail is not Gordon's method, I found a link to it on Gordon's thread. Apologies for any confusion.

[gordon s]

Hi Jinty

 

Creating the vee in a vice is something Brian Harrap does, so I would suggest you search for his posts as that might help you to see how he creates his wonderful pointwork.  I use a EMGS jig to file my vees, but Brian gets superb results with his method.

 

I don't have a rebate on the straight stock rail, but do put a definite bend in the curved stock rail at the position where the end of the point blade will sit.  The point blades themselves are filed down on one side and then bent straight before filing down the second side.  Once the blades are all fitted, I run along the top of the point blade with a needle file lengthwise to create something like a 45 degree angle on the top of the blade so that it fits snuggly against the adjacent stock rail.

 

I'll try a take a pic later to show you in more detail, as I'm just about to watch Spurs on Sky.  

[martin_wynne]

Hi Jinty,

 

For bullhead rail there is never any need to file a rebate in the stock rail. You do need a set (bend) on one side, or for GWR track you can create a joggle on both sides -- although a joggle is tricky to get right (allowing for the 1:20 inclination on the rail if using plastic chairs) and generally a plain set bend on one side is far easier. More about all this here:

 

 http://www.templot.c...rack.htm#joggle

 

Here's a prototype pic. The position of the set is marked on Templot templates.

 

 

 

For flat-bottom rail it is helpful to file away the foot of the stock rail (not the head), because that's prototypical in many cases (and fabricating an over-riding switch blade would be very tricky).

Here are some diagrams to show the filing of the switch blades. These show the end view of the finished blade tip.

 

 

 

Don't get them too thin at the tip, otherwise only the tip part will flex when they operate, and you won't get sufficient flange clearance all along behind the open blade.

 

regards,

 

Martin.

[martin_wynne]

David Rayner has posted some nice detailed drawings showing how to prepare switch blades on the Western Thunder forum:

 

 http://www.westernthunder.co.uk/index.php?threads/switch-blades-forming-your-own.2758/#post-71275

 

They are for 7mm scale, so a bit more detailed than is possible in 4mm scale, but the principle is the same.

 

Martin.

[ZiderHead]

… and in a similar vein here is step-by-step for making your own common crossings:

 

http://www.westernthunder.co.uk/index.php?threads/making-a-common-crossing-for-7mm-or-s7-the-hard-way.2232/

 

[gordon s]

Compared to the previous posts, these are pretty basic, but do the job.  I found it works to plane one side, then straighten with a pair of long nose pliers before planing the other side.  The small kink in the rail is just before the position where the curved stock rail meets the tie bar.  That small kink makes for a smoother transition on the straight ahead route, rather than filing away the stock rail.

 

Hope the pic helps...

 

 

 

 

[Jintyman]

Thank you for all the imput, Martin, Gordon, jf2682, and others.

Quote: "Your op seems to suggest having the Vee consisting of one BH rail and on FB rail?"

Not at all, I was asking that if I file one side of the foot of the FB rail, I could then use Brian Harrap's method for folding the FB rail to make the Vee. But using FB it wouldn't fold correctly, hence filing the foot off one side to allow it to sit against itself. As below:-



I hope this explains my question a bit clearer.
Sorry about the blatant use and chopping up of your diagram Martin.

I think I now know where I'm going with the blades, thank you all

Jinty ;-)
 

[hayfield]

Jinty

 

With regard to your switch blades, Martin explained to me that t the end of the rail the head of the rail is filed to a 45 degree angle flaring out to the vertical by the plaining mark. It would be quite easy to do this with the blades in place

[hayfield]

Jintyman

 

I thought these few photos might assist

 

 

Its far easier to file the switch blades if you have 2 hands, so clamping it to a board makes the work much easier. You can see that i have added a bit of metal to stop sideways movement, its so much easier to file the head leaving the foot intact this way

 

 

Using the same strips of metal (aluminium) I have made some simple jigs for aligning the Vees

[Jintyman]

Hayfield, thank you very much for that. I probably need to make up a jig of some sorts to do the switch blades.

 

I've spent a solid afternoon reading the Templot information pages, then clicking links, and then another, then another, and before I knew it, I was back on RMweb!!!!!

 

Great help as always 

 

Jinty ;-)