Wayne Kinney

Hi Guys, 'All Rail' version of the 3mm B6, which replaces the version that uses 'cast' crossings:

Just a lighting and visual test...

Hi Guys, Been prepping ready for finally filming. Setup has taken a while, needed to buy a new high quality microphone. Been working on lighting today and done some ‘tests’ to see what it turns out like. No green screen, but used Adobe After Effects to auto ‘rotoscope’ me onto the moving motion background. Went to pick up a new top from Matalan earlier, I think the blue fits the British Finescale theme...LOL : (no sound on this test)

I made a DIY one of these last year, it was really safe!...LOL

Hi Bob, This is mentioned in the instructions and is normal. Please check the last few paragraphs in the instructions.

Hi Guys, After much feedback from the societies and you lovely guys, I have decided to keep offering the switch blades pre soldered to the plates/pins. I've worked out that the time saved by not needing to make moulds, inject waxes, cut metal sprues or straighten/flatten castings is more than adequate, still allowing me to speed up production and extend the range faster. I'm still working on making the instructions/video tutorials, it's slow going but worth it once done. I hope you'll agree, that's good news all round

Hi Nigel, Yes exactly, it takes up too much of my time, unfortunately. It's easy to do with the jigs I will stock, I have been supplying my N Gauge kits like this for years with great success.

Hi Guys, Little update I'm currently working on making updated instructions for the new 'All Rail' turnout kits. They will be online instructions broken down into easily digestible steps, each with an accompanying YouTube video. It's important that I get this done before changing the kits to the new format, but it is a lot of work filming and editing, so it's going to take some time. I've made the main 'contents' page for the standard turnout instructions, each 'step' will take you to its own page with written instructions, diagrams and YouTube video. https://www.britishfinescale.com/Articles.asp?ID=264 Each category box will have a picture (like the first one) once I film each step. I'm hoping that these new instructions with the help of videos will make the process of assembling much clearer to understand. It's been a few years since I've had to be in front of the camera and I find it very difficult indeed, but I'm getting there I'll update you as progress is made!

So long as you can see the nut and wrench that go with it

Darn, that's gonna interfere with the M0.15 bolts I'm getting turned

Thanks Guys, This is the part that holds down the 2x V's:

Hi Guys, Sorry for not replying, I've taken the weekend to allow me to absorb all the feedback. Also took my wife and little boy to London on Sunday for some sightseeing and to watch the 'Back to the Future Musical' at the Adelphi Theatre (highly recommend!). Regarding my decision to stop using castings and going with an all rail design. I have tested all the suppliers that cast in Nickel Silver, including: Beechcast Platorum Just Like The real Thing Merrell Sans Pareil Slaters Plasticard For the majority of the years, I was using 'Just Like The real Thing' for my castings, they were great quality. But then they closed shop in Feb 2018 so I had to find another supplier. After testing many suppliers I went with Sans Pareil (Iain young) as his castings are amazing quality. But as I've said before he is close to retirement and the K crossings were not working anyway. This left just one supplier from the list above that I had not yet tried. I won't mention which one, but I just received sample casting from them. I sent them 5 of my waxes to cast in N/S so I could test their casting quality. Oh guys, receiving these cast samples only cements my decision to move to ‘all rail’. The quality is terrible, putting it mildly. Completely unusable! I’ve now tested all the available suppliers, and only Sans Pareil is up to the quality needed (at least for the common crossings). When he retires, I would have no other supplier up to the job. ‘All rail’ is the way forward. I’ve also come to a firm decision on the tie bar design/solution. I’ve had much feedback and the consensus seems to be that people don’t like the ‘Normal Solomon’ method that I proposed. They all like the method I was using with the etched plates and pin. So I am going to do what I’ve been doing with the N Gauge range for years. My N Gauge kits currently are supplied with the tie bar, etched plates and wire for the pins as separate items. I then also offer soldering jigs (sold separately) that the builder then uses to solider the etched plates and pins to the switch blade themselves. You only need one jig for multiple turnouts. The switch blades would still be supplied pre machined. This would then produce the same result, only the builder solider it using the jig (sold separately). I hope you can agree that this is the best compromise/solution.

Thanks Keith, It was going to be the next kit I work on, but I will first be needing to go back and modify the current kits to the new 'all rail' design. This includes the 2mm and 3mm kits. This change to all rail design will of course need a complete rewrite of the instructions. I think this time having them online instead of printed (not restricted to an A4 page), in a step by step form with each step accompanied a really short YouTube video. All presented as bite sizes bits of information. This will of course push things back a little. I'll be using the CAD model for the diamond as the basis for the slips, which saves a lot of work. just modify the areas that need it. I also need to change the N Gauge kits over to this new design, but the slip kits in 4mm will take priority over this. Time really does fly and it'll be Xmas before we know it! Hopefully by that time I'll have all the current 4mm kits converted, the diamond released and the slips at least finished in design with basic prototype build and pictures up, like the diamond in my previous post.

Hi Guys, Just a few quick snaps of an 'all rail' 1in7 diamond in EM Gauge. Photo's arn't great as I was loosing light. I'm quite pleased with how it looks, though. EDIT: BTW, my test bogies and 0-6-0 chassis runs really smoothly through it!

Gothca!

That's the plan You are right, it's certainly holding well without the solder, but it's also for electrically bonding them. Come now, it's not a competition

Thanks Patrick, The intended location of the isolation gaps will follow standard track laying practise and where templot also suggest (circled in red). This also serves as the prototypical location of the join between switch and closure rails. I can also include insulating fish plates to use there, as per the prototype. Once the 2 'Vs' are slide into place, run some solder on the top to bond the 2 V's together, making a stronger joint and electrically bonded. File the tops clean once soldered. Then, the 'frog' can be powered using 2 feed wires, soldered to the bottom of the rails where I've shown in green. These 2 feed wires can be bonded together at the other end to provide switching polarity. The special chairs I have designed clamp and hold the Vs very well. I would say its strong enough even before it's soldered.

It does make it more possible, I can hold tighter tolerances, this way.

True, however it's running better and smoother without the casting

Hi Guys, Firstly I apologise for this long post, but I have been having a bit of an issue. It’s to do with the castings I use for the common & 'K' crossings. I received a large batch of 1in7 common castings and also new castings for the K crossings, both for diamonds and for slips. However, I am unfortunately pushing the lost wax casting technique to its limits here as the K crossings are much longer than the usual common crossing, so shrinkage and warpage is becoming an issue to the point where they are not really useable! It’s also apparent on the common crossing castings, they are slightly warped I’m just not happy with them. Also, the caster is getting close to retirement meaning future supply is going to be an issue. This has lead me to have a bit of a rethink. The use and reliance on castings for the kits has been bothering me for a good while, to be honest, for a few reasons: A) Having to rely on the casters timescales and as he is close to retirement, future availability is questionable. There are not many casters around that cast in Nickel Silver for the right price. B) The look/finish of the castings don’t fully match the code 75 rail and also changes from batch to batch. If I have to change to another caster/supplier then the material will change and maybe be a worse match. C) Getting the castings to match the tops of the rail height is a challenge, and can cause a bump on wheel sets D) Time consuming designing the CAD models for the wax masters. And then also having to make all the rubber moulds, time that could be better spend on developing new kit formations. E) It’s very time consuming for me to inject all the waxes, basically one at a time. Again, time better spend on other things. F) Time consuming having to cut each casting off the sprue and cleanup. Most castings have 3 sprues attached, the longer K crossing has 7! Time again. G) Cost, especially if I have to change supplier, making it unusable. All of the above reasons have lead me to wanting an “all rail” design, without using castings. After these EM gauge K crossing castings arrived and I can see they are going to cause me headaches, it’s really pushed me to look into changing to an “all rail” design. From the modellers point of view, these are the pros and cons of an all rail design: Pros: Better Looking all rail No need for blackening and polishing a casting Smoother Running (really nice!) More prototypical rail joint locations Better for curving the kit Cheaper Price Shorter development time for producing new kits Cons: Little extra Soldering Little extra cutting of rail Over the last few days, I’ve designed an “all rail” version of the K crossings and common crossings in EM Gauge (see pictures below) and they look great and run like butter – SO SMOOTH! The ‘V’s for the common crossing where milled on my CNC machine, and would be supplied pre machined like the switch blades are. I’ve designed special chairs that hold the point of the V’s down very firmly. The biggest challenge in designing it is that, once you bend pieces of rail (for example, to form the knuckle of the wing rails) you can’t then slide that bent piece of rail through the chairs on the base! Or worse, imagine forming the outside rail of a diamond crossing, a long piece of rail with a bend in the middle. Then imagine trying to insert that bent piece of rail though the chairs on the diamond base! It doesn’t work as it breaks the chairs. So instead, I have gone with the approach/solution of splitting it into 2 pieces of rail, that meet where the bend/knuckle is. This is what I’ve done in my tests and it seems to work out great. It will require a little more soldering of electrical feeds on the modellers part, though. I understand that the knuckle should theoretically have a slight radius, but this really does run incredibly smooth and I think it looks better than the cast version with gaps either side of it! So this is where I am as of last night. I would really need to move to using all rail and not have to rely on castings and all the work involved. A little more effort to build the kit, but they do look and function much better! I would need to change the instructions, I think this time having them online instead of printed, in a step by step form with each step accompanied a really small YouTube video. I am also going to be changing the design of the tie bar and how the switch blades are attached. Unfortunately, it’s taking up far too much time for me soldering the plates/pins onto each switch blade. Instead, I am going to change to a simpler design inspired by Normal Solomon, where 2x 0.4mm thick headed ‘pins’ are supplied with the tie bar, the builder inserts them so that the head of the pins are on the bottom, and the pins then bent over 90 degrees on the top of the tie bar. They are then cut off leaving about 2 – 3mm of the pin on top of the tie bar. The builder then solders the switch blades to the pin ‘in situ’. This is actually how the first kit was provided to Patrick on the first page of this thread! I realise the above changes will add a few extra steps in the build, but I truly believe the better cosmetic look and running outweigh this. I've not made the change yet so kits are still being provided with the castings, but I will announce when the change is made.

Thanks Martin, Wim requested that I design to 14.2mm exactly, using your FM-OLD settings.

Is it just me, or is everyone else also getting an annoying ad video popup over the screen each time a new page is opened on this forum? Seems to have started after the forum came back online, yesterday?

This is my CNC machine milling some "concrete" bases for flat bottom N Gauge. This is light grey 1mm thick HIPS sheet. https://youtu.be/F-4VNwF3EKg

Nice work, Martin. I have been milling the finetrax n gauge bases on a CNC mill for years but from 1mm thick black HIPS sheet. This could possibly give a better result?

This example uses 50mm track centres... I am still waiting for castings to return to me, I spoke to the caster yesterday, he should be casting on Thursday/Friday so I should get them next week. After testing and if all goes well I will make up batch of kits just before releasing these next month. Note it will be the EM Gauge kit first, as I the castings are 1mm flangeway castings. I will work on the wider 00 Gauge castings after i confirm all is well with the EM Gauge kit.