martin_wynne

52 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

What do you put on a beefburger these days?

???  - 7 , 9 , 8 , 10 , 11 , 12

Martin. 

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20 hours ago, hayfield said:

Can they still be printed in the original form as they fit my bench vice perfectly ?

Hi John,

The original trial design was unnecessarily long and wasteful of material -- and would have been much longer at flatter angles.

The current design can be G-clamped to the corner of the bench, or held in a bench vice, as you prefer. This is a 1:12 vee filing jig:

This is the filing jig for the back of a size "B" switch blade. It looks a bit flimsy in the photo, but it is actually perfectly rigid to use. Without the big slot it would use much more material:

But I can do them a different way if there is a need? So far these designs are working fine for me.

You can choose how thick you want them in Templot. The top one is 20mm thick in total. The bottom one is 16mm thick in total. The thicker ones are a bit easier to use with a wide file, but use more material and take longer to print.

p.s. this is grey PLA Plus FDM filament, it is not a resin print.

cheers,

Martin.

9 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

That could be interesting as they are one way levers.  That means you can only pull the lever in one direction to change the setting of the switches irrespective of which way the switches are standing when you pull the lever.  So -

1. Look at switches and see if the need to be changed (only necessary for a facing movement, trailing movements simply trail through the point and kick the switches over if necessary.  The switches will stay in the position to which the last trailing movement or operation of the lever set them.

2.  Pull then lever - rember it can only move in one direction

3. As you pull the lever check that the switches have responded are the closed one is properly closed.

4. Let go off the lever and it will return to the position it occupied before it was pulled. 

 https://85a.uk/templot/club/index.php?resources/wynn-williams-patent-ground-lever-boxes.16/

13 minutes ago, hayfield said:

As for 3D printing, I read all the posts, sadly understand few.

Hi John,

For Templot plug track you don't need to understand 3D printing.

All you will need to do is read "click the button marked GO" and do it. 🙂

I'm determined to make it easy for everyone to follow. I haven't been able to get on with that yet, because until now the whole thing has been an unfinished experimental project. But I'm close now to having something usable. By the time we resume the Templot Zoom meetings next month, I'm hoping folks will be showing plug track stuff which they've made.

cheers,

Martin.

2 minutes ago, hayfield said:

sadly 3D printing is far beyond my abilities

Hi John,

No it isn't. 🙂

Your posts on RMweb amply demonstrate that you have all the know-how you could possibly need for Templot plug track. You don't need any computer skills or CAD abilities because Templot does all that for you. As soon as I have got a bit more released I shall be making some easy-to-follow videos and tutorials -- click this, press that --  and James Walters is planning to do some too, and will have a demo stand at Scaleforum.

p.s. the filing jigs can be set for 4mm or 7mm rail sizes (bullhead). It helps to grind the bulk off the rail first for the larger rail sections.

cheers,

Martin.

25 minutes ago, NFWEM57 said:

If you require 80~100 turnouts for a layout then it is most certainly the cost..! 

If you spend some money on 3D printers, you can build plug track for a material cost of about £1 per turnout, plus the rail.

You need a resin printer for the chairs and an FDM printer for the timbers. Each can be had for around the cost of an 00 RTR locomotive, or less. Both can be used for lots of other model making jobs.

cheers,

Martin.

48 minutes ago, hayfield said:

once finished track building they fetch good money when sold on eBay

Hi John,

They might not fetch such good prices after the next Templot release in a week or two. It will then be possible to FDM-print filing jigs for any angle from Templot 3D files:

Material cost for such a jig is about £1.50 if you have or know someone with an FDM 3D printer. Such printers can be had for the price of an 00 RTR locomotive. And used for a lot more than just filing jigs.

The jigs for filing the switch blades will be a bit more because they are longer.

If the vee rails are filed and polished using these jigs to match exactly the angle of the plug track chairs, they fit snugly together in the chairs and don't need soldering together to make a one-piece vee (same as in the Finetrax kits). The rails just need a little cyano superglue or whatever on them somewhere to prevent them sliding out of position.

p.s. the grey colour is PLA Plus toughened FDM filament, it is not a resin print.

cheers,

Martin.

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 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-66498265

22 minutes ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

And how do you know that the planet is littered with abandoned P4 layouts? I have been a member of the S4 Society (and the EMGS) for many years and haven't encountered any.

Hi Jol,

I may have exaggerated slightly. I do know of a couple. 🙂

Sure you can buy baseboards, but they are not cheap. This is a topic from a raw beginner -- he needs to know what the important issues are before being given possible solutions. For P4, baseboards are definitely an issue. I don't really think it is fair to a beginner to start suggesting P4 when he is still at the stage of discussing Peco set-track. Let folks learn to walk before telling them they ought to be running.

00 RTR on 00-SF Finetrax turnout kits would be a good step up from Peco. Many fine layouts have been and are being built that way.

Martin.

1 hour ago, Jol Wilkinson said:

Building models and trackwork in P4 is generally not much more difficult than in OO. EM

Hi Jol,

Building models and trackwork probably isn't much more difficult in P4 -- but building baseboards is definitely more difficult in P4. A successful P4 layout requires good carpentry skills above all else, especially for a portable layout with tracks crossing baseboard joints.

Those P4 wheel flanges are tiny, and even tinier after accumulating any dirt on the wheels. Baseboards need to be dead flat, and baseboard joints must align perfectly every time.

The planet is littered with abandoned P4 layouts where the baseboards sagged or warped, or with a baseboard joint which derailed everything which tried to get across it. 🙂

Martin.

On 10/08/2023 at 12:07, RCP said:

I was under the illusion that 00-SF could be kept to the point work and that i could use flexitrack (say peco code 75 bullhead) for the rest? Am I wrong? Might need to look at a different gauge if that's so. 

 

You are not wrong. Many/most 00-SF modellers use ordinary code 75 flexi-track for their plain track. For pointwork, a range of easy-build Finetrax pointwork kits is available for 00-SF:

 https://www.britishfinescale.com/

You should completely ignore and disregard suggestions that 00-SF is worse than standard 00 because the track gauge (16.2mm) is even smaller. No-one can see that difference without measuring it -- but they can and will notice that the narrower flangeways look much more realistic, and notice the improved running with kit wheels.

More about 00-SF at: https://85a.uk/00-sf/

cheers,

Martin.

This is the one they always forget to add:

2 hours ago, hayfield said:

Secondly a jig to hold both rails whilst soldering would be good.

Hi John,

Using plug track it's not really necessary to solder the vees. If the rails are filed to the accurate angles using the 3D-printed filing jig, they will fit snugly together in the chairs (as on the Finetrax kits).

If you think soldering is important, the resin chairs will resist soldering heat if you are quick with solder cream (SMT paste) to solder them in situ. Or they can be sealed with penetrating cyano or some other sealant. Or with epoxy afterwards from below if building on the bench. Having finally got all the V-crossing chairs done, we are now at the stage of learning all the tips and tricks of building plug track.

The 3D computer files for the filing jigs (any angle) will be available from the next Templot update in a few days time.

Any model railway club should have an FDM printer available for members to use.🙂

This is the toughened filament needed for the filing jigs (also used for the timbering bases). 1 reel will make about 15 filing jigs:

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07FQ75QG2

cheers,

Martin.

30 minutes ago, lezz01 said:

Paul do you find that you really need that filing jig for crossing Vees? I have a 1:8 one for flat bottom rail I brought from the states and I've used it once. You have to use shims to use it with BH rail but it will work.

I used to just wing it as described in the EM manual until I built the EM multi jig as per the destructions in the manual with my own mods to the Vee filing jig and replaced the switch blade jig with the one from the stores. The one from the manual did work with a little bit of a mod but the steel one from the stores is much more reliable although mine was from the S4 stores as it was OOS in the EM stores but it's the same thing.

I just always thought it was a bit of a waste of money TBH.

Regards Lez.   

Hi Paul, Lez,

If you have access to an FDM (filament) 3D printer, you will soon be able to print any size of filing jig, for both switch blades and vee crossings, using 3D files exported from Templot:

The filament to use is toughened PLA PLus, which a file just skids across. These jigs are good for a couple of dozen vees, and since they cost only about £1 for material, if it does wear out you can simply print another one. The M6 bolts are likely to cost more than the jig.

Will be in the next Templot update in a few days time. No CAD program or CAD skills needed, the files are ready for printing.

cheers,

Martin.

On 30/07/2023 at 10:58, PhilJ W said:

As instructed, I wrote "not in use" on the back of it, and signed my name.

They couldn't be much closer:

 https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/17272404#map=18/52.47907/-1.89078

Martin.