hayfield

A bit of a mile stone day today, last night I made 2 files to allow me to print chairs and loose jaws for a 1-7 common crossing Raft for a left handed 1-7 common crossing The loose jaws for the 1-7 chairs For those used to making build files I guess they say so what, for me its the first resin print files I have made, thanks to James Walters video, Martin Wynn and KeithHC Next up to make the switch print files, but that will be over the weekend

My own experiences have been the opposite, claiming with the Royal Mail after giving full details of the sale details, I received a full refund on the sale price plus the return of the postage cost. eBay also returned all of the fees. I ended up with more money than I would have received had it been delivered I have found eBay have been very even handed in my dealings with them One thing that does worry me is that I try and find under valued items, If they don't arrive I would only get a return of what I paid. NOT what its real value is. On these very rare occasions I am on tenterhooks until they arrive. There is a saying that something is only worth what people are willing to pay, but in the collecting game you always hope to find the hidden gem others have not spotted. But unless you arrange for special insurance and letting the cat out of the bag its part of the risk

My initial quote was about the way the Railway Modeler quoted 00 gauge layouts in the top corner of the right hand page for 00 gauge layouts, where as EM & P4 layouts were referred to as 4mm scale, this I am pleased to say is now changing. Nothing to do with Finescale modelling which can be attributed to all layouts in any gauge/scale. There are many finescale layouts using either 00 or H0 gauge track. My comment was more about editorial matters than anything else, having been a subscriber for many years and I must say enjoy the pages more than its many competitors. I think by supporting the mag I do have the right to have an opinion, especially when it comes to matters relating to track.

A wooden flying banana !!!

I thought I would update this workbench site for those who are into traditional track building Whilst recently I have had a break from track building (7mm loco building) and recently from railway modelling (allotment) with the latter taking up much less time now I have started back with my track building experiment For the past 6+ months something has stopped me from using my resin printer, I have had both the hardware and some software, but not the enthuasm to get up and go After about 3 weeks of saying I am going to start, I actually did on Tuesday, Blacked out my workroom. Filled up the tank in the machine with resin and downloaded a pre-prepared file to a memory stick and turned everything on and started printing. In short the file had a bug but the machine worked and the printing process was far easier than I feared. By Wednesday morning I had a revised file plus a second, both of which seemed to have worked perfectly The printer takes up under a square foot of space The first print on its build plate This is a print from the second file (a couple of loose jaws displaced in the washing process) Both prints used about 35p worth of resin, plus a little bit which attaches itself to the prints when removing from the tank which is washed away. Lets say 40p max, one set has 180 chairs the other 90. Given the max cost is 40p per 100 chairs though its likely to be much less a far cry from ABS chairs at about £9.30 per 100. These prints are quite quick to print at about 35mins, plus about 5 to 10 mins washing off the prints The other thing is that all the special chairs required can be printed at similar prices Now I have to learn the method of making print files for the other chairs. Once you have a print file it can be used over and over again so its not a repeated action in the printing process Plug track is still in the development stages, but that does not mean it cannot be used in building a layout

The first set of rafts are now well on the way to be cured I decided to see how the loose jaws fitted their chairs A cruel close up photo, as you see a raft of loose jaw chairs, bottom right chair has a loose jaw fitted A second set of rafts which the file was sent to me. Now drying off in the sunlight. Comprising of 60 S1 chairs and 30 S1J chairs Both sets of rafts were well under 40p to print. Next jobs are to learn how to make my own raft print files and once the chairs are fully cured make some track. Thanks to Martin Wynn and Keith for all your help

Keith Thank you for the advice and encouragement. and I think for the file which is now on my memory stick With things I don't understand I like to take things in single steps. Its a way I learn things Anyway after loading up both files I tried printing the first file. After a couple of mins the machine seemed to go into overdrive, 32 mins later I have a print which looks much better After a good wash using Martins method I took the prints outside and gave them a good spray with water from a pressurized garden spray, a few plugs washed off but I found all of them and everything is drying outside. They will get a UV blast later. I will give your file a go either later or tomorrow Next up will be making my own rafts, watching James on the desk top and copying on the laptop

I fired up my resin 3D printer yesterday for a test run I used a ready to go file and unknown to me and the supplier, an update to the slicing file corrupted the print file. These things happen as they did with the FDM printer I knew there was a possibility of an issue, as it took 4 times the normal print time. Initially I thought it was my error in duplicating the slicing, however someone who knows what they are doing saw the issue was created by a software update to the slicing program Not a failure of the actual printing process which in reflection was easy to use and worked So a good step forward and smashed the fears I had built up over the printing process. I just need to learn how to create the files to print chairs

Mike You make it look so effortless and achievable, a rare skill

William For a start it is very easy to print basic track templates, very little to learn and FDM printing is very forgiving. Once a print file has been created its just a case of letting the printer chatter away in the background for a few hours As for resin printing, there is a bit more to learn on how to make files for the chairs, and of course the printing process (which I am about to experience) is a bit more involved but far quicker than FDM, creating printing bricks (to printing a layout plan rather than a template) is a bit more involved As for skills required for track building, different but no more involved than more traditional methods, some may even say easier than traditional methods

Railway modelling must be one of the best methods of self therapy. At Railex there was a stand encouraging us older folk to take up building models simply for our brains health, keeping it (our brain) active has many health benefits, elevating stress is one Thank you for sharing your builds

Keith Interesting idea about a print farm, in reality 2 small printers are required, both taking up less than a square foot each. You will also need access to a resin printer, perhaps a friend may have one

The first thing is that at the moment its for bullhead trackwork, if you need flatbottom track then at the moment its back to old style track building With the simple to use filing jigs not only is the track easy to build, but also easy to form the rails For turnouts design and output is more or less oven ready and working. Slips and diamonds I think there are workable options with plug track, this is work in progress as are 3 ways. But T can think of some work arounds Very simple, inexpensive and easy to use bespoke filing jigs are up and running, and also would be very useful to those using existing building methods in all gauges for most scales Track bases can either be FDM printed of laser cut Chairs are resin printed

Mike Well done for finding a home, I had shelves of them prior to our house move, most I only read once and the number of times over 30 years in the last house (50+ years of collecting) I guess I only ever searched for items a dozen times Have I missed them over the past 8 years, the answer is no As for books, I guess most have little. But some still change hands for reasonable money. We stayed in our last house for 28 years, moving 8 years ago, whilst there was more paperwork it was not too bad. roll on 4/5 years both my sister and in-laws moved within months of each other. The paperwork in both cases was awful, extra awful with the conveyancing firm. Most of the work seems to be to protect the legal firms, putting onus on both buyers and sellers for things I thought solicitors did. Especially those catch all forms, asking me questions relating to flats when we were both buying and selling houses. Turn the clock back 50 years ago, I was a cheeky 23 year old, the solicitor asked me if I had read the contract, I said no thats what I am paying you for !!! A car mechanic never asks you to read the service manual. I have always used solicitors for our 4 house purchases (and 3 sales) and always had good service (we used the same firm) Every time I have found friends or customers who used conveyancing firms, there always seemed to be issues/hiccups. Good luck with your move and lets hope there will be room for a layout

I think I am getting quite choosey as I have brought very little this year other than a mega bit of luck in January that gave me quite a lot of work and is still not finished. What it has done is shown me I need to start to downsize my collection, I have had a good start this year, but come to a bit of a stop of late. Which coincided with the allotment needing a lot of attention during Spring and early summer. But whilst I have not spent too much time on looking for items, what I have found either I decided against it on second thoughts or others felt it was worth more than I did My modelling fund is quite healthy, but for a change I am either being quite choosey on what I buy or just waiting for that something special which is a bit expensive. In my watch list is nothing that really excites me