hayfield

Keith I have had a prototype 1-5 Vee filing gauge for well over a year and used it several times and its still fine. Given the Society metal filing jigs cost about £40 its quite a saving, but they come into their own when you want a non standard/not catered for crossing angle. As for time savers they take a few seconds to use, and far more accurate than the old fashioned mk 1 eyeball The biggest win with jigs is the introduction of the switch rail filing jigs, the easiest and best to use switch rail jigs I have come across, a game changer and piece of genius from Martin Print master no I had to have 3 goes at running the program through Cura (slicing program) but I now have an index card with each of the steps on it Todays print is the heal of the turnout, making the foot of the A6 turnout I am printing. I think I need to get on with a couple more designs and start thinking about ordering the items I need to get starting on resin printing It would be more informative reading the posts in Templot regarding this subject, Its a real eye opener on what can be done, rather than watch me fumble my way through this process. But it does prove even a numpty old codger can learn new tricks

The finished jig on the build plate Off the build plate Rail fitted in one side Rail showing through the slot Finished rail, totally accurate in seconds The real benefit is they can be made to match whatever angle the Vee is designed to eg 1-6.38. Are expensive to print and do last quite some time

Martin That was quick

Penrhos 1920 These jigs are part of the Templot Plug Track system. Once you have designed the turnout you start the process of building the 3D files, within the process you are asked Chairs/Timbers/Jig The facility to print jigs comes with each Template you design, in this case its a simple 1-6 crossing, however if the turnout needs a crossing angle of 1-6.27 then the jig would allow you to print a bespoke jig. Switch rail jigs are in preparation and at some future period will also be available

As I am waiting for the printer to stop using the TF card I had not saved it, now changed to track

For most this is very basic stuff, however I have created my first print file I guess unless you are into 3 D printing it meant little What I have done is to take a 2D plan in Templot and using Templot's magic made a 3D plan. After running it through 2 programs one similar to 3D builder and the other was Cura and a file is waiting to be loaded on to a DXF card, the trouble is my card is in the printer My printer is working away in the background printing a 1 in 6 Vee filing jig. Next purchase is a second file stick As I said for some its very basic stuff, if it works its a big jump into track building

Do they need to be ? Having used Eurostar inconjuction with TGC, in my opinion better links to the Eurostar is what is needed. Lets face it Getting off at Garde du Nord then having to find another termini to go to other parts of France/Italy/Spain etc. is hardly interconnecting travel. Eurostar is a capital to capital service, not saying it should be. But it is what it is, if competition makes it more regional at both ends then that's an added bonus

As the old adage states "there is no smoke without a fire" , It seem now with Virgin Trains making noises several companies exploring providing services The tunnel owned states with signaling upgrades more trains can use the tunnel both in frequency and type of train Why not use Ebbsfleet and or Ashford. plus more use if the likes of Lille station or other Termini ? There are always the half full brigade who seem to delight in explaining what cannot be done, but where there is a will a way usually is found. There are many good reasons to increase traffic flow through the tunnel, the environment is one of the biggest. As for Eurostar of course they want a monopoly but no doubt the tunnel owners also want to maximize revenue It seems we are moving away from "if" and getting closer to "when" Just today its being reported that the French look likely to amend the 90 day visa rules for UK nationals, saying time to stop punishing the UK for Brexit as we are now "special" friends. Money talks !! as does votes when chalets and gites remain empty

Well I had a very interesting evening being helped to fine tune the printer and the printer settings in Cura The print is about 2/3rds through Close up or the part print Half a turnout base finished on the printer bed A better photo of the finished item waiting for me to clean up the strings T Temptation got to me, I had some old prototype chairs and could not resist fitting them. Its missing the S1J and block chairs, but who cares. Please note I was using 1+ years old chairs which are not to the latest specification and the fit may not be as good as the latest plug fit chairs. Martin set up this 3 sleeper test print simply to test the print setup and leveling as it also printed A line of filament was also printed around the edge of the bed, which was used to check depth in each corner for leveling the bed Martins software is very clever as it sets the temperature of both the nozzle and bed The other interesting fact is the cost, this print Martin worked out the cost of the (half turnout) test print at 16p, lets say a full turnout cost 40p to print With C&L selling copperclad timber strips at £33 a pack its £11 just for a set of turnout timbers (Marcway are cheaper, £6 per turnout ?) Or a pack of C&L plastic timbers £12 for 1 and a half turnouts (£8 per turnout) this makes printing a very good financial proposition. That's before you factor in the superb detail and on top of that it can be curved to any radii (including "Y's"). Will asymmetrical Y's catch on as they should be ?

I have had a 3 hour session with both Martin and Phil on a zoom meeting, quite quickly we sorted out the base levelling and at the same time printed a 3 sleeper section simply to reconcile Templot with the printer. The major thing was to set up the custom printer settings to maximize the print quality Someone with better understanding can say why a FDM printing is far better for timbering. I am now printing the first half of an A6 EM gauge turnout This is at the 22% printed state Simply once you press the start button you leave the machine to print, Templot even sorts out the temperatures

Whilst for some this may seem very insignificant piece of 3 sleepers, its a test piece to check the settings in the design file is set up correctly About 25% printed Finished and to my untrained eye looks to have past the first test

You can use other gauges at each end, or once one end is stuck if the rail is slightly overbent, the natural spring in the rail will hold it in place. Its exactly the same when using block gauges, if a S7 turnout can be built entirely with a block gauge, I am certain its fine in any of the 4mm scales, and block gauges do not grip Certainly with plastic timbers it is very possible, as the solvent will have enough strength after a few seconds to grip the rail in the correct position, then wait till the joints set a bit harder, then do the next section. Simply its thinking how to do it, especially if you have nothing else When Exactoscale track system was introduced (late nineties/early noughties) their track gauges did not grip the rails, and they were for P4 !!!!

Does your supplier not have a program you can access this data, I can find out the next day from Octopus either on my computer or phone

Kev Most data they amass is to ensure they are more able to calculate future demand so that lights and or our heating stays on at peak times. The likes of me and you have no great value to them in the scheme of things. In fact I would rather they took more notice of me to improve what's on offer.

There are a couple of the Exactoscale P4 Company kits for sale on eBay an A6 & a B7 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335105255569?hash=item4e05d46891:g:os4AAOSw0gtlR4rA https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335105255575 The basis and preformed steel rails and subassemblies Some of the special chairs (switch and common crossing) These premade track bases are a great tomes saver, designed for P4 but can be used in EM gauge

Brian Whatever system you use will have its own set of compromises, and always has !! I think sometimes we always pay more store to what we perceive is the down size Lets look at the design brief of plug track a/ Accurate representation of the prototype in all sizes of turnouts and in the future crossings b/ Easy to use without special tools or ability to carry out exacting building actives c/ Inexpensive to produce There are no kits available with both the detail and versatility in design, scale and gauge as Templot plug track, British Finescale comes very close with their kits but as one would expect them to offer an unlimited range. In some areas British Finescale kits are easier to build in others plug track has the advantage. Looking at sleeper/timber bases, thin bases have far more issues than thicker ones, but even the 1.6mm bases can have issues. Is an extra 1mm of ballast an issue? Appearance, nothing beats a free flowing design No special tools are required, in fact reusable cheap filing jigs can be easily printed, nor any specialist subassemblies needed to be prebuilt, simply cutting rail to size, a bit of bending and filing. The cost of buying RTR turnouts is getting very expensive, as is buying track parts with a pack of copperclad strip ranging between £17 and £33, plastic turnout bases/strips £5 to £10, Chairs from £20 a pack. I think a 3D printed turnout in material including rail well under a £5 with the cost of rail being most of the cost. The biggest drawback is access to printers, but at Scaleforum I was amazed at the number of people saying they either have printers or have access to them. Nothing to stop a club buying them or for two or more modelers to collaborate. As I have said I expect a few traders will offer print services once they see there is a need Also it frees up modelling time, I simply pressed the start button and off it went all on its own. In the future no more hour plus making a track base, or cutting isolation gaps in copperclad strip. The fear of building common crossings gone, as is building out of gauge

Well with the help of some YouTube videos I have managed to get the printer working Well a completely different world of modelling, in this case making a food bag clip Well the printer works, now I need to get the programs installed into my computer. Still a first step in my journey in printing my own track is completed

Or simply remove the outer ears !!

This is the issue with chaired track, either reduce the depth of the gauge with wire or as you have said make the gap larger If there are chairs on the rail then there is no need for the rail to be held, glue the inside rail to the sleepers/timbers, once set hard fit the outer rail, the 3 point gauge will do the rest No issue once you follow what I said about fitting one rail first Just loosen the springs !!, the gap will widen automatically

The newer C&L P4 roller gauges allow for this I asked this question some years ago in Templot club and this was the advice I got Bottom is the modern Exactoscale gauges, easy to copy with studding, tube, washers and nuts. Top normal other 3 gauge widened (one ,two & 3 thou) The middle gauge is an adapted 3 point cage (see next photo) upper modern 3 point gauge, advice was to fill up the gap with wire so that it had a tiny slot which allowed the rail head to rotate The gauge has been modelled by taking off the backs, keeps the track to gauge whatever angle the rail is held These are block gauges and very useful, one vert talented S7 track builder uses only a block gauge when building track, rail can be upright or at an angle

I must finish this turnout off, as I said I just wanted to build one to my satisfaction Track laying has come a long way from using card sleepers/timbers with flatbottom rail spiked to it. Or using strips of wood with cast metal chairs fitted, and until recently I was firmly in the camp of plastic chairs stuck to plastic timbers The new boy in town is 3D printed track, British Finescale have been selling 2mm & 4mm kits for some time. Templot designer Martin Wynn has evolved Templot from a 2D planning software into a design system for both 4 & 7mm (other scales possibly) to produce files to enable turnouts to be printed on 3D printers, Not only visually accurate but much easier to build than other existing systems. and without any gauges or expensive jigs (filing jigs can be cheaply printed My new printer which will print track bases in 4 & 7 mm scales But this is for another thread

Keith Thank you, but I am not alone. There is a small group in Templot club who have offered me assistance and I brought this machine as Martin has the same one and has offered to assist me with both setting it up and more importantly getting the files in working order. As a last resort one of our neighbours both (husband and wife) are designers at Fords, apparently they have recently brought a 3D printer My plan is first to print a 4mm turnout, then a 7mm one. Finally I want a small test track which can be used to demonstrate the system. What I have not mentioned is that Martin has developed/is developing plain Flexitrack for the system As for the resin printer do watch James's video

Brian Thank you very much for answering the question especially your lightbulb moment, reusing the timbers as you described could also be used to change chairs from 3 bolt (the only version available at this moment to 2 or 4 bolt. Or you could just replace the affected parts as unlike other systems these are push in parts not glued. I tried an idea of gluing an ABS chair to a PLA timber, once the solvent has set its rock solid As for strength. Look at the ABS chairs from the 2 main suppliers, you can easily pull a piece of rail from 1 chair, try doing it with 20+ chairs attached. There is no glue involved with C&L or Exactoscale chair system, yet it is very strong once the turnout is built. I have a section of track from a prototype printing over a year ago, its rock solid, my finger nail would give way before the chairs

Two days early the printer arrived All very neatly packed And with the help of a YouTube video, put together, In practice only 2 screws needed screwing up but the instructions are brief and could be a bit better. Having said this its very easy to assemble Next up is setting the machine up, which entails levelling up the build plate to the printing nozzle, trouble is I have a busy week ahead of me and not much free time I have also ordered a resin printer as it was always my intention of having both as the chair detail is far better in resin in the smaller scales, but it stays in the box until I get the FDM printer up and running printing bases

Keith you are a bit ahead of me, I am about to set up my FDM printer, I have come to the conclusion I must get a resin printer and after watching James video I will order one of the cheap ones as they seem to work well and a good entry level machine, especially as I just want to print chairs