Passenger Car Drum Heads

[jdg]

I am looking to add just some plain old styrene drumheads to my passenger cars. Somewhere in the 3/16" Dia with fit the MT obs/business cars. Anyone know where to obtain flat, thin discs in that diameter or have a good way of cutting them out of styrene? Thought of a hole punch but that is too big. Thanks.

[peteski]

There are modeler's punch sets out there which produce much smaller size holes. Micro-Mark sells such a set.  Another possibility is to chuck some plastic rod in your drill, file to the appropriate diameter, smooth the end with a file so it is flat, then using a back of the #11 hobby knife as a cutoff tool, carefully cut off a slice (like if you were doing it on a lathe with a cut-off tool)

[ryan_wilkerson]

Are there round LEDs of the appropriate diameter? If so, what about filing off the end to make it flat and then you could have a lighted drumhead? Would be a nice touch with a decal on it.

[randgust]

Have seen the advertising only, don't have one, but have sure looked at it:

https://www.tomarindustries.com/drumheads.htm

They do have them in N.   I've got a bunch of LED tricolor signals from them and very well done.

[nickelplate759]

I've used the Tomar drumheads and they're very nice, but won't sit flush on the car end unless you cut a hole and recess them.

Kato has round and rectangular drumheads on their pre-ware CB&Q Budd Observation.   They're blank on the Undec car (of course).

George

[jdg]

Tomar sounds great for lighted ones. The molders punch may be the route I end up with. Thanks guys.

[jdg]

KATO has the clear ones. Was just looking in the wrong spot.

[Sokramiketes]

Sharpen the end of a piece of brass tubing and punch them out to your heart's desire.  By filing the outside perimeter, you get a smooth inside diameter cut every time.

[robert3985]

I Google'd "3/16" Paper Punch" and got thousands of results.  WOW...that was hard...   

Here are some of the results: 

https://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Duty-Leather-Hole-Punch/dp/B01H5YA59E/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1484792960&sr=8-5&keywords=3%2F16+paper+punch 

https://www.amazon.com/EK-Tools-Circle-Punch-16-Inch/dp/B0090JVBXC/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1484792960&sr=8-2&keywords=3%2F16+paper+punch

https://www.amazon.com/McGill-Punchline-Chrome-Purple-MCG53600C/dp/B001E641LS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484792960&sr=8-1&keywords=3%2F16+paper+punch

https://www.amazon.com/Neiko-02612A-Multi-Purpose-Power-Punch/dp/B0002T87CW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1484792960&sr=8-4&keywords=3%2F16+paper+punch

https://www.amazon.com/12pcs-Leather-Craft-Hole-Punch/dp/B01JLIFZ6A/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1484792960&sr=8-6&keywords=3%2F16+paper+punch

https://www.amazon.com/SE-791LP-Heavy-Duty-12-Piece-Hollow/dp/B000KE17JO/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1484792960&sr=8-7&keywords=3%2F16+paper+punch

https://www.amazon.com/Kuretake-Paper-KurePunsh-Circle-5002500032/dp/B001BYKC9I/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1484792960&sr=8-9&keywords=3%2F16+paper+punch

https://www.amazon.com/48HRC-Hardened-Carbon-Leather-Hollow/dp/B00FUUPNMK/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1484792960&sr=8-11&keywords=3%2F16+paper+punch

http://www.micromark.com/precision-disk-punch-set,10230.html

http://www.micromark.com/micro-punch-set,8603.html

That's probably enough....

Unless you're gonna do a whole lot of punching, I'd just go for the cheapest punch (less than $5.00) if the hole inside diameter really IS 3/16" (.1875")

First thing you hafta do is measure the hole.  The best way to measure it is with dial or digital calipers.  Buy 'em at Harbor Freight tools for less than $20.  You'll be happy you did.

If the hole is not an exact size corresponding to a punch size you can get, then get a punch that's the next size up, and file or sand the disc down to the right size.

Glue in with clear canopy glue

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[nkalanaga]

I have 1/8, 3/16, and the "standard" 1/4 inch paper punches, and they seem to be quite close.  Bought them back in the late 70s, and use them regularly.  They'll punch 0.01 brass, or 0.03 styrene, without much work, but the edges are a little ragged on the thicker styrene, and the brass would probably wear them out if punched regularly.   Styrene is less abrasive than paper, so they should last many more years on that. 

For 0.01 or 0.015 styrene they make nice neat cuts, and I've made a lot of washers with them.

[Lemosteam]

OK so history question.  When did railroads start to use lit drumheads?

H
ere are some heavyweight open end obs pics that suggest they are lit- note the wire on the Senator:








On this one the panel is definitely glass, suggesting a lighte drumhead.


I bring this up because @ryan_wilkerson has an awesome idea to grind the face of an LED and add a decal.  A 3mm LED could even be sculpted into a keystone, paint the outside and wire it up!  I think these may be too small for an RP part, but i can investigate making cylindrical, rectangular and Keystone boxes just large enough for an 0402 to fit, pour some crystal clear into the box, let it settle and put a decal over that.

[jdg]

John, I like your idea.

Stopped by Harbor Freight this morning and they had the hollow punch set. So for now I am good for the unlighted ones. Thanks.

[CNR5529]

I would definitively vouch for the Tomar Industries lit drumheads, if they have one that represents your road. They have some fantasy/generic ones as well.

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[Cajonpassfan]

Love the idea of turning a LED into a lit drumhead, elegant and simple. But a 3mm led is not quite 19" in diameter, a bit small I would think. There are larger sizes available some of which may be useful, depending on prototype. A 4mm LED would yield a 25.2" diameter...
Otto K.

[Lemosteam]

@Cajonpassfan , I think the idea is great for a closed end OBS or for your example, but on a platform style OBS it would be difficult to hide the LED on the platform, hence the idea for an RP box (pardon the fact that it is PRR):

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Looking at the Tomar stuff they do not offer Keystone light boxes and I'm surprised they have not gone to SMD components.