Seeking source for ~1" N scale beads and stiff wire.

[peteski]

Well, OK, that answers my question about spheres.  But drilling holes in ball bearings!!! 

I have to agree that some ideas here are way out on the left field! 

[SandyEggoJake]

Not only left field.  Perhaps off in foul territory.  It's what you get when you've been in a career where you are rewarded to focus on out of the box thinking.  Often so far out the box isn't even in view anymore....



Still, given we do have a fall back, I'm putting my effort to create .3mm metal beads on the back burner ... for now. 

[NtheBasement]

This is all pretty mind boggling to me.  If an average human hair is .004 inches in diameter, that amounts to about 2/3 inches in N scale.  So you are all talking about a bead that is twice the diameter of hair which I wouldn't even be able to identify as having a hole without peering at in thru a microscope, then threading something smaller than human hair thru the hole.  You'll be bouncing off the walls of a padded room in no time.

[Jbub]

This is all pretty mind boggling to me.  If an average human hair is .004 inches in diameter, that amounts to about 2/3 inches in N scale.  So you are all talking about a bead that is twice the diameter of hair which I wouldn't even be able to identify as having a hole without peering at in thru a microscope, then threading something smaller than human hair thru the hole.  You'll be bouncing off the walls of a padded room in no time.

This is TRW! Welcome aboard you'll be splitting hairs in no time.

[ednadolski]

Seeking 1" N scale beads for modeling.  Fully realize how small this is and as such as big a 2"N (0.3mm) would work.  Ideally metal and spherical.

TL;DR thread so maybe I missed it, but how would you even pick up something that small?  Or glue it onto anything so it won't fall off?

(I thought 0.005" wire for scale grabirons was hard enough to handle, so I can't imagine working with a sphere that size.  Breathe on it and it's gone.  Makes P:87 spikes look like a cakewalk tho )

Ed

[unittrain]

I use .02" green and black floral wire for line poles, I pre drill the strip wood then take the wires feed them through all the strips at once then dab some super glue near each intersection then trim after they dry.

[Maletrain]

I use .02" green and black floral wire for line poles, I pre drill the strip wood then take the wires feed them through all the strips at once then dab some super glue near each intersection then trim after they dry.

I think the objection to that is the wire you are using scales to 3.2" in diameter for N scale, so it is as wide as a scale insulator.

The objection to using actual scale components for wire and insulators is that it is not only hard to find and use such small parts, but that the resulting model is very likely to be so fragile that it is always bent/broken to the point that it looks worse than something that is maybe as much as 2x scale, but relatively intact.

So, for glass encased dioramas, I think this thread makes some sense.  But, for the typical layout, especially one that hopes to do "ops" instead of just running circles, I am not sure that I even want wires on my poles.  I certainly don't want the wires, or maybe even the poles where I may need to reach over the layout for anything.

[robert3985]

In my experience, I have found that properly scaled-down N-scale wooden utility poles made from swab sticks that I get at my local pharmacy, with scale wooden crossarms attached with gap-filling CA, pinned with a .007" brass or SS wire are pretty durable.

I made the insulator support pegs from the same .007" brass wire inserted into .007" holes I drilled in the crossarms, and set them using runny CA, which also strengthens the wooden crossarms.

I found some transparent glass 24/0 antique glass micro beads that were rated at 50 bpi, and some that were rated at 40 bpi,  which would make the 50 bpi beads .020" tall, or a scale 3.2", and the 40 bpi beads .025" tall which would be the perfect scale N-scale height of 4". 

I was planning on attaching the beads with thick gloss medium applied to the .007" mounting wires sticking up on top of each crossarm.  .007" is a scale 1.2", which is smaller than the scale 1.25" diameter the actual mounting pegs are.  .008" wire would have been perfect, but I didn't have any on hand, nor any .008" drill bits to make the mounting holes in the arms.

I never got around to ordering the glass beads, but instead used blobs of Elmer's white glue on the mounting pegs.

The layout these went on is my portable layout, which got taken to at least three local shows each within 100 miles of my home.  Yes, I had a few mishaps with the poles, but because of the brass mounting pegs and crossarm supports forming a "V" on the bottom of each crossarm, the damage could always be repaired by positioning and gluing the crossarms back on with gap filling CA and a quick squirt of Accelerator.

Damage was always limited to something happening during transport, not during operation.

A local N-scale modeler who also had a portable, modular layout he took to shows, strung his Bachmann utility poles with Berkshire Junction EZ-Line, which is advertised as having a diameter of .010" for the "fine" version.  Although he used the white to make it more obvious, I thought it looked too obvious, and I would probably use either green or black...maybe both to make it less obvious. 

As I was looking at one of his steam engines on the track, I noticed the lead truck was off the track so I put my hand over the trackage and put the lead truck back on the track.  In the process, I hooked the Berkshire Junction EZ-Line with my watchband.  The stuff stretched enough so that I noticed it before I broke anything,

My conclusions from actually mounting close to scale utility poles on an operational, portable layout for several years, is that the wooden poles with brass wire pins and supports are plenty strong to resist all but the harshest treatment.  I never broke a pole and only a few crossarms, which I easily glued back together in-place.

Also, the Berkshire Junction EZ-Line is stretchy enough and durable enough that breakage is going to be rare on an operational, even portable layout...even using plastic Bachmann utility poles.

The one thing that destroyed all but about half a dozen of my wooden poles was my cat Chessie getting shut in the layout room one night.  She chewed off the top of over 90% of every pole on the layout...all scratch-built, and I haven't got around to replacing them yet.

My experience points out that opinions about the durability or lack of durability of a correctly proportioned model, or part...derived from simply thinking about it, may indeed be wrong.

Testing is always best, and gives authority to our opinions.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[SandyEggoJake]

As an aside, turns out silly small tungsten wire - as low as 0.0005" OD - is reasonably available for far less per unit than other metals such as copper and phosphor bronze.  That is a 5/64" in N scale!  Far smaller than a human hair.  And while it is $170/ spool, you get 500 meters, which makes if far lower per meter than most other microwires I've seen.   

https://midwesttungsten.com/tungsten-wire-99-95-pure-0-003-diameters-500-meter-spool/

while bright, it can be obtained dull / unpolished, which might make it more ideal for scale optics. 

Not likely a solution for a stiffer 1" N scale wire for hand grips.  But as it is smaller and cheaper than anything I've found in the sub 1" N scale wire range, it might be an ideal small & strong solution for telephone / telegraph / power lines?   

[peteski]

Not likely a solution for a stiffer 1" N scale wire for hand grips.  But as it is smaller and cheaper than anything I've found in the sub 1" N scale wire range, it might be an ideal small & strong solution for telephone / telegraph / power lines?

I'm sure it would make a fine scale wire for modeling the items you mentioned, but probably only for a display layout or a diorama sitting in a dust-free display case.  Remember, the snag-factor? It will happen on anylayout where there is a regular operating crew.  And even if the fire is strong enough not to break while accidentally snagged, the insulators, crossarms, or even poles will then break instead.  That's why modelers either do not install wires, or use stretchy material for wires on "live" layouts.  I also said "dust-free" for the same reason - the wire could be snagged while cleaning dust off the layout.

Just being realistic here . . .

[mmagliaro]

I use 5/64" dowels for telephone poles (about a 12.5" pole in N Scale), with basswood strip crossarms,
and Sommerfeldt catenary insulators.  I know they aren't really correct, but they are small enough that I honestly don't care.

And yes... Berkshire Junction EZ Line so that every time I rerail a car or poke my hand in and forget the wire is there, it is very forgiving and reminds me before I tear my poles all to pieces!

The poles are poked into the foam base with Foam Tack Glue (or Aileen's Tacky Glue) so that even the poles themselves will bend over and flex back somewhat unless you really clobber them.