Hand laid turnout question

[Bob]

Bob and others: how do you cut your insulating gaps in your rails?  The ones in the photo look great - nice and thin and straight.

[Santa Fe Guy]

Bob and others: how do you cut your insulating gaps in your rails?  The ones in the photo look great - nice and thin and straight.

I still use my Dremel and a large cut off disk. The newer Dremels are smaller and with the large disk they have available now I get pretty good results. I then fill the gap with styrene apply super glue, let it dry a few days then file the styrene to the shape of the rail. If you can find black styrene all the better.
Rod.

[robert3985]

Bob and others: how do you cut your insulating gaps in your rails?  The ones in the photo look great - nice and thin and straight.

On my turnouts, which get their gaps cut then they're on the workbench, I use a quality jeweler's brace with the finest and thinnest blade I can find.  I got both the brace and the blades at my local jewelry supply shop. However, Fast Tracks has one that might fit the bill on their website.

If I need to cut a gap after the rail is down, I use a very thin cutoff disk and my Foredom Rotary Tool, since the handpiece is about the diameter of a cigar.  Ya gotta be really careful when using a Dremel or other rotary tool and a cut-off disc to cut gaps in the rail, because all it takes is just a little slip and you can nick the adjacent rail quite drastically before you can blink!

Where does one source Code 30 rail? 

Amazing turnouts/trackwork by the way, I'm extremely impressed and jealous of the ability shown!

I am sure that my buddy Gregg got his spools of ribbon rail from the 2mm Association in Britain as has been suggested.  However, the ribbon rail he has is not "square" but quite rectangular, with slightly rounded surfaces on the top and bottom.

Photo (1) - One of Gregg's C30 Ribbon Rail three-way stub switches at the Rico Yard.  Note the rectangular shape of the ribbon rail:


Gregg solders his ribbon rail to PCB ties every 7th tie.  I would have done it every 5th tie, as I do my C40 branchline trackage.  However, Gregg hasn't had a problem soldering his rails every 7th tie.

If you look closely, you'll see that Gregg puts quite a big blob of solder every 7th tie.  This is because of the rounded top and bottom of the ribbon rail, to give it extra support since it doesn't have a foot.

There's no need to be envious of those of us who build our own turnouts.  I ain't rocket-science.  It's easy to be both impressed and intimidated by looking at hand-laid turnouts, because they are complex, with lots of parts.  However, I've taught quite a few N-scale modelers how to build their own turnouts, and at least half of them didn't know how to solder, or how to properly hold a file.  Basic skills is all it takes, and attention to detail.  Truthfully, Fast Tracks has taken the mystery out of it.

Silver bearing - 6% silver. Lead free. I have to max out my adjustable iron to get it to flow. To date, not one failure (writer knocks on wood)

Kind regards,
Bill

Bill, the silver bearing solid core solder I get from H & N Electronics is 96/4 tin/silver, and melts at 460 deg. F, which is only 30 deg. F more than ordinary 60/40 Tin/Lead solder.  When I'm not using my resistance soldering station, my old Archer 35W iron with a wedge tip works great!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[robert3985]

Hey Bob, do you happen to know if the proto87 hinges are a problem for Micro-Trains 'pizza cutters'?

I don't run pizza cutters on my layout, so I can't say for certain if they'll cause a problem or not.  However, pizza cutters run without interference on PCB hand-laid C40 trackage, which is actually..what?  Code 43??

If I had a lot of rolling stock and engines which rolled on pizza cutters, I would order a fret of P87Stores throwbars and point heel hinges, and cobble up a facsimile of the hinges and test them, making sure that I was pressing firmly downward on the hinges so they're pressed down on the tops of the rail foot.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[matze]

If it's simply square it sounds like this would do it.  Square Nickel Silver half hard jewelry wire.  20 gauge is about .030".  Other sizes are available. 
https://www.wirejewelry.com/nickel-silver-wire-square/20_Gauge_Square_Half_Hard_Nickel_Silver_Wire-15523-785.html

Sorry, I meant to say that it does not have a profile with railhead/foot. It's cross-section is rather rectangular, actually. I can take measurements later, if that would help?

[DKS]

I happen to have dabbled in Code 25. Like Bob's friend's rail, it's actually rectangular. I special-ordered the nickel-silver wire from Radcliff Wire in Bristol, Conn. The minimum order was by weight (10 or 15 pounds, IIRC), so I have no idea how much I got, but it was in the thousands of feet. I think it cost in the neighborhood of $300, back in the early 2000s.

I handlaid a couple of N Scale turnouts...





I also used it for Z Scale track:

           

           



To enhance realism, I used PC board ties with the copper cladding cut down to tie plate-sized rectangles after soldering on the rail.

 

[Dave V]

Bob, that Nn3 trackage is breathtaking.  I thought the 3-way in HOn3 for my Rico yard would be the end of me and I didn't even build it myself!

[jdcolombo]

Jeez.  After seeing all this gorgeous, extraordinarily complicated, hand-built trackwork, I'm going to crawl in a cave and not come out again . . .

John C.

[narrowminded]

To enhance realism, I used PC board ties with the copper cladding cut down to tie plate-sized rectangles after soldering on the rail.

It's funny that you said that.  I was considering cutting all ties like this, maybe using styrene as Robert mentioned.  It wouldn't be that hard to mill them and they could also be used to aid in maintaining the gauge.  For now, I'm going to stay with the conventional methods to gain experience but I could see something like that in the future.   And those pics ARE amazing, trackwork and beyond.

[Bill H]

Bill, the silver bearing solid core solder I get from H & N Electronics is 96/4 tin/silver, and melts at 460 deg. F, which is only 30 deg. F more than ordinary 60/40 Tin/Lead solder.  When I'm not using my resistance soldering station, my old Archer 35W iron with a wedge tip works great!
Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

Hi Bob:
I use 6% silver instead of the more usual 4%, a little stronger, and more difficult to melt. Harris Stay-Brite 8.
http://www.harrisproductsgroup.com/en/Products/Alloys/Soldering/Lead-Free-Solders/stay-brite-8.aspx
Kind regards,
Bill

[Bill H]

Bob and others: how do you cut your insulating gaps in your rails?  The ones in the photo look great - nice and thin and straight.

Bob:
I use a jeweler's saw with a very fine blade. I find a cutoff wheel, even with the finest thickness, leaves too large a gap and the angle necessary to get a good vertical cut difficult because of the inherent thickness of my dremel.

Kind regards,
Bill

[narrowminded]

Bob:
I use a jeweler's saw with a very fine blade. I find a cutoff wheel, even with the finest thickness, leaves too large a gap and the angle necessary to get a good vertical cut difficult because of the inherent thickness of my dremel.

Kind regards,
Bill

Do you or anybody else have an actual dimension of the blade thickness you're using?  The saw I've had for a while has .012" blades and for Nn3 code 40 I suspect that even .012" will look pretty large.

[robert3985]

Bob, that Nn3 trackage is breathtaking.  I thought the 3-way in HOn3 for my Rico yard would be the end of me and I didn't even build it myself!

Dave @Dave V - Yup.  Gregg's work really IS breathtaking.  You should see what he's filling his basement up with for even more loss of breath! Especially for any RGS afficionado like yourself. 

DKS @David K. Smith - Holy Krap! 'Nuf said!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Bill H]

Do you or anybody else have an actual dimension of the blade thickness you're using?  The saw I've had for a while has .012" blades and for Nn3 code 40 I suspect that even .012" will look pretty large.

Mark:
I use a 3/0 blade which is 0.010" in width and looks OK to me on code 40. You could go to a 4/0 to a 6/0 blade but you have to be really careful and very patient or you will break a lot of blades.

Kind regards,
Bill

[narrowminded]

I use a 3/0 blade which is 0.010" in width and looks OK to me on code 40. You could go to a 4/0 to a 6/0 blade but you have to be really careful and very patient or you will break a lot of blades.

Thanks for that specific answer, Bill.

I ordered some #6/0 blades, .007" thick, to try with those I already have.  I think I can get through with them, if necessary using a pair of sacrificial cut/ guide plates on each side, possibly as part of a guide fixture if the reality of the proportions prove difficult.  They are 76 tooth blades so wouldn't need a terribly thick set of guides to stop the blade from hooking the rail.  In practice I may find I'm overly concerned but I'm comfortable that I have an out if any of these concerns surface in construction.  But I think I do want the thinner cut.