Making a Start

[philhendry]

Hi folks,

I've got a lot of stuff I ought to be doing, but I don't feel very well today, so I'm not doing the 'ought to' stuff.  Instead I'm 'making a start' on the point.  So far that consists of taking a couple of photos of the bits, and perusing them and the beginnings of the instructions, so I can start to figure out how I'd prefer to assemble it...

Taking into account things like how best to make electrical connections to it; think about whether coupling it to a point motor of any sort is going to be possible or a good idea, etc.

As I make progress, I'll try to keep this thread updated.

Cheers,
Phil

[philhendry]

I assume that the cast frog will be soldered to the switch rail, which will be one piece running from the frog casting, i.e. different to the Peco system where the moving end of the switch rail is 'hinged' to a fixed part. So the switch rail will have to 'bend' (a little) when the blades move?

By nature I'm a creature which likes to plan things before starting them - so I'm not at all confident about starting the assembly itself until I've got all the bits and can look at them all together, and see any pitfalls, or ways I think I might prefer to assemble the thing.

I think I'm just missing the point blades - there does seem to be a tie bar included. 

Cheers,
Phil

[Wayne Kinney]

Hi Phil,

Glad to see you are preparing for the build.

The caster will be casting the switch blades this week, so I should be able to forward them Early next week

[philhendry]

My filing jig arrived today. Came as quite a surprise - I'd forgotten I was expecting a packet at all, let alone the jig. So I guess, given that I already have a tie bar, that I must just about have everything I need to start?

[Wayne Kinney]

Good to hear the jig arrived.

With the jig, you can now file the switch blades. You will need a good quality file, and also flux and solder (the intended method is to fill the rail recess on the oposite side of filing, with solder to strengthen the rail.

I will post photos and instructions in an hour or so.

Still to come will be 2x cast chairs with pins, and an assembly Jig to solder this cast chairs onto the switch blades. I will also be sending a new tie bar.

[philhendry]

I'm sorry to have been so slow about this - I've had a very, very, busy time this summer. But I have a couple of days free, so I have made a start on the turnout this morning. First up was the stock rails. I decided that the method which was likely to suit me best was to thread the chairs onto the rail, and then fit them to the base, as Mark did. That was quite successful, and the part-built turnout is sitting on my workbench with the glue drying as I type this.

Just watching the videos, I don't think I have the correct tie-bar - mine has only one, central, hole. Incidentally, a couple of things regarding the videos...

First off, because of my preferred learning style, I find the videos really hard to cope with - I very, very, much prefer diagrams and text to video!  It's very hard to plan the work when you're supposed to watch a video, and other than watching them again, they're hard to refer to.

Secondly, having had a career in low-temperature physics, designing and building very, very, fine pieces of apparatus, please can I comment on your filing technique? In the workshops the technicians taught us that the file should only be in contact with the work on the forward (cutting) stroke, and should then be lifted off the work.  There are three reasons for this - firstly because it reduces clogging of the teeth, secondly because you achieve a better finish, and thirdly because the teeth don't become dull as quickly.

Cheers,
Phil

[Wayne Kinney]

Hi Phil,

No problem at all. I sent out one tie bar with the first delivery of the kit, and an updated tie bar with either the filing or assembly jig.

Understand about the video, I have written instruction for the production version, however the method is slightly different. In the production version, the assembly jig is slightly different, and the 0.4mm pin is instead soldered to the chair plate Rather than going through the tie bottom first, as in the video).

It maybe best to purchase one of the new Switch Blade Filing & Assembly Jigs (£12 www.britishfinescale.com/product-p/switch-filing-jig-b.htm ) and I will pop in a tie bar.

Instructions for this are here: www.shoot35.com/Switch%20Blade%20Filing%20and%20Soldering%20Jig%20Instructions.pdf