Post by Wayne Kinney on Jun 20, 2013 16:55:40 GMT
Hi Guys,
You should now have received your BETA B Switch Blade Filing Jig.
The Jig makes filing Switch blades very easy, but there is a small bit of soldering to do to strengthen up the rail.
1st prepare a piece of rail long enough to become the switch blade (this will reach all the way to the frog, but not touch the frog).
Your aim is to fill the recess of one side of the rail with solder, strengthening the rail for filing. This is a very easy job if using the correct tools. You will need a flat/chisel end soldering tip, and some flux. I am using a paste type flux. Without the flux, it is unlikely that the solder will flow into and along the recess of the rail:
Introduce flux into the recess of the rail, about 20mm length. Wipe off any excess off the top and bottom of the rail, so that there is only flux in the recess:
With a clean tip on your soldering iron (a 2mm chisel tip is ideal), tin the end of your iron tip with a little solder. Then hold the iron onto the rail, the flux will start to work its magic and the solder run into the recess. Start moving the iron tip along the rail, keeping good pressure onto the rail, allowing heat to be transfered to the rail. Once done, clean up with a file:
Now you can insert the rail into the filing jig. You want to file the opposite side to the solder, don't file the solder side. Undo the thumbscrew on the jig, insert the rail from the side of the jig. I recommend placing the rail half way up the jig to begin with, and file off the sharp end of the rail:
Start filing very lightly, its easy for the file to grab the end of the rail and bend it. Once filing has started, you can increase pressure gradually:
Once filed down, you can move the rail up close to the end of the jig, and continue filing. It should only take about 10 minutes to file off. Just be patient:
You should now have received your BETA B Switch Blade Filing Jig.
The Jig makes filing Switch blades very easy, but there is a small bit of soldering to do to strengthen up the rail.
1st prepare a piece of rail long enough to become the switch blade (this will reach all the way to the frog, but not touch the frog).
Your aim is to fill the recess of one side of the rail with solder, strengthening the rail for filing. This is a very easy job if using the correct tools. You will need a flat/chisel end soldering tip, and some flux. I am using a paste type flux. Without the flux, it is unlikely that the solder will flow into and along the recess of the rail:
Introduce flux into the recess of the rail, about 20mm length. Wipe off any excess off the top and bottom of the rail, so that there is only flux in the recess:
With a clean tip on your soldering iron (a 2mm chisel tip is ideal), tin the end of your iron tip with a little solder. Then hold the iron onto the rail, the flux will start to work its magic and the solder run into the recess. Start moving the iron tip along the rail, keeping good pressure onto the rail, allowing heat to be transfered to the rail. Once done, clean up with a file:
Now you can insert the rail into the filing jig. You want to file the opposite side to the solder, don't file the solder side. Undo the thumbscrew on the jig, insert the rail from the side of the jig. I recommend placing the rail half way up the jig to begin with, and file off the sharp end of the rail:
Start filing very lightly, its easy for the file to grab the end of the rail and bend it. Once filing has started, you can increase pressure gradually:
Once filed down, you can move the rail up close to the end of the jig, and continue filing. It should only take about 10 minutes to file off. Just be patient: