Best Of Notes on body-mount couplers (work-in-progress)

[ednadolski]

Soldering the lids on was more of a challenge, in particular trying to limit the heat build-up, hold the pocket still, and limit the amount of solder.  I settled on a method of holding the parts in a heat sink and used as little flux and solder as possible.

I use a small scrap of plywood with a thin slot cut by a razor say blade.  I lay the (formed) pocket body upside-down, so that the 'buffer plate' sits in the slot.  This holds it steady enough to place the lid, apply flux, and then solder.  I usually do about 12 or so at a time. Very little solder is needed.

Ed

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks for the responses Ed.  I've had the same experience with 905's and was never motivated to try and solve it.  These LEZ couplers really fit the bill for me.

Good to see this coming along Tim.  RE the length, could you use the shank hole in the body to mount the box?  That way you could trim the back flange off entirely.  Not sure if the screw holes on an Atlas hopper are compatible with this though.

For posterity, my technique for assembling the boxes is as follows:

1. Trim the body piece shorter, if necessary, before folding.
2. Fold the sides into a channel, but leave the buffer plate unfolded for now.
3. Fold the back flap of the lid.
4. Press fit the lid onto the tabs on the channel, brush a bit of flux on the lid around the tabs.
5. Put a drop of solder on a fine-point iron and touch it to each tab.  The solder will typically wick into the joint and require no filing.  While soldering, I hold the assembly in place by pressing down on the lid with a wooden toothpick.
6. Finally, fold the buffer plate and air hose pieces.

[reinhardtjh]

Did anyone ever check to see if these are still available separately?  I thought someone was going to ask with in the last year or so.

[GaryHinshaw]

I understand that @ai5629 contacted Lee English about the couplers a few months ago and Lee confirmed that he will still sell them, but only in bulk: a minimum of 50 pr.  I believe the price is still $1.60/pr.  The process is by direct email:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=21980.msg324793#msg324793

Sadly, the only avenue for getting the boxes is through me or Ed ordering from PPD and distributing them ourselves.  I'd love to find a way to make these available without involving us as middlemen.  I might contact PPD to see if they would support 3rd party orders, since they have the artwork.  Other distribution avenues are also being explored.

[ai5629]

I was able to get 50 pairs of FT couplers from Bowser this past Winter.  I have been waiting for a group buy of the coupler box frets since obtaining them.  Hopefully I and others will be able to get them via a group buy or directly from PPD.  It would be a tragedy if these were not made available at least one more time.  Thank you.

Jeff

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks for the update Jeff.  We'll get you some one way or another!

[ednadolski]

Sadly, the only avenue for getting the boxes is through me or Ed ordering from PPD and distributing them ourselves.  I'd love to find a way to make these available without involving us as middlemen.  I might contact PPD to see if they would support 3rd party orders, since they have the artwork.  Other distribution avenues are also being explored.

The caveat is that a single full fret is rather large, and the quantities of each type were estimated based upon what folks were asking for at the time the fret was designed.   So whoever orders the fret(s) takes that chance of ending up with a number of parts that no one wants.

Changing the fret is doable, but (a) will take time to re-draw; and (b) will have to incur the cost of a new photo-tool.


Ed

[Mark5]

Availabilty is the reason I have stayed away from the FT couplers (pure and simple).

If they ever become easy to get - I would be very interested.

[GaryHinshaw]

Reviving a very old topic with new technology.  As reported elsewhere, I got a new 3-d printer for xmas and I've spent the last week trying it out on various design ideas.  Here's a new concept for a 3-d printed LEZ coupler pocket that I'm quite happy with now.  The basic idea is a box with an integral post and a retaining ring around the pulling face with a lid that slides on and plugs in from the back of the box.   The photo below shows the build progression, and a grab of the drawing:





This box has no provisions for mounting (other than gluing it to a car, say) but the design is intended as a module that can be incorporated into a larger design that includes mounting provisions.  As an example, I incorporated this into a replacement end-frame for a Kato Maxi-I well car set (a work in progress), as shown in the following sequence:











I need to tweak the dimensions of the plug at the back of the lid, as the fit is quite tight at the moment, but once that is dialled in, I'm happy to share the .stl files with anyone who wants to use and improve the design.  It's really dead simple, and with the advent of affordable at-home 3-d printing, the possibilities for customizing are virtually endless.

I also welcome comments on suggested design improvements.  My motivation was to have all the structural elements (the post and retainer) part of the box itself and to have the lid be easily removable, and serve only the function of keeping the coupler in the box.

[Bendtracker1]

That's a real clever design with that sliding lid Gary!

[C855B]

Awesome. Awesome awesome awesome! If the astrophysics gig doesn't work out, you have a future in industrial design.   

Seriously, that's really impressive, especially holding tolerances as well as you have.

Curious... does the LEZ auto-couple to the MTL TSC? It would be cool if it did, but the TSC couples to itself very tightly so I have to wonder.

[John]

what couplers are those?

[Mark5]

what couplers are those?

I'm guessing Lee English Zscale.

[ednadolski]

I'm guessing Lee English Zscale.

Yes, the name has sort of evolved over time.  They are a Z-scale coupler made by Lee English, who works for Bowser, but initially were obtained by @GaryHinshaw thru the folks at Full Throttle (a Z-scale shop) so you might occasionally hear or see them referred to as "Full Throttle Couplers" or "FTs".   That reference is obsolete however, as is "Bowser Bucklers" (which refers to the Z-scale trucks that included the coupler).

A bit more of the history:  https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=21980.msg206840#msg206840

These couplers have worked well for me over the years since this effort came about, as they are strong, reliable, and eliminate the slinky (note, my use case is long trains with little actual switching, where a slinky action is a fatal flaw).   I haven't done much new work with them lately, as my own N-scale modeling work has taken a back seat to various "life happens" kind of stuff over the last few years.   There have also been some stretches of wait-and-see as other coupler types (such as the @DKS Protomate and the Micro-Trains Tru-Scale designs) have been explored as alternatives to the sizing and slinky problems of the traditional Micro-Trains couplers.    It should be noted that the LEZs are distinct from those and are not to be confused with them.

Availability-wise, these posts have the latest info that I am aware of:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=21980.msg324793#msg324793
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=21980.msg628156#msg628156
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=21980.msg628180#msg628180

HTH,
Ed

[wazzou]

Would it be possible to sub part of the post with a hole for a screw to more easily mount to other cars?