Robert,
Very nice turnout work. I have a few more questions to follow up on Ed's if I may. To make my questions more clear, I annotated one of your photos and re-posted it here - I hope you don't object:
My questions:
1. Is the material indicated by the green arrow simply the end of the brass wire filed to shape, or is this somehow one of Andy's throw-bar clips reshaped?
2. Do you solder the actuating throw-bar (blue arrow) to the points, or let them pivot along the point web?
3. Have you ever had a problem with a PC throw-bar bridging a gap in a head tie (red oval) causing a short?
I have done a similar build using Andy's solderable clips, as shown, e.g. in the 2nd photo of this post. I like your (and his) idea of having a solid mechanical connection to the point base through a hole, but I couldn't make it work with the pre-drilled point holes (they are too far from the point tips) and I don't have the tools to easily drill my own. (By the way, have you been able to drill holes in the base of code 40 rail?) I ended up relying on a soldered connection for this throw-bar, including a small fillet where the point clip touches the point. Since there is no torsional stress on this joint, and very little stress during actuation (since the actuating throw-bar carries most of the load by pushing directly on the point web) they *should* be pretty durable - and they seem to be - but only time will tell....
Thanks,
Gary
Gary,
No, I don't mind at all. Posting photos and explaining what I'm doing is my way of getting a hopefully better way of making turnouts made public and overcoming some common problems that exist with nearly every one made.
Firstly, I am not using Andy's etched throwbars. What you see in the photo are just the .015" brass rods filed a little to shape after they're installed. I just take a LITTLE off of them. I don't want to compromise their durability.
Secondly, I am careful to NOT solder the brass rod to the points, or the points to the PCB tie under the throwbars. I drill .015" holes through the rail foots (feet) at appropriate points. I have found that Andy's holes can be used sometimes if I clip off a lot of the pointy end of the points, but only as the second set of holes furthest from the headblocks towards the frog. I still have to drill the first set of holes, positioned midway between the headblocks.
I want there to be a "hinge" at both ends of the closure rails. An easy way to ensure that solder does not flow into the hole is to coat the PCB tie under the rail (and surrounding the hole in the PCB tie) with simply pencil graphite. I just use a pointy #2 pencil to do this.
I carefully position the points where I want them to be as far as the point gap is concerned, and use the holes in the rails as guides to drill matching holes through the PCB tie I'll solder my .015" brass rod "throwbars" to. To make it easier, I leave the PCB portion of the throwbar long so it sticks out from under the rails enough to be taped to my workbench (I trim them to proper length after the holes are drilled and dressed). I also stick a spare .015" piece of wire into the first hole (through both the hole in the point rail and the hole in the PCB tie underneath it) I've drilled into the PCB tie under the point rail to hold the point and PCB tie in proper relationship to drill the second hole.
Make sure you "dress" the holes you've drilled into the PCB ties with a significantly larger bit to remove any burrs from around the holes, both tops and bottoms.
Thirdly, I have not had a problem with the copper cladding making a short across the throwbar and headblocks. However, I HAVE had, in the past, a tiny, loose shard of copper bridge gaps in my PCB ties. With DC it always went up in flash and a puff of smoke. I'm thinking with DCC it wouldn't do that, but it hasn't happened since I converted to DCC.
I always check for continuity and shorts with my multimeter before I sock my turnouts down, and I always make sure that I file the edges of my headblock ties and the throwbar tie to get rid of rough edges or shards of copper bridging gaps. I also give all of my trackwork a coat of Krylon flat black to give the PCB ties, solder joints, Delrin and Styrene ties and the sides of the rails a common base coat to paint and weather. This coat also forms an insulative layer to further ensure no shorts or loose copper shards.
Drilling small holes is very easy and doesn't require expensive special tools. It's especially easy on brass and nickel silver and this is how I do it.
You'll need a new, SHARP drill bit, a little 30 weight oil (or beeswax), a sharp center punch (I use a special carbide rod I've ground to a sharp, precise point) or a sharp dental pick to put a starting dimple in the foot of the rail near the web.
You'll also need a small chuck that goes down to 0 (zero), or a quality pin vice that will allow you to chuck the rear of it into a cordless drill or screwdriver.
And, you'll need the smallest cordless drill or cordless screwdriver you can find with a 1/4" chuck.
First, locate the hole you're going to drill by positioning and cutting the point rail to the proper length. Use your dental pick or center punch to put a "dimple" in exactly the correct spot on the foot of the rail, close to the rail web.
Then, chuck up your new, sharp drill bit so that only about 1/4" of it is sticking out of the chuck. Chuck your little "0" chuck, or your precision pin vice into your cordless drill or screwdriver, and put a little oil or beeswax on the tip of the drill bit.
Next, position the point of your drill bit onto the "dimple" you've made on the foot of the rail. You'll be able to feel if the dimple is holding the tip in place. If it isn't, then use your dental pick or center punch and press more firmly this time.
Position the tip of your drill bit again on the dimple and see if it holds the bit. If it does, take the tip of the drill bit off of the dimple and, using your cordless screwdriver, start spinning it slowly (SLOWLY...between 10 and 5 revolutions per second), and place it on the dimple and press very gently.
You should see a curl of nickel silver coming off the point of the bit. It will take about ten seconds for it to go through the foot of the rail. Don't press too hard.
"Dress" the hole with another drill bit that's about .060" by chucking it up in another pin vice (if you have one) and spinning it on the hole you've just drilled. Do this gently as you want to remove just the burrs.
VOILA!...you're done.
You can actually do this without a cordless drill or screwdriver just by using the pin vice, but it takes a lot longer.
NEVER use a variable speed Dremel or equivalent rotary grinder as the slowest speed they handle is 3,000 RPM, which will "cook" your little drill bit in about half a second.
The difficult part is to make sure you're holding the pin vice in the correct relationship to the piece you're drilling. For instance, the top of the foot of rail is not parallel to the base. If you attempt to drill a hole through it from the top of the foot but perpendicular to the base, your bit will crawl because it's not perpendicular to the top surface. I start the hole by holding my drill perpendicular to the top surface, and after I see the first curl of metal come off, I change my position so my drill is perpendicular to the bottom surface, and continue drilling until I'm through.
Once you've done a few, you'll see it's easy.
Yes, your soldered throwbars will probably work just fine if you're using Andy's hinges. The trick is to not have a rigid parallelogram, and with Andy's hinges, you'll never have that. Also, with code 40, it's a lot more flexible than code 55, which alleviates the soldered points problem even more. However, I've had bad luck with my code 55 soldered points, and even if they were easily soldered back on when they broke the solder joint, I wanted a purely mechanical connection for better appearance and zero failures.
We'll see how they work, but I believe they'll be much more durable than mere solder...but...they are a lot of work.
Cheers!
Bob Gilmore.
