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

[GaryHinshaw]

I have been experimenting with the air hose detail on the etched pockets over the last week or so but I haven't hit on anything I like better than Ed's etched hose (which is being tweaked for the next rev).    The issue with the present rev is that the hose is a bit too short (fixable) and it's almost invisible (but close to prototypical).

I tried using some heat shrink tubing around the etched hose to give it more "body", but I was unable to find any that was small enough to work well.

I also tried some wire insulation: the best looking was 36 ga, which has an outside dia. of  about 0.016" (2.5", N scale).  But this was too small to push onto the existing etched part, so I cut it short and pushed the insulation onto the stub.  Sadly, the insulation is too stiff to retain any curvature, so it doesn't look very good.  It might be possible to etch a thinner hose that the insulation would fit over, but it's not obvious that it would look much better than a re-worked etched part. 

I was fantasizing about trying some magnets with this approach, but at such a small size, my guess is that they'd be too weak to overcome the stiffness of the insulation.  Something like monofilament is probably better, but that would just hang down and look dumb on cars that aren't coupled.  All in all, way more trouble than it's worth.  The etched hoses are probably still the best and simplest way to go.

-gfh

[DKS]

You know, I thought of that (or something similar) about 10 minutes after posting. The über-small cylinder magnets can also be polarized transversely if you're talking about a custom order, but keeping the N-S versus left-right orientation straight would be... uh... "fun".

That's pretty simple too, actually. Use a magnet permanently mounted on a jig to establish the orientation of those being attached to the hoses.

[Mark5]

I won't go into body-mounting MT's since there is plenty of excellent literature on that.  In any case, I have been looking for alternatives to MT to avoid the slinky effect, so I started to look more at Accumates and McHenrys.  Since McHenrys don't come with pockets, one has to make something up for body-mounting.  I was intrigued by Bryan Bussey's idea of using rectangular brass tubing to make coupler pockets and came up with a minor mod that I thought I would share.  The basic parts are shown here:



The pocket is 3/32 x 3/16 brass tubing.  The Accumate is top left, the McHenry (with a 1-72 screw in the shank hole) is top right.  The mod I made is to use a 1-72 x 3/32 set screw (headless) in place of Bryan's 00-90 screw + 1/16 tubing combo.  <snip>

To assemble, just start the screw, add an MT truck washer on the bottom (sliced a bit to fit), insert the shank, then set the screw.  The result, especially with the McHenry, is an extremely robust assembly:





It works equally well with the Accumates: (no more exploding Accumates with this)


<snip>
In this example, the set screw is 1/8" back from the pocket face.  It should probably be back a bit further with the Accumate.

Nods to Bryan and Gary for this.

I'm gonna give this a try. It looks like all but the set screw is available from K&S (tubing, 1-72 tap & dies). I need to source the set screws and whatever size allen wrench that goes with it (Gary?).

I plan to use the Accumates since they are easy to get and not as huge to my eye as the Mchenry.

[GaryHinshaw]

Hi Mark,

I had to dig a bit, but I did relocate my source for the set screws:

http://www.fastener-express.com/1-72-x-332-set-screw-cup-point-alloy-qty-20.aspx

and I discussed them a bit more here.  I don't recall that I ever actually got a suitable allen wrench for these - my recollection is that I made do with a jeweler's screwdriver that fit in the head.  But Fastener Express carries wrenches and could probably point you to a suitable one.

If I were going to be doing a lot of these, I would want to have some better tools than I do for metal working.  For example, a mini chop saw, like this one would be quite handy (I don't know if that one is any good though).  A mini drill press would also be handy for getting the hole locations precise.  This was one factor that lead me towards the etched pockets.

Hope it works for you though!
-gfh

[Chris333]

If you are looking to buy that mini chop saw you might want to look at this:
http://www.harborfreight.com/bench-top-cut-off-saw-42307.html

I don't have either, but HF is ~$50 less.

[GaryHinshaw]

Good grief, $28 for any power tool is ridiculously cheap.  Seems like the blade mounting screw was the biggest complaint, but one reviewer had a suggested improvement.  For that price it's definitely worth a try.

[Smike]

Harbor Fright is impossibly cheap. I feel guilty when I walk out of that store. Some stuff is just land fill material, while other stuff actually works better than expected. I picked up a compressor with a 3 gal tank, and double action air brush for $75. So far it’s working perfect. Not at the level of an Iwata, but more than good enough for what I’m doing. 

[Iain]

Suggestion for the 36 AWG insulation as brake hose:  Heat it while holding it to the proper curve (long piece works better).  This is what I did for brake hose on the sharks I used to own:

[ednadolski]

I have some good news on the coupler availability front.   I've just received my special order from Bowser for additional couplers, and I was able to buy them as a standalone part without any truck/wheels/box at a cost of $0.50 per coupler ($1 per pair), plus shipping.    Now I have enough couplers to continue with conversions and testing.

Here is a quick picture. (I noted that these arrived with the trip pin clipped off.  I had not specifically requested that these be cut off, but that's fine by me since it saves me the task of doing it myself.)



Anyone interested can order these directly by calling Lee English at Bowser as follows (with thanks to Gary for putting together the contact info).   Be sure to specify the Bowser Z-scale coupler only, with no truck and no coupler box.  Figure on a timeframe of about 3-4 weeks.

Phone: 570-368-2379 Monday to Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm ET
Orders: 800-327-5126 Monday to Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm ET
Fax: 570-368-5046: (24 hours a day)
E-Mail: bowser@bowser-trains.com

They don't have a separate part number for this item, so there is no provision for a simple web-site purchase at this time.

As for the pockets, I've put together an updated fret which I have sent out for etching.   The main differences are that the air hose is better sized, and some areas have been beefed up a bit for better strength.   As soon as these arrive I'll post more pics.

Cheers!
Ed

[Smike]

Great news ED!

I will get on the horn and order some up. I've been dying to try out your coupler box samples with these. I also need to upgrade the Bluford transfer caboose, as for some reason the stock ones on that look massively oversized.

Mike

[GaryHinshaw]

Glad to hear they arrived.  I placed my order a few weeks ago.  Once those, and the new fret of pockets, arrive, it's off to the races!  Big thanks to Bowser for agreeing to make these available standalone.



P.S. I'm continuing to torture test the conversions I've done so far and they're doing great under pretty stressful conditions.

[Denver Road Doug]

This is good news indeed.  Any idea about when the pockets will be made available to JQP and how much?

[GaryHinshaw]

The v3 pockets arrived today from PPD:



I did a quick fit test and they seem to be good.  Sadly I won't have time for any test installations for the next several days, but maybe Ed will, then we can start collecting orders for a group buy.  The new air hose detail looks good, as do the other tweaks.

I'd say the pieces of this project have now come together, thanks mostly to Ed and Bowser.
-gfh

[Denver Road Doug]

Can you tell me how many pockets are on a fret?   Want to go ahead and order the couplers and trying to avoid the "10 weenies and 8 hot dog buns" scenario.      

[GaryHinshaw]

Ed set up two custom frets for this run, one for each of us.  I got about 80 pair of pockets on half of an A4 sheet.  The pocket artwork is modular, so I think the setup for the next run depends on demand.   Don't know pricing yet...