Alternative Rail Roller Tool?

[cbroughton67]

I know that Fast Tracks offers a "rail roller" tool for about $90, but does anyone else know of a similar tool to put smooth curves in rail? It looks similar to a fret wire tool used by guitar luthiers. Would that work for rail, too? After watching the YouTube video below, I'm curious. For reference:

What started this:

Fast Tracks RailRoller:
https://handlaidtrack.com/product/tl-0004/

$36 Fret Bender on:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/115910881560?hash=item1afcd3b118:g:mMgAAOSwNm9k-86D&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwP9VRkDIEh2qCY9qV2vGXrkilBOaonCxJtNT%2FTxm0DL9Yb79yf0IKOe3PALINggy9vwNpzcIPtiv80x2inxsGrlfoNbrjodXpJfTRCWpvVm7n3U6%2F3TrDVBEKIZ0hYqhbbnSWFh2wybQwQJVPilf%2Bl0nUnaRixhqfpZRyL3Yn1Bhcy1TSmo7hqQva0KayhJxVdAA2ELa1Nv8UU8qGnjRa9P4GqhS2j9NM3OuxbkK4JkjDEPDpFGoInd2z9gLtUEkXA%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7LHmKmdYw
Thanks,Chris

[rodsup9000]

I have seen a single and duel rail benders for code 250 and 332. I have a duel bender with dies for both rail sizes.  I made the one I use for N scale.
 I just insert the plate for the radius I want and start sliding it along the track.





 Here it has the straight plate in it.




 A curved plate in it

[mmagliaro]

I made one from a watch case opener.  Cost was about $28 total for the case opener and 3 bearings.

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=51774.0

[Chris333]

I made one out of 3 bearings. The bearings are rounded just enough to make the base of the rail tuck into it and hold it tight. No fancy screw setting on mine, you need to loosen a nut to change the setting. But hey it was free from spare parts.

[cbroughton67]

I made one out of 3 bearings. The bearings are rounded just enough to make the base of the rail tuck into it and hold it tight. No fancy screw setting on mine, you need to loosen a nut to change the setting. But hey it was free from spare parts.

I like this, Max. Absent a lathe, how would you recommend turning the pins to fit the bearings? Are the pins replaceable? I found a watch case opener on eBay for $7, so I'm going to give this a try.


Thanks!
Chris

[Chris333]

This is mine. Not pretty. The odd shape is just some scrap metal.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

[mmagliaro]

Chris (B):
Chris333's is probably easier to make if you don't have a lathe because you can just buy 3 bearings from someplace like Boca Bearings that are a convenient size, and choose them to have inside diameter bores that are close to an easily available
bolt size.  I do confess that I like the long bolt adjustment on mine that lets you just dial -in how much pressure you want to put on the center bearing to affect the bend radius.

The main reason I had to use a lathe was that I bought the opener and the 3 bearings in separate purchases, not quite understanding how the opener went together.  I didn't plan on using the pins at all.  But that turned out to be more trouble
than it was worth.  So I decided to use the pins it came with.  Unfortunately,  the pin diameter didn't match my bearing bore, so I turned the pins down to make them fit in the bearings, because I'm stubborn that way.  I could just have easily have waited for the case opener to arrive, measured the pin diameter, ordered 3 bearings with the same inside bore as those pins, and then the lathe would not have been necessary.

And sadly, I cannot remember, nor do I have any notes or old emails with the part number for those grooved bearings I used.  The groove is very important.  I made this thing so I could curve the pieces of rail before putting them in a Fast Tracks curved turnout jig, and I was just trying to get back to making the turnout, so this is one of those projects that I did at absolute top speed with very little photography or note-taking.

[mmagliaro]

AND ANOTHER THING... ha ha...
If you make something on a plate, like Chris333 did, and there was no chamfer under the bottom edge, you could probably put a thin shim washer under the bearing to lift it off the plate just a bit so the rail foot would go under it.

[Chris333]

These bearings I found had a chamfer. just lucky I guess? The base of the rail fit perfect.

[cbroughton67]

@mmagliaro I received the case wrench today, and it looks like the posts are 9mm diameter. But... there's a groove around the post for a clip / spring. How does that factor into bearing selection, if at all? The only bearings I've found so far with a 9mm bore are 24mm OD and 7mm thick, but no v-groove or camphor that I can tell. 


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[mmagliaro]

I don't think that groove will matter, as long as the bearing you get fits around the large-diameter section at the top of that post without any play.  It doesn't have to be "super" precise.  But you don't want it flopping around on there.