My etched pipe hangers finally arrived

[mmagliaro]

For some time, I've been working on artwork and with a photoetch service to create
a ready stash of cooling line pipe hangers for steam loco modeling.
I have also routinely needed valve gear linkages - basically just simple "dogbone" shaped
links with a hole in each end, so I don't have to hand carve and hand file valve gear pieces
like I did on my SP&S Atlantic.

There are 1,2,3,4 and 5-hole hangers and the 1-hole can also double as handrail stanchions.
All of them take .008" wire.  The valve gear linkages take .015" and can take a .020" with
a little twirl of an Xacto blade in each hole.

The tough thing is that the holes need to be in the neighborhood of .008 - .010, with
a bordering ring that is maybe .006 - .007 wide at the most.   Photoetching through
.010" thick brass, and making lines that are less than .010" wide is hard, because by
the time the etchant gets all the way through .010" of metal, it has started to undercut
sideways  by almost that much, well maybe half that much, so it is eating away
at the lines you want to keep.

Anyway, after some test runs and artwork adjustment, I finally succeeded.  The etching company
I worked with,  Photometals, of Phoenix, AZ, really spent time with me and worked hard on this
to make it come out right, adjusting the etch times on experimental sheets until we figured out
how to make it work.

So, now I've got 36 of these mini-sheets (cut from a single large sheet that I had run)

And yes, I do plan to sell them to recoup expenses.  I haven't figured that out yet.  When I do,
I will make a formal product announcement in the other forum.

That's a piece of .008" brass wire stuck through the hole in the hanger in the upper left corner
of the first picture.

[Chris333]

 

No excuses now, you can make whatever you like.

[mmagliaro]

No excuses now, you can make whatever you like.

Chris,
I know, I know.   I'm always shying away from making engines that are unusual or that
 require crazy parts.     

[superturbine]

Looks really good Max, good job!!

[TrainCat2]

   

Sooooooo Ironic. I am going to visit PMA in Dec when I go see my brother.

[peteski]

Very impressive Max!

I have couple questions:
How much and for how many?
How do you mount/glue them to the walkway?  There doesn't seem to be a substantial mounting area or tab on them (unless I'm missing something).

Funny how similar those are to the ones Loren Perry etched for himself and superturbine.    His seem to have a different mounting tab (Jason sent me several).

I found one alternate use for these already!  I am building a 1:43 scale model automobile and these, in that scale, make very handy ignition wire looms!    I did have to drill out the holes slightly to accept the 1:43 scale ignition wire.

[Lemosteam]

Max, count me in for at least one sheet!

Wonder if the art can be etched in stainless?  (for my eventual T1 and Streamlined K4)

[Cajonpassfan]

Max, I'm in for a sheet!
Otto K.

[up1950s]

How much and for how many?

[mmagliaro]

First, I'll answer questions:

WHAT YOU GET:
The sheet in the photo is exactly what you will get.

There are
50 5-hole  hangers
80 4-hole
50 3-hole
40 2-hole
30 1-hole (and these can also be used as railing stanchions.

42 "dogbone" valve gear linkages

The hangers are designed for .008" wire.   If you try to use .010", it will not fit.  You can twirl the sharp
point of an Xacto blade in the holes and then sneak a .010" wire through there, but .008" is a lot easier
to work with.  Plus, it's a lot more in scale.

It is etched on .010" thick brass

ATTACHING:
Peteski (and all):
The attachment method is exactly the same as on Loren's.  There is a little L-shape at the top of the hanger.
With a jewelers saw or Xacto blade, I cut a tiny notch into the edge of the walkway, then push
the little "L" into that notch, and the apply whatever glue of choice you want to use.  Personally,
I use a drop of ACC just to fix it in place so it won't move around.  When that is hard, I use a drop
of JB Weld or other tough 2-part epoxy from behind, up under the walkway, where you won't see it.

If it's a brass walkway and you've got the chops, soldering is by far the best way to go.  Cut a tiny notch
into the walkway, hold the hanger with some serrated mini pliers or tweezers (so it doesnt' go "sproinging" out
of the tweezers into outer space), use a drop of flux, and then you can solder them in.   But on
a plastic walkway, like the example I show in the photo, glue is pretty much the only way.

I'm not going to kid anybody.  This is definitely a serious craftsman level part.  They are not easy to
put on if you are not used to doing very very fine, delicate modeling work.  Heck, even if you are,
they take time.   It probably took me 20 minutes or more to get the 3 into place that you see in the
demo photo, just fussing to get them straight, get a good glue bond, etc.

PRICE:
Each sheet is 2" x 3", and again, it's exactly the sheet you see in the photos.
They are $20, free shipping.   At that price, I might have a hope of recouping my costs on this.
(If I could run 3,4,5 big sheets and sell hundreds of these, the cost would be lower, but
that is very unlikely!)

Send me a PM or email if you want one.

Correction:
Does this belong in this forum?  I just looked at the other forums, and it doesn't look like there is
one for product announcements.  I thought there was.  "Trading Post" is for "non-commercial" personal
property sales.  This is sort of non-commercial, but then again, it is commercial, in that I will
make as many of these as people want.  If I sell out the whole first sheet, I'll get more made.

Well, I'll wait for a moderator to slap me around and tell me where this belongs.

Thanks everybody.

Oh.. some more close-up shots of other areas of the sheet:

Close-up of the valve gear links:


Close-up of the 1-hole hangers:

[GaryHinshaw]

Correction:
Does this belong in this forum?

This forum is fine.  These are very nice, BTW.

[mmagliaro]

Thanks for clearing that up, Gary.

Since someone asked, here's a quick tutorial for how I put these in.

You can do this on a walkway that is already on an engine, especially if you are planning to ACC or epoxy
them to a plastic walkway.  If it's a brass walkway and you want to solder them, it really needs to be
done with the walkway APART from the engine, and you need to be really good with a soldering iron.
(Paste flux helps a LOT.  I could never have soldered on my 4-6-2 without it)

Personally I do not trust ACC.  To me, it seems to brittle and doesn't stand up to handling well enough,
but to each his own.  I use a drop to fix things in place, but always back it up with some sort of
2-part epoxy in a place where it doesn't show.  In this case, you can put a dab up under the walkway
on the backside of the hanger.  I also find it helpful to put a drop of ACC on the joints where the
lines go through the hangers after you are all done, as this tends to create a single, stronger assembly,
instead of 6 or 8 little hangers out there dangling by one tiny joint.

So here's the tutorial:











And again, here is the sample of how this looks on an engine.  I just grabbed a handy scrap shell.
You can also see how these look compared to the molded plastic lines to the left.

[ednadolski]

Nicely done! 

Ed

[superturbine]

I found the to secure the pipe hangers on plastic the best choice was a rubberized superglue.  One time application and its flexible.

Pete - While Max did not have to, he cleared his producing pipe hangers with Loren and I first. 

I am a big fan of making more products more readily available!!

[up1950s]

You could also bend them as O scale brass knuckles for the RR police . Or N scale barbed wire supports soldered of top of fence posts . PM sent .