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Any Safety tips that I should know about? Where can I find the special tools you use? What tools should I use to get the etched parts out of the fret? What are the secret ingredients for Soldering? Where can I get these special soldering aids? What if I break one of the castings, or damage one of the etched parts? Is it OK to bend the etched parts back and forth along the fold line? What if I get stuck and can't complete an assembly? What if I can't get Weaver drive parts? How do I solder the White Metal castings? Any Safety tips that I should know about?
Be very careful handling the etched parts. There are a lot of sharp edges and you must be careful not to cut yourself. The etched sheets themselves are thin metal and should be handled with care, particularly at the corners. The individual kit components are held in the "fret" or etched sheet with small tags, which are half the thickness of the sheet. When you cut the component out of the fret, part of these tags will still be attached to the edges of the component. These tags are very thin and have irregular edges, and are particularly dangerous. Trim these tags off as soon as you remove the component from the fret. Top of Page Where can I find the special tools you use?You can make the kit without any special tools. Just use your ingenuity, or ask at the club, or friends.... but it can be easier if you have one or two special items.
Rivet Embossing Tool
This is the simplest method of making rivets, and the rivets in the Gilmaur kits are designed for this tool. Just position the point in the half-etched circle (back side of the sheet), then raise and drop the weight. Use the test rivets on the edge of the sheet (if provided) to practice getting exactly the right height for a perfect rivet. Start with a one inch drop. Make it yourself, or buy it from London Road Models[........] Top of Page
Bending The long and difficult bends in the kit have been made for you. However there are several bends that you have to make, and it's a good idea to make these as accurately as you can. The simplest bending tool is a vice, and I use a "carpenters vice" which has wide jaws with no serrations.
Another useful item is made from two pieces of steel strip about 1" wide and 1/8" thick, and 6" long. Clamp them together and drill holes through each end, and put a nut and bolt through the holes to hold them together. Loosen off the nut until you can slip the etched component between the strips, line up the bend line with the edge of the steel strip and tighten up. Then you can make an accurate bend and protect the rest of the component from distortion. Top of Page
What tools should I use to get the etched parts out of the fret?
Ordinary tin snips can be used to cut the tags, but the blades must be thin enough to fit between the components or the parts will be distorted. There are Xuron cutters which are designed for this purpose. A utility knife (Box cutter?) with a rounded blade works quite well.
The best tool that I have found for this task is a pair of small straight Nail Scissors. These will cut through the tags and any half-etched brass (i.e. 0.009" thick) and are also useful for cleaning up the parts once you have got them out of the fret.
Work on a wooden sheet or the green "self-healing" sheets to prevent damage to your worktop. For a perfect result use a fret saw, although this can be tedious.
Once each component is separated from the fret, go round the edges and trim off the tags with tin snips, the small nail scissors or a file. Then file each side smooth. This process is important as the etching process leaves the edges slightly uneven. Top of Page What solder should I use?
DO NOT USE resin-core solder, because it is very hard to clean the resin of your model. After painting the resin will show through the solder. Apart from that, use whatever suits you. I use a solder which melts at 145 degrees, compared with the more usual 188 degrees, and is that bit easier to use because of that. If you are adding fine details, you may find that the heat applied to the detail parts will melt earlier joints. You can use the 188 solder for assembly and the 145 for details in order to avoid this problem. For a liquid soldering flux, use 12% Phosphoric Acid or Carr's Green Label.
See below for soldering White Metal parts. Top of Page
What are the secret ingredients for Soldering?
Everybody has their own. The only hard part about soldering is making a start. Once you have made a few joints you will find what works for you.
However- keeping the tip from oxidising is a problem everyone has. The guys who demonstrate soldering at the Gauge O shows say that this is the Number One question they are asked. One useful hint is to clean the tip of your iron as soon as you buy it, because some have preservative gunk on them from the factory. Then stick the tip into solder paste and switch on. As it heats up it picks up a coating of solder ("tinning").
The first product I will recommend is a Tip Cleaner, which is some stuff (Sal Ammoniac?) in a small tin. You just stick the tip in this occasionally and turn it around so that the end of the tip is covered, and it stays clean and shiny for a lot longer. You can get it from hardware stores. The brand I use is called "Multicore" and the tin is just over one inch diameter, half an inch high, labelled "Tip Tinner Cleaner TTC 1" 15 grams/0.5oz. Made in England.
The other is Bitloos which is a lubricant to be used on the tip when you insert it into the iron. This prevents the tip 'freezing' in the iron- when this happens you can't get the tip out. It is made by Litesold and is obtainable from "Home of O Gauge" at http://www.ogauge.co.uk/ Top of Page
Where can I get these special soldering aids?
For American modelers, contact Dick Gilman at Shows (e.g. O Scale West) or at: International Hobbies, 10556 Combie Road Suite 6237, Auburn, CA 95602 Phone: 530-268-8715 Fax: 530-268-3847 Email: interhob@thegrid.net Website: www.interhobmodels.com
In the UK you can buy several types of solder and flux from "Home of O Gauge". The Home Page is http://www.ogauge.co.uk/ and the specialist soldering stuff is at http://www.ogauge.co.uk/carrs.html
What if I break one of the castings, or damage one of the etched parts?Contact Mike Calvert with details of your problem. Don't worry- I'll do my best to get you a new part at a reasonable cost. Why? because I like to see our kits being assembled, and not just stuck in a drawer. And maybe you can then send me a photo of your kit for the Hall of Fame. Is it OK to bend the etched parts back and forth along the fold line?Not too much....If you bend the part around the fold line 4 or 5 or 6 times (it depends!), it will break in two. If you did not mean to break it, don't panic. Just put the two parts together and solder. It's easy to align them right because they fit together exactly. On the other hand it is sometimes a neat solution to break the etched part along the fold line- to get an exact 90 degree angle, or to make assembly easier. Top of Page What if I get stuck and can't complete an assembly?Contact me Mike Calvert with details of your problem. Don't worry- you won't be the first! It may be a difficult part of the kit, or perhaps the instructions are not clear and you find them confusing- that's my fault. I'll be happy to talk you through the problem area, especially if you are using e-mail. Sometimes I have found it helpful to use a scanner to send sketches or pictures of the assembly. But- so far- I've always been able to sort out the problem.
What if I can't get Weaver drive parts?
You usually can- from P&D Hobbies website http://www.pdhobbyshop.com/ OR- You can use Central Locomotive Works (CLW) or All Nation (AN) drive parts in the same way. I used CLW parts in the Blunt trucks for the S-2 demonstrator shown in the Photos section, and had no difficulties (however the CLW parts are hard to get at the moment). Both these drives are designed as a complete system with Universal Joints etc, and if you buy the recommended motor you should have no problems. OR- A good way to get the Weaver drive components is to buy a Weaver RS-3, FA-2 or GP38. You may be lucky and get the loco for less than the cost of the parts ($135 in Jan 07). Contact Gilmaur if you are desperate for an AAR-B truck suitable for the RS-1. How do I solder the White Metal castings?Most of the castings can be glued on- use your favorite adhesive. I use epoxy for many of the castings, but not the Hood Ends. Here's how I solder this joint.
Bend the etched hood to the exact right curve to fit the casting- this will reduce the strain on the joint.
First tin the brass hood where the joint will be- the idea is you solder the
casting to the tinning.
Use 70 degree white metal solder if available.
Best flux is 6% phosphoric acid, but 12% will do.
Apply heat to the brass, not the white metal casting.
The white metal cools slowly, so hold the parts together until the solder freezes- this will take a while. If it all goes wrong and you damage a casting- then click here. Top of Page Revised: February 08, 2007Back to Top
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