Cheap tools for an easier fix

Thank you for starting this thread.

I think I will try my hand at making an E-unit stick too.

I had some NOS E-unit contact assemblies with bent fingers. In order to easily straighten / adjust them, I modified a pair of small duck bill pliers. Notches are filed into the jaws so the tip is the same width as one of the contacts. The notches allow the plier to reach the second contact in from the end, without touching the end contact. This allows the second contact to be adjusted.

Great thread, thanks guys!

CW,

     Thanks for the post, that's a great idea, inexpensive way to fix a common problem.

I hope others contribute, always willing to learn something new. I won't post for a while, give other members a chance. I'll do my best to keep this thread alive.

regards,

Joe geiser

I really like the rivet tool idea.  Thanks for sharing.

Fred

Fred,

     Appreciate the post, feel free to contribute your idea(s). Over the years I have talked with many people, each with  something to share, this  hobby is a wealth of inventive ideas and knowledge. This forum  is a great way to share these ideas.

Regards,

Joe Geiser

While they aren't exactly tools, I thought some folks might be interested to see some of the accumulation of odd pieces of metal that I often use when repairing trains (and other things too). Most of these items came from flea markets, garage sales, or from our local used tool store. Typically I use them as anvils. Sometimes they are used as a punch like tool, striking them with a leather or rubber mallet.

For example, I use the block with the rectangular opening (back row, second from the end on the left) as an anvil when I am clinching the eyelet that holds a 3-position e-unit lever in place.

CW,

    Great pics, a few are very  familiar to me, the angle block great for hoding tube stock for cutting, got that one. The  one you mentioned for e units, do you know what that is? would like to  have that one. There is a simialr tool being manufactured for the rivet press, cost around $40.00, good finds.

Regards,

Joe Geiser

If you deal with brass or tin sheet and want to make your own shapes these are a have to have.
The jaws from the factory have curved edges meaning if you use them that way your bend won't have a nice crisp edge. I used a grinder to re- face the edges to 90 degrees and now I have a hand held mini sheet metal brake. Works great when you want a crown strip on your tin roof or you want to make a brass angle.
These are 4 inches wide but you can get them in wider width.
It's called a hand seamer and they're 13.99 at Harbor Freight
David

Joe, thank you for starting what I imagine will be one of the most informative threads ever! And thanks to you and CW for sharing some interesting tool tips (I too will be trying to fashion the "Stick")! While I have yet to invent anything new, I would like to pass along a little trick that a friend shared with me a while back. Here's a way to avoid the hassle of disassembling the arms to replace the carbon rollers on a KW transformer. After positioning the new roller & rivet in the arm, simply flatten the end of the new rivet with a pair of needle-nose pliers. Easy fix and just as permanent as "rolling" the rivet end. 

quote:

The  one you mentioned for e units, do you know what that is?

That one, and the ones to either side came from our local used tool store. I suspect that some of the pieces, including these three, came from some sort of machinest training process, either a trade school or self-study.

I have a few different sizes of "V" (angle) blocks. I've used a "V" block to shorten electric motor brushes. I needed brushes for a Marx loco, and found that while some Lionel ones on hand would fit, they were too long.  By holding the brushes in the "V" block I was able to file them shorter, and keep them nice and square. The brushes were so soft that almost no pressure was required, and the block were unscathed.

TTRP has a tool to hold the e-unit coil frame so the lever can be attached for $13.
http://ttrponline.com/index.ph...tuemart&Itemid=2

Rich,

     Great minds think alike, that is exactly how I came up with the vice grip clincher. I used to do it  your way and it worked fine. With the  vice grips you can set the depth of "crush" and flare the rivet end w/o crushing it, every time. It takes the guess work out of how much presssure to use. Thanks for you input.

Regards,

Joe Geiser

DPC,

      Good idea. When I bought the needlenose vise grip for the hand press it was in a 3 piece set, so I made 2 brakes with the other two. I like the idea of a locking action to hold the sheet goods in place for cutting. The square off one is great for heavier metal and 90 hard bends. The other  pair is tapered to allow for very sharp angles, and compound reverse bends. The gateman shack was a restore project and the chimney was missing, so a piece of brass sheet and a little time later, I got a chimney. Later a friend told me where to buy the chimney, I had fun making mine, I'd do it again. Thanks again for sharing.

Regards,

Joe Geiser

Cw,

     I looked at the e unit anvil, hadn't seen that one before. The one I mentioned was made to fit in the Lionel press and you didn't have to remove the inner ferrel to press on the new part. I like your tools better, you saw something at a flea market that no one wanted and you saw a use for it and saved some  money, all the while having fun. Thanks

'Regards,

Joe geiser

Joe,
I like those I marked both sides of the jaws with 16th marks so I get a even bend every time.
I use a metal cutting band saw for some stuff and a plasma cutter for others.
Tin snips when I'm able.
For thick metal like the jaws you put in those pliers it's the plasma cutter
It can cut a 4x8 sheet of 1/4 inch plate in half long ways in about 2 minutes with a perfectly straight line and no torch marks. Very neat tool to have.
I like making stuff out of metal I just wish I could invent a metal stretcher for those times when I read the ruler wrong LOL

David

Next in my arsenal of homemade tools is something you all are familiar with, spring tension tool. I know you can purchase this for less than 10 bucks but I enjoy making the tools almost as much as fixing the trains and fixing trains with my own tools is very gratifying. The pics speak for themselves, a simple piece of 1/4" round stock cut with a dremel cut off wheel with  top and bottom ground to the shape you see. The bend should be a little less than a 90 degree. Great for switch contacts, KW whistle contacts, anywhere you need to bend metal in a confined area.

     Next up will be lionel style wheel puller for less than $20.00, gotta get batteries for the camera first.

Regards,

Joe Geiser

I'd make one of those, but I have a set of them from my pinball repair days, so I'm good.  It is a very handy thing to have, great for 022 switch motors!

quote:

I'd make one of those, but I have a set of them from my pinball repair days, so I'm good. 

I have a four piece set from Wico. Each one is double ended, for a total of eight configurations. I don't think any of the current Pinball parts providers makes as varied an assortment.

As my alien friend Matt would say  "Cleaver these Humans"

That's the set I have.  It didn't come with any pinball machine, I bought them to work on them.

The other method for spreading the e-unit is using ring pliers that open when squeezed.  I use a small clamp to prevent the unit from spreading more than 3/8" and then place the nose of the ring pliers in the unit and squeeze.  I have disassembled and reassembled E-unit is about 15 minutes.

Good thread Joe.  G

I was out of the hobby for years so just now am reading O Gauge RR Feb. March 08 I got on eBay. Jim Barrett has a good article on all kinds of tools for O gauge repair.

quote:

That's the set I have.  It didn't come with any pinball machine, I bought them to work on them.  

Me too.
Wico is out of business, but there are a couple of other outfits supplying pinball / arcade machine parts and supplies. I will post a link or two below.

In the pinball world the tool is called a switch blade adjuster or contact adjuster. 

Another handy tool marketed by one of the pinball outfits is their Light bulb cleaning stick.

I also purchased a Rubber light bulb remover but I've never used it on trains. I have used it to help my older son get stuck light bulbs out of car tail light assemblies. For that matter, We've used the light bulb cleaning stick on cars too.

Since I generally do not work on trains with anything more than basic circuit boards, I would not recognize any other tools that might be useful.

http://www.pbresource.com/tools.html

Nice pinball site, I saved that one.  I think they might have some parts I need.

Here's a couple of painting tips I learned from a guy who does excellent restoration work. For stripping paint off your post war rolling stock use Easy Off oven cleaner, it attacks the paint but won't hurt the plastic. It may take a couple of applications but you will remove all of the paint.

     Liquid mask is great to use for those detailed areas where tape won't work. Its a little pricey though, a good alternative is Mold Builder (liquid latex rubber) for just about what you would spend on Liquid Mask 1oz. bottle you bet 16 oz. of Mold Builder. It looks, acts and smells the same.

     Finally, if you are doing a 2 color paintr scheme eg Seaboard switcher and you have the decal sheet with the seperation striping on it, phot copy it onto label stock, cut on the striped area and now you have an exact mask for the second color, makes applying the seperator decal a lot easier too.

Regards,

Joe Geiser

Below are two pictures of what I believe to be Craftsman Horseshoe washer pliers.

Some folks recommend this type of plier for spreading E-units because the jaws are flat & wide, and they open when the handles are squeezed together.
I picked these up at a Flea market.

Typically I use a Lionel ST-303 E-unit spreader to disassemble e-units enough to remove the 2 finger contact assembly and drum.

The pliers have come in handy when opening up the e-unit frame enough to remove the four finger contact assembly.  (Anybody have any tips or tricks to remove/install the 4-finger contact?)

The jaws are too thick to spread the horse shoe washers that Lionel used. They will not fit between the washer's legs.

In the first picture, I used a length of wire to squeeze the handles together and show how the jaws open.

In the second picture, the pliers are propped up on another one of my metal scraps to better show the jaws.

for the horseshoe washers I use a small pair of need nose, just shove the closed tips between the tines of the washer and spread it apart, fast and easy and doesn't ruin the  washer.

Regards,

joe Geiser

Here  is a tool  we all know and  need, problem is it has gotten quite expensive. Saw one go on Ebay for over $200.00, another garnered bids up to $112.00 but didn't sell because of the reserve. There is an alternative, as you can see in the pics this is my wheel puller and the only lionel parts are the jaws. The other parts are easy enough to buy or make, it helps if your brother is a machinist, but most of  us know someone who knows someone to machine the parts, they are not that complicated. The jaws and forcing pics cost me around $20.00 at the time, they selling now for more but but still affordable compared to the original.

In need of a wheel puller I bought a NWSL one. Well, it bent on it's first use. So I made a couple of my own from cheap C-clamps that worked well.

And then I made others more heavy duty and for particular jobs on engines.

Here's a pair of needle nose modified to just take apart Atlas coupler boxes.

JoeW

Hi JoeW,

      You have some  novel ideas there, I like the way  you took simple tools, modified them to a particular task, and the best part, you didn't break the bank doing it.

Great pics by the way, what did you use? My little Nikon is a bit tempermental, sometimes I get great pics other times it just won't focus right even though the lighting is the same. Looking to uprade.

Regards,

joe Geiser

It's a Kodak Z7590.  5 mega pixel.  It's good for taking pics outside with it's 10x zoom. But terrible for train room videos especially close up. Needs alot more light.  Doesn't do well for small parts close up either or black parts. But then I'm not good with photography to begin with.  Adobe Photoshop is my freind.

JoeW

I like the C-clamp wheel puller, I'm going to have to consider that.

here's a little tip I learned years ago for replacing jewels in the marker lights. With the jewel laying face up on paper towel, wet your index finger a little and gently press on the jewel. The surface tension will hold the jewel on your  finger tip and allow you to  accurately place it in the marker light. I use a little crazy  glue and let it dry by itself, no kicker, it can turn the glue white.