Brennan's Chain Link Fence Kit - Two Thumbs Up!

Very, very nice.  This will be the fence I'll be getting when I get to that part of the layout.

SJS

Jim,

That fence looks great. I like the darker color, given the industrial area it is in. Do you have to solder the parts together?

If so, are there alternatives to solder?

Thanks,

Tom

Tom,

Thanks for the compliment. Yes, you do have to solder the posts and rails together using a soldering gun; not a soldering iron. I was a little intimidated at first by the thought of having to do that, but the kit includes a jig that makes it pretty painless. Dennis Brennan recommends using both Oatey's Instant Solder (available at Menards)as well as regular solder to ensure a strong bond. I don't think that glue would make a strong enough joint.

Jim

You could use CA glue but soldering is a much better option in this case. I built this fence a few years ago and like Jim, was a little intimidated by the thought of soldering. But it came out just great and for the one or two questions I had, Dennis was really helpful. I also had some left over and was able to use that for another fence. All in all, a great product and Jim, you did a great job. BTW, I like your background buildings. Are they flats and who did them? 

Jerrman

Looks great Jim.  I have the fence kit as well here, sitting around in a box.  I have not a chance to use it yet, so I am happy to see how nice it looks.  Nice job!

Thanks for the nice words.

The background buildings are primarily from Angie's Trackside Flats which are available on eBay or at some model RR shows in NE Ohio. I bought mine at a local train show. I mounted some of the buildings on cardboard, some on foam core, and some on 1" foam to get that dimensional look. I only have about 4 inches between the track and the wall to play with. You get a LOT of buildings for the price; in my case, about 12 feet of background. I also added in some backdrop buildings from Scenic Express. I doctored all of them up with MTH fire escapes, LEDs,  and Miller Engineering signs, too. 

Jim Brenner,

   Great job with the metal fencing, it is a serious O Gauge product no doubt about it.  I wanted to have it on my Christmas layout very badly, being a Metals Joining Engineer this metal fence was right up my alley.  However I need to figure out just where I can use it, maybe around my ice skating pond!  If I can get my hands on a new Lionel Liquid Smoke Filling Station, I was thinking about putting it around the Legacy Controlled refilling Station on the 2nd level.  I really like the way your fencing came out, beautiful job.

PCRR/Dave

Nice fence.   Could you tell me how long and tall each section is in inches?   My baseball field is about 80% complete.  I used a smaller fence along the baselines.  However; I need a nice backstop.   This may work well.

The kit comes with three bundles of wire: 16-gauge, 18-gauge, and 22-gauge. Each piece of wire, regardless of gauge, is 12 inches long. The16-gauge wire is used for all the terminal posts; the 18 gauge is for the top, bottom, brace rails, line posts, and gates; and the  22 gauge is used for the tension bars. When assembling, the line posts will be evenly spaced between terminal posts at 2 inch intervals. The way the jig is designed, it's possible to make a section of fence as long as you want. In other words, the fence can be as short as two inches or as long as several feet. The height is two inches and that's based primarily upon the width of the mesh material. The mesh is some sort of white, nylon fabric that looks like it is used at weddings and showers and such. It's available at craft stores, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem to build a backstop using the wire and replacing the kit mesh with a larger piece.

I hope this helps.

Jim Brenner posted:

The kit comes with three bundles of wire: 16-gauge, 18-gauge, and 22-gauge. Each piece of wire, regardless of gauge, is 12 inches long. The16-gauge wire is used for all the terminal posts; the 18 gauge is for the top, bottom, brace rails, line posts, and gates; and the  22 gauge is used for the tension bars. When assembling, the line posts will be evenly spaced between terminal posts at 2 inch intervals. The way the jig is designed, it's possible to make a section of fence as long as you want. In other words, the fence can be as short as two inches or as long as several feet. The height is two inches and that's based primarily upon the width of the mesh material. The mesh is some sort of white, nylon fabric that looks like it is used at weddings and showers and such. It's available at craft stores, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem to build a backstop using the wire and replacing the kit mesh with a larger piece.

I hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the information!

Was it really necessary to use a gun?  How many watts did it take?  The heat dissipation make it necessary?  Thanks

Sorry for the delay in replying; we're motoring around PA, NY, VT, and MA and I'm not too diligent checking emails.  Anyway, I used a soldering gun because my 35 watt soldering iron didn't work. I couldn't get the different gauge wire to stick together very well (I think I was getting cold solders) so I switched to the dual watt soldering gun and everything worked great. I think mine is a Weller 100/135 gun. I also used Oatey's Instant Solder and that seemed to help immensely.

I'll freely admit that I'm not too well versed/experienced in soldering so it's possible that someone with more practice - or skill - than I can use a soldering iron successfully with this kit.

I hope this helps a bit,

Jim

Jim the whole backdrop looks great.

Jim Brenner posted:

I recently completed and installed a section of Dennis Brennan's chain link fence kit and I can't say enough good things about it. It's a great kit and the instructions are exceptional. And I say this a non-solderer

I only used half of the kit  - actually, a little less than that. Two things I'll do differently/better next time will be to be a bit more careful locating the postholes and will paint the fence a lighter shade of gray. Against the dark backdrop, the fence doesn't show up as well as I'd like.

If you need/want a chain link fence, I highly recommend this kit.

Jim

GREAT WORK!!!!!!!!   It is ironic I saw this post just now.  Last night I called Dennis and ordered this awesome kit!  I can't wait to see it in person!  

Indeed, and not expensive at all.

Andre.