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Cutting tinplate track

SH Southwest HiawathaOGR Forum Member

Most people seem to prefer a Dremel tool for cutting track, but I prefer a hacksaw and miter box for several reasons. It leaves a cleaner end, it's easier to get the ends square, and I don't care for the shower of sparks that goes with the Dremel and a cutoff wheel. Anyway a couple of weeks ago I saw a picture of a commercially made miter jig for cutting track, and decided to make one myself. It's made of MDF, 3/4" for the base and 1/2" for the sides, which are glued in place. The width is carefully sized so that you can put a piece of Standard Gauge track in it either side up and it will be held in place. There are grooves for both Standard and o gauge track so you can cut either side rails-down. The grooves were cut on a table saw. I had to make two cuts per groove because the rail is slightly wider than my saw blade. The center groove was beveled out using a V-bit on a router table to provide room for the insulators while still firmly gripping the rail. The jig is 16" long, with the cutting slot off-center at 10". I cut the miter slot with a Jorgensen rig - an expensive tool, but worth every penny. The resulting slot is just right for a mini-hacksaw blade - I'll have to open it up a bit if I decide to use a full-size hacksaw. The Jorgenson saw leaves a very narrow kerf. The rig has bottom stops on the blade guide so you can cut part way through a workpiece and get the bottom exactly where you want it - perfect for making a miter jig like this one.

 

If I were doing it again I might not use MDF. I picked MDF because it doesn't warp, but it tends to split if you screw into the side, even with a pre-drilled hole. I first tried to screw the sides on, but wound up having to glue them. A 1" thick block of hardwood would be better, I think.

 

Here are some pictures:

 

Cutting the miter slot on the Jorgensen rig.

 

Track Miter 1

 

The completed unit, ready to cut Standard Gauge track from the top

 

Track Miter 2

 

Standard Gauge track set in the grooves. You can clearly see the bevel in the center groove

 

Track Miter 3

 

0 gauge track in the grooves.

 

Track Miter 4

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CC Choo Choo CharlieOGR Forum Member

Here is my track cutting jig.  It can cut curved track but the outside edges need to be trimmed to match curve better.  It is similar to the above jig but much shorter that allows curves to be cut.

 

It is made from a couple of pieces of 1/2 inch plywood glued together.  The grooves can be cut in with a band saw, scroll or jig saw or hand saw and file.

 

I made it in 1979 when I made my main train board.

 

I mount it in a vise and use a fine blade in a hack saw.

 

Charlie

 

 

 

IMG_7503

IMG_7506

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SH Southwest HiawathaOGR Forum Member
The short answer is: I haven't had to cut a curve up to now, and neither of my current projects (my home layout and a rebuild of a Standard Gauge museum layout) require me to cut any curves either. If I only had to cut one curve, I'd probably just clamp it to a block of wood, mark it, and cut it with the hacksaw. If I needed to make a bunch of cuts, I'd build a jig. No idea what it would look like; I'd just figure it out. 
 
By the way, the mini-hacksaw I use is a Sandvik with a super fine tooth blade. It cuts the stamped sheet metal track much better than a regular hacksaw blade would. 
 
Originally Posted by HOSO&NZ:

Nice work, what do you do for a piece of curved track?

 

Al

overlandflyeroverlandflyerOGR Forum Member
Originally Posted by Choo Choo Charlie:

With a Dremel, it is hard to get a square cut on each rail, except near the end of the track.  Filing or grinding off the tapered end is required.

with standard Dremel parts, perhaps, but at a local surplus store i found some 3" cutoff disks that fit into a standard Dremel arbor providing a large enough diameter to eliminate the need to taper the cut to clear the tool body.

SH Southwest HiawathaOGR Forum Member
Originally Posted by overlandflyer:
Originally Posted by Choo Choo Charlie:

With a Dremel, it is hard to get a square cut on each rail, except near the end of the track.  Filing or grinding off the tapered end is required.

with standard Dremel parts, perhaps, but at a local surplus store i found some 3" cutoff disks that fit into a standard Dremel arbor providing a large enough diameter to eliminate the need to taper the cut to clear the tool body.

The easiest way to get a square cut with a Dremel is the right angle adaptor. However, you still are likely to get a cut that is slightly off square, and it's very difficult to get all three rails exactly the same length without a bit of hand filing. With a miter box and a super-fine blade, you get a clean, square cut that is the same on all three rails - every time. 

SH Southwest HiawathaOGR Forum Member

Just an additional note - I found an appropriate blade to use a regular hacksaw in the miter box. It's a 32 tpi blade made in USA by Buck Bros. - $2.49 for a two-pack at Home Depot. You need to be sure to get the straight blades; a lot of hacksaw blades are scalloped to make them cut faster. That's great for cutting pipe or bar stock, but it doesn't work in a narrow miter slot. The Buck Bros. blades aren't quite as sharp or as fine-toothed as the German blade in my Sandvik mini-saw, but the longer stroke on a regular hacksaw makes it a little easier to cut track. 

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