New tools, gadgets, and glue (one more added, see new post 1-1)

Thanks SWH.  Good tips, and recommendations for helpful products. 

 These are good products, except the stickybacks they

will come loose in a year or less.

As mentioned by father,the self adhesive tie strap mounts will not stick indefinitely to wood.I have had to go back and put a dab of hot melt glue on every single one.Now I do it right when I install them.Many people don't know that many of the chemicals that make adhesive actually work have been outlawed by the EPA.Nick

The point about the glue coming loose after a while is a good one. Given that, what the self-stick still does do for you is hold the piece in place while you drive in a screw, which is really worthwhile when you're working under the layout. 

SWH,

   Great tips, I have one to add to your list.  This tool is for cutting Custom pieces of Track like FasTrack, Atlas Industrial Rail & MTH RealTrax.  Another member of the OGR had this idea and when I saw his post I asked Santa to put one under the Tree For me.

Santa was very nice to me this year cause I was a good boy. 

 

The Rockwell Bladerunner X2 Portable saw, is a beauty and cuts any kind of angle needed, to design custom track pieces for O Gauge layouts. 

 

 

The Bladerunner is an interesting device. It's basically an upside-down saber saw mechanism mounted in a modified router or scroll saw table. It looks like a scroll saw but the blade is only attached at the bottom - the upper part is only a guard. It has the advantage over a scroll saw that it can use a greater variety of blades for heavier-duty cutting; on the other hand, it won't do intricate curved cuts like a scroll saw.  I used to have something along the same lines, a Black & Decker benchtop router table that had adjustable clamps so you could mount either a router or a saber saw in it. I sold it when I got my router table. Obviously the Bladerunner is a considerable improvement over that gadget. The miter gauge is a nice touch.

 

This is what I use for cutting track. It's a homemade copy of a commercial 0 gauge product I saw once, but I built it to do both 0 gauge and Standard Gauge track. It won't do curves, but I hardly ever have to do a custom curve so that's OK for my purposes. I hold the track in place with clamps and use the finest-toothed hacksaw blade I can find for the cuts. 

 

 

 

I might add Gorilla Glue instant CA type glue.

I went to use my hobby brand CA and it was rock hard. I am 3 hours from the hobby shop. I went to the Rite Aid my son is manager at......they had Gorilla Glue in stock so I tried it.

I like it a lot.....works as well or better with a little more working time. And minutes away and not 3 hours!!!

Dave I too use the gorilla super glue a lot and recommend it.

 

Where the Hyper Bond excels is in difficult repairs where you need more working time to get the parts aligned and then hit it with the kicker. I've never tried the Gorilla brand CA glue, but the package says the working time is about the same as the other hardware store brands. You might want to give the Hyper Bond a try. They have a lot of different formulations for different applications. The Medium Flex is the one I've been using. 

'Quick Wedge' Screw Starter for Micro Size Screws

Slide the collar on the handle to grasp tiny slotted screws. After insertion, slide the collar back to release. Holds screw sizes 0, 1, and 2. A well-made precision tool with steel blades. 5 inches long.

 

 

 

Micro Screw Starter for Phillips screws (#00 size tip) has a spring-loaded knob that expands the blades so you can insert and hold the screw. Once the screw is started, press the knob to release it. Then drive it home.

 

 

Micro Screw Starter for Slotted Screws         

Magnetizer / Demagnetizer         

I have been using "Quick Wedge" screw drivers for years. They come in an assortment of sizes.  IMHO, they work very well. I use them while working on trains, and all sorts of other stuff.

I have one of those magnetizer/demagnetizer devices. Works great as a magnetizer, but no matter what I do with the demagnetizer, it always leaves a small residual magnetism. Unfortunately the slight magnetism is often just enough to knock a screw out of line when I'm putting it in a tight place. 

Great tips and suggestions here...sure helps make the layout come together better!

 

Alan

The screwdriver Magnetizer/Demagnetizer that I purchased from Micro Mark works great. It worked just as advertised. All the above tools that are pictured above have worked great. In fact everything that I have purchased from them has worked great.

    

Among my Xmas gifts were 2 Wiha Pozi Driv screw drivers, p/n 31305 #0 and p/n 31310 #1. Santa said she couldn't find a source for individual JIS screwdrivers, but Pozi Driv screwdrivers seem to do the job on the JIS screws most of our trains seem to be assembled with. These have wonderful cushioned ergonomic handles and are a joy to use.

The other gift was a General Cordless Precision Screwdriver with 6 precision bits, p/n 500. This tool is about 7 inches long and runs on 2 AAA batteries and turns at 100 RPM. I see this a real time saver.

jackson

Another great source for miniature tools for model railroading is All Spec.

 

5228 US HWY 421 N • WILMINGTON, NC 28401
http://www.all-spec.com | Main: 800-537-0351
Local: 910-763-8111

jim("Uncle Jimmy"),

I'm a firm believer that we the hobbyists, are in a specialized class of toy train repair. My wife will agree with me, I know. I own two roll-aways full of my specialized tools for toy train repair. I also own a sign that says, "NO TOOLS LOANED" right above my workbench.

 

"Pappy" 

I have an ancient Radio Shack VCR degausser, it will take the magnetism out of anything, including magnets!  For magnetizing tools, I have some large rare earth magnets hanging on my toolbox, I just pass the tool over it a couple of times and I have a magnetic driver.

Here's one more gadget I found for tying up wiring under the layout. These clips are meant to hold Christmas "tube lights," whatever those are. Got them for half price at a Christmas closeout at Ace Hardware. They come with the screws and you can twist and untwist them to put the wires in or change what is in the bundle. A bit big for most 0 gauge wiring, but they will fit nicely under the layout. The pack of 25 cost two or three bucks at the half price closeout.