Removing Brass Details???

Its going to be tough with only those two tools. Wet cloths will greatly cool the area you are trying to unsolder. Some you could do with a mini torch which has a more concentrated flame or best would be a resistence solderer. Its good investment if you think you might do more of this. It has the most concentrated heat and heats up the fastest. I built mine at cost under hundred bucks using salvaged parts but realisticly 3-400 bucks for a good used unit is possible.

Pete

I second the Solder Wick! Great stuff, used it for years at my job. Get yourself a small iron. My work tool was an American Beauty (25 watts as best I recall). Then get some tips that DO NOT require tinning....WELL worth the cost.

Use heat sinks, which can be anything you can attach close to what you are trying to de-solder.....wet rags, metal clip. The idea is for the "sink" to suck up excess heat.

Put away the Dremel.

Simon

I have some solder wick and will try that.  I know what you mean about solder loading up the Dremel, been there done that.

I doubt I'll do much more of this type of stuff, so a resistance soldering station is out.  Got more engines than I can run as it is.

Have you guys ever tried to unsolder a running board? 25 watts isn't even close. Solder wick is a good idea but only useful after the running board is off. Otherwise it only adds to the heat load the tool has to deal with.

Pete

I agree Pete, 25 watts isn't enough.  I'm going to start with the air tank removal and go from there.  If I have to grind the running boards off so be it.

For the limited amount of soldering I do on brass models, I use my old Weller 100/140W gun.  Not the tool I'd select if I did a lot of this, but it's worked well enough for what I needed to do.  I have used the wet rag technique to avoid removing stuff I don't want to remove, so far it's worked fine for me.  My work is mostly repairing stuff that's fallen off, not modifying details.

Interesting tip:

Solder is fairly brittle.  Carefully grip the running boards with small vice grips and a sandwich of wood.  Then just wiggle up and down a little bit.  The solder will quickly fail, and you will have very little cleanup.

Sure - heat will work.  Once you get one spot melted the spot next to it will solidify.  A torch can cure that, but will cause all solder to release, and then you will have a Loco Works kit on the bench.

Bob, John's suggestion of using a Weller might be the best option. Its actually a form of resistance solderer. Trouble with doing running boards is the length of the joint. No easy to get the whole joint hot enough to melt solder except for the torch, then you risk other bits falling off.

Pete

I've never tried removing anything as large as a running board from a brass locomotive, that might be beyond the capability of my technique!   Like I said, I'm usually just trying to put them back together and the soldering is typically pretty localized.

I think Bob has a good idea, I suspect one of the reasons I have found it necessary to solder bits back on is because of the brittle nature of the solder.

Success!!!

I basically did what Bob2 mentioned.  I applied the BenzOMatic torch to the pieces after placing a wet paper towel on stuff I didn't want coming loose.

Once I saw the solder begin to bubble, I either carefully pried the piece off with a thin screwdriver or, in the case of the running boards, a pair of pliers.  All but 1 piece of running board came off with ease, the stubborn piece of running board took a bit of effort but I got it off without anything else popping off.  I had to pry the last piece back and forth a bit to get the solder to break loose.  Think Bob2 has done this before!

I still have the 2 pieces of running board that are nearest the cab, but I'm not sure if I want to remove them or leave them on, they're at the height the rest of the running board should be.  If I can find some tread plate to match I may leave them on or I may replace the whole length of the boards with new.

Next thing is to clean the remaining solder off the brass boiler, I've done 1/2 of one side using a Dremel sanding drum and metal cutting bit and then an Xacto blade to scrape down to the brass, followed that up with various files to smooth things down.

I could hear metal joints popping/expanding while I was heating each piece, but I don't think any parts I want to keep moved.  I was worried about the boiler bands but I don't think they actually hold things together, there's 2 flat bars inside the boiler where the rolled brass comes together and I believe they hold the boiler in place.

I'll clean it up a bit and post a photo.

• Cleaning with a small torch is really easy.  You heat up a small patch, then wipe with steel wool, or even a rag.  Dremels take brass off, and worse, send lead particles up your nose.

Sometimes, Dremelling is unavoidable.  Wear a mask, and maybe a face shield.

I've cleaned the boiler up from where I removed parts, still have the running boards near the cab to do:

I also have to clean up the basket-o-parts I removed so I can reuse them.  While I have the parts off I'm going to re-soak it in some acetone to remove the rest of the paint.  The paint that was covering the solder has been extremely difficult to get off.

Where do you guys get your .040" diamond plate for making running boards?  PSC has some listed in their catalog, but it's only 7" long and this boiler is 9-1/2" from cab to front end.  I could just use .040" brass sheet and maybe some Archer diamond tread decals, but after putting them on the tender of my other project (4-8-4) I'm not sure I want to see another rivet again.

I emailed them yesterday morning with a list of parts I want and they got back to me last night saying they would be checking stock and filling my order soon, then sending me an invoice.  Didn't say how to pay but I'm assuming PayPal or credit card over the phone?

I removed all the soldered on pieces to the smoke box front too, heated it up and they all fell off.  The bell has to be moved and replaced with a vertical mounted bell on the boiler, the class lights moved, the handrail posts turned 45 degrees, and a different style headlight, plus fill holes where some of this stuff was (need suggestions on how to fill them).

Pretty sure PSC only sells .012, .020 and .025 diamond plate. Given those choices I would get the .012" plus a sheet of .025 plain brass and solder the plate to the sheet. You should be able to get sheet and strips 12" long from any hobby shop that sells K&S brass.

Pete

You're right Pete, the running boards on the model were .040" thick.  PSC has "decking" (page 70 of the catalog I downloaded a while back) but it's only 7" long and I need a piece at least 9-1/2" long do to the full length.

The folks now doing the PSC stuff are also behind at least 2 weeks because of the virus.  The email I got said as soon as they could get to it and check inventory they would get back with an invoice.

@Bob Delbridge posted:

You're right Pete, the running boards on the model were .040" thick.  PSC has "decking" (page 70 of the catalog I downloaded a while back) but it's only 7" long and I need a piece at least 9-1/2" long do to the full length.

The folks now doing the PSC stuff are also behind at least 2 weeks because of the virus.  The email I got said as soon as they could get to it and check inventory they would get back with an invoice.

I find it best just to call them, ....I’ve had the best luck just talking to them on the phone....most of the time, if I ask for a particular part number, they’ll say hold on, and go and see if they can put their hands on it....the new owners of PSC are pretty cool to deal with,,....

Pat

@dkdkrd posted:

At this point, I'll confess that as successful as I've been in removing brass from brass, I have no magic for soldering brass to brass for the rebuild.  I dread that job!  I know and I know...that a resistance device is the best way to go, but, honestly, I do so little of that to justify the cost.

KD

That makes 2 of us, I have been known to glue a piece or 2 on but I don't want to do that on this model.