Anyone have suggestions on how to bevel the edges of sheet styrene to make perfect 45 degree angles, so when two pieces are joined they form a perfect 90 degree angle. Other than using a hobby table saw how can this be achieved? Any thoughts?
John is retired and loving it!
https://jmrailroad.wordpress.com/
When I was building my structures, I glued a piece of sandpaper down to a flat board. I then cut one end of a block of wood at a 45 degree angle, and I held the piece I was working on, tight to the block, and went back and forth across the sandpaper, while the block slid on the board.
Kind of hard to explain without showing.
I used MEK as a glue/solvent, and once the joint is made, the plastic is soft enough, that any imperfections on the two piececs I joined, could easily be blended together, and sanded, hiding the joint.
Mike.
My You Tube
I've done/do it a coulpe ways,
I took a pieace of hard wood 2X4, cut a 45, with a miter saw. add a fence on one edge.lay work on top against fence, run file up the 45 cut.
took the other piece, of 2x4 .sat it on a sheet of sand paper, ran work along the 45.
I use a file on thicker stock,[DPM buidings], sand paper on thinner.
crude,but works
I have done the same and find hardwood is much better than an old hunk of 2" x 4".
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I can't be bothered worrying about getting an exact 45° angle for corner joints. Instead, I use a file and/or sandpaper to create angles equal to- or sharper than 45°. The main concern is that the face of the edges which form the exposed corner are at 90° - in other words, perpendicular. To change-out the stock ends in an Athearn boxcar for older-style Tichy ends, I first use a utility knife, working on the inside of the car, to remove the bulk of the material...
...Next, I use a mill file to chamfer the inside edges of the sides to an angle of about 45° or a bit sharper...
The draught angle of the body shell, necessary for the casting and removal from the mould, is readily apparent in the third photo.
Next, the replacement ends are prepared in a similar manner, but using sandpaper of various grades, face-up on the workbench...
The ends and sides are then adjusted to give a reasonably tight fit to the sides...
...and cemented in place using solvent cement. Because the angles are not exactly 45°, backing strips of square .125"strip styrene are added to each corner, again using solvent-type cement...
This creates a very solid assembly....
I use this same method for DPM structure kits and modular walls, and for scratchbuilt rolling stock and structures. It probably doesn't save any time over using precise 45° angles, but is likely easier. If I were to opt for more precision, I'd still add the reinforcing strip styrene at the corners thus formed.
Wayne
Thanks for all the input guys. Gonna see what I can come up with.
JohnnyB Thanks for all the input guys. Gonna see what I can come up with.
I don't use it too often but if you don't have the inclination to make your own, NWSL has the "True Sander".
https://shop.osorail.com/product.sc?productId=280
Good Luck, Ed
Hello all,
In the previous NMRA magazine; in the "Tool Junkie" column, it dealt with sanding guides.
The author wrote about having blocks of wood cut at specific angles and marked, to use as guides.
For a perfectly flat surface, for the sand paper, he used a piece of float glass- -from what I surmised was a piece of thick glass used for table tops, and the appropriate guide.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
I usually don't try to create 45 degree angles on the edges of sheet styrene walls. I prefer to but the square edge of one piece of styrene against the flat surface of another piece. I simply size the overlapping piece slightly longer than it needs to be and use a fairly "wet" application of styrene cement on both sides of the joint. I will often add a strip of styrene to the inside of the joint for reinforcement. Once the joint has fully cured, I use sanding blocks and mill files to trim the overlapping edge back to the surface of the other wall face for a nice clean 90 degree corner. If I glued the joint together correctly, there will be no visible seam. If there is a visible seam, add a little filler putty and you're ready for paint.
Hornblower
doctorwayneI can't be bothered worrying about getting an exact 45° angle for corner joints. Instead, I use a file and/or sandpaper to create angles equal to- or sharper than 45°. The main concern is that the face of the edges which form the exposed corner are at 90° - in other words, perpendicular.
You can't argue with Dr. Wayne's results.
We've probably all built structure kits where the manufacturer seems to have had the same challenge with perfect 45 degree beveled edges. A bit of "fit and file and fit and file some more" usually makes things turn out OK.
Dave Nelson
If I remember correctly, the few DPM buildings I have, required a touch up on the beveled corners, plus you had to align mortor joints, especially on the corner buildings where the entrance was in-set from the exterior. It took some time.
Being a bit more than a 45 degrees, you can get a better alignment, I had a wood block with a square end that I held the pieces too, while the solvent/cement cured.
DPM has videos, that are a great help with techniques that will work on any building project, not just theirs.
jjdamnit he used a piece of float glass-
.
Float glass refers to the manufacturing process. I have also heard this process called bimetallic melting.
Basically this is just the method that made manufacturing large sheets of glass ecomnomical.
All clear glass is flat enough to use as a sanding surface/guide.
Thicker and tempered is safer and better.
-Kevin
Living the dream.