I run a piece of thread through the Kadee spring and tie it into a large loop. When the spring flies off I can simply retrieve it. Once installed I cut the loop and pull the thread out.
I too spend way too much time on my hands and knees looking for errant parts, give up only to find them later.
York1Some of the pieces are tiny, and no matter how careful I am, I drop at least one.
Today I was making a small piece of wood--even had nail heads drawn into it. I picked it up with tweezers to glue onto my structure, when the piece rotated and the tweezers shot it out like a mini board cannon.
Hit me right on the tip of my nose.
And that's the last I saw of it. I looked on the floor, but like you, I had to make a new one.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
SpaceMouseWhat is something that you notice that tries your patience but is not really worth whining about?
About the same as the coupler spring -- I like to scratchbuild structures for my N Scale layout. Some of the pieces are tiny, and no matter how careful I am, I drop at least one.
There is hardwood floor, so the piece doesn't get trapped in carpet or anything like that. Yet I can sweep the floor, swear, run my hand over the floor, swear, get down level with the floor with a flashlight, swear, and I won't find it.
Finally I give up and make a new part. Later, I will see the part lying on the floor exactly where I earlier looked.
Whine? No, but you wouldn't want your young children within hearing distance.
York1 John
trainnut1250Biggest complaint was when Elmers went to those rectangular holes on the glue bottle many years ago now.
That's the kind I've got. It's a big bottle, so I've had it for a while.
I hate when I pull out the scenic spryer and it's really a scenic dripper. I always forget to clean that thing out. Oh well only takes 2 min under hot water and a tired hand from spraying so much water. Has happend many times and will happen many more.
SeeYou190 dknelson replacing the spring on a Kadee #5 coupler. I assume you mean the knuckle spring. My method it to use a #11 blade dipped into an Elmer's glue stick to make it tacky. I am very good at it, but only because of practice, practice, practice. -Kevin
dknelson replacing the spring on a Kadee #5 coupler.
I assume you mean the knuckle spring.
My method it to use a #11 blade dipped into an Elmer's glue stick to make it tacky.
I am very good at it, but only because of practice, practice, practice.
-Kevin
After losing a dozen or so coupler springs, I bought a special tool made by Kadee for installing coupler springs. Now and then I'll get an errant spring (installing in a plastic bag is a good idea!) but getting the thing to go into that space and onto the little nub is much easier, The tool has a little ball in the end that fits right into the diameter of the spring so you can pick it up and hold it, as well as flex it to fit into the space. Very handy.
Chip,
I regularly scratchbuild with wood. I have a coffee can plastic lid full off little piles of dried glue - the pile is about 1/4" thick now from years of glue application. It looks like a glue pancake now..
The issue you are talking about with the glue bottle is something that my local buddies and I complain about now and then...Biggest complaint was when Elmers went to those rectangular holes on the glue bottle many years ago now.
I will usually squeeze out a small glop of glue and use it until it skins and then start another in a different spot on my glue lid....Sometimes I'll thin it with a little water to slow down the drying out process...
as for things that try my patience...How much time have you got???
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
OvermodEd: how much would you take for the dog cooker? (seriously!)
Oh, but what would I tell all the little, disappointed young'ns when they visit and expect a nice, juicy frankfurter???
weenie_cook by Edmund, on Flickr
Take a look at Amazon and find something to suit your tastes?
Cheers, Ed
gmpullmanThere must be a better way to paint wheel/axle sets.
I cheated and brushed selenium black on any shiny chassis stuff, on the general theory that shadows of anything are black. I rigged the Unimat to turn at slow speed and used a collet on the opposite end to do wheels, including silver plating the contact areas on wheel treads or freight-car 'retarderized' rims. That let me get the front and both backs at the same time and everything could dry undisturbed while rotating.
You could use higher speed to simulate oil bypassing the bearing seals!
gmpullmanWhile attempting to paint the wheel/axle sets a muted rust color I always seem to miss a spot on the axle.
I brush paint my trucks and wheels. I too frequently have mistakes when I airbrush them.
Living the dream.
Just last night I was reminded of a "bugaboo" or is it booger as Chip calls them.
While attempting to paint the wheel/axle sets a muted rust color I always seem to miss a spot on the axle. It bugs me to get down for a "trackside" view and see the flash of the chrome axle roll by.
There must be a better way to paint wheel/axle sets. I've tried every fixture out there. We need a carousel device that slowly rotates while painting.
Hey! That reminds me. I have one of those hot dog cookers like you used to see at the Woolworth snack bar.
Hummm
MisterBeasley Over the years, I've learned to practice good glue hygiene. No, I don't wear a mask in the shop, not do I read Dr. Fauci's Modeling tips. It's important to make sure your glue containers are clean when you finish the job. Store them upright so glue doesn't settle in the nozzle. Clean the tip, just a simple wipe with a paper towel. Put the caps on firmly but not too tight. This actually works wonders.
Over the years, I've learned to practice good glue hygiene. No, I don't wear a mask in the shop, not do I read Dr. Fauci's Modeling tips. It's important to make sure your glue containers are clean when you finish the job. Store them upright so glue doesn't settle in the nozzle. Clean the tip, just a simple wipe with a paper towel. Put the caps on firmly but not too tight.
This actually works wonders.
Thanks for the tips. I actually do all those steps. The glue boogers form while I am working. The tip worn out constant use. The valve part has come loose and that is what is creating the havoc. If I close it between uses I have to dig the dried glue out every time. Then I have push the valve down to get glue. If I leave the bottle open, I can go maybe 10 times before congestion occurs.
dknelsonreplacing the spring on a Kadee #5 coupler.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
dknelson1) replacing the spring on a Kadee #5 coupler.
I feel this one.
Overmod--like your idea of clear plastic bag.
Soldering.
My biggest aggravation is my own creation. I use heat-shrink tubing to cover my solder joints. Sometimes I do not wait for the wire to cool enough, and the tubing will shrink as I slide it into place and not get where I need it to be.
That is aggravating.
Dave: either build a glovebox with clear-vision windows or do your springs inside a Baggie. Springs gonna sproing -- like the frog in the unfunny joke, it's just what they do. Your job is to make sure when they're done sproinging they are where you can find them to try again, and when confined behind clear material you can turn them up easily most if the time...
Has anyone looked into the chemistry of foaming or friable Hydrocal? If it is trapped air from mixing, perhaps pulling a vacuum on the whole shebang as is necessary for epoxy casting might work...
SpaceMouse What is something that you notice that tries your patience but is not really worth whining about?
What is something that you notice that tries your patience but is not really worth whining about?
It's rare, Chip, but I do screw up the odd joiner. I mangle them somehow or I go back and find that I didn't get 'er lined up right.
Same with feeders. I'm just not great soldering, competent...ish...but I sometimes find feeders let go, or blobs of solder where there should be none. Rare, but at least once a year.
My biggest failure rate comes with Hydrocal castings. I get a nice mold, prep it according to the instructions, and open a new box of WS Hydrocal. I mix and tint, if tinting, and pour. I walk away for several hours, come back and I have a bubbly mess that is highly friable and crumbles when I attempt to extract it. I have resorted to a box of hydrocal that I opened ten years ago, and simply folded closed, and it makes better castings than the newly opened stuff.
Glue boogers are the scourge of working with wood models (and off-white wood glue). There are 3 main ways you run into glue boogers.
1) They form on the outside of your glue bottle and inside the valve area. If you use a larger size economy bottle, there's no way to prevent them. They form around the opening and when you pick at them to get them out, you find they extend down in and around whatever they are using as a valve. I spend a lot of time digging out glue boogers when all I wanted was put the part I was working on the structure.
2) You use the tip of your xacto knife to dig out all the excess glue and the boogers form on the point. Not that they want to come easily. They ball up and stretch and try to stick themselves everywhere.
3) I pour my glue onto a piece of glass and use a toothpick to put the glue where I want it to go. After a while the glue on the tip of the toothpick hits a critical mass, and a giant glue booger forms. Sometimes you can just pull it off in a paper towel, otherwise you can cut it off with your exacto knife, which isn't very easy because the glue tends to move and reform instead of cut. Often it is just better to get a new toothpick.
A different kind of glue buggar is formed when you scrape up the dried blotches of glue with a single-edge blade paint scraper. The goop turns into a sticky ball that's more like a dry booger.