Grab iron insertion

[FJ and G]

Rather than drill tiny holes in plastic for grabiron or use super glue, has anyone tried heating the grab iron with soldering iron and pushing it thru the plastic.

I experimented the other day on a junked freight car and it worked, and further, the plastic sealed the grabiron.

Anyone else try this and wi***o add pros and cons of the technique?

[Virginian]

Only problem I see is you only get one try. That wouldn't be good for me, but might be fine for others. And, it you do it on a white/light body, you might get soot from the singed plastic on the paint job.

[howmus]

I have used the technique several times, albiet over 20 years ago. It works very well provided you are careful to make sure the grabiron is right where you want it the first time. If you use a small soldering iron and don't use too much heat, the result is excellent. Good luck! [:)]

[Anonymous]

Rather than drilling the holes (very time-consuming), I use the sharp end of a professional draftsman's compass - it's sharp enough to pierce the styrene and stout enough to go all the way thru without bending. I can position it exactly where the hole needs to be - which is very difficult to do with a drill bit.

With this method, I can get DetailsWest grab irons installed on an Athearn loco shell in less than 10 minutes.[^]

[FJ and G]

There's lots of ways to skin this cat, I see

[Anonymous]

Dave,

I hate installing grabirons but I love how they look. I woould say that your method has a several drawbacks:

1. It is possible to damage a nice car with a misplaced red hot grab iron
2. Some grabiron material won't like being heated (soft brass etc) and is not strong enough to press fit in this manner
3. Your method will take me longer than to drill the car with a pin vise
4. You must use wire grabs (some much for P2K, Intermountain, Red Caboose etc.)
5. Won't work on wood cars

Not too long ago, I made similar suggestions to the old time train guys I know. They laughed and said "Nobody likes drilling grabs, get used to it" I have learned to take the time to drill. It took a while to accept that it will take time to do it, but I find it to be worth it. As you get better at it, it goes quicker. I figure if I wait long enough, my eyesight will deteriorate to the point where I can't see individual grabs anymore and my dilema will be solved. I am not eager to try out this solution.

[cwclark]

I really think you should go ahead and drill the holes, for one, they will be more evenly spaced and for the #2 reason; once i used a soldering iron to heat the grab irons until they melted thru the body until i slipped one day and drove the entire soldering iron thru a brand new athearn locomotive in an instant...been using the old monotonous pin vises ever since...Chuck

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by FJ and G

There's lots of ways to skin this cat, I see

Including a small reamer to open up the hole as mentioned recently, I believe in the March issue of MR?

I recently placed an order with Micro-Mark and added an item they have called "finger drills" which I was intending to try out for this application.

[cefinkjr]

Gee, am I weird!! I don't mind drilling tiny holes when necessary. (Broken bits kind of bug me though.) And tapping a hole is particularly satisfying.

[:D] [banghead] [:D]

Chuck

[Anonymous]

With the relative high prices of today's models, I know I would never want to heat a grab iron to insert it into the proper location. Many models come with molded on bolts and dimples to indicate where the grabs should go. You'd need to have a really good grip on the heated grab iron and a really steady hand to be able to put them in the exact spot. Drilling holes for grab irons is a part of the modeling aspect of our hobby.

Bob Boudreau