carl425These look interesting. Anybody tried them? They say the kerf is only .3mm.
Carl,
Nice skinny slot, but I am leery of those toothy teeth when cutting NS rail. Seems like it might snag as it starts the cut, whereas the fine-toothed ones tend to not?
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
We use diamond saw blades in a Proxxon/Dremil tool to cut the gaps at the club.
Others prefer the ceramic blades on their home layouts because they are so much cheaper. All the blades are much less than diamond jeweler saws?
jd/berlin
mlehman carl425 These look interesting. Anybody tried them? They say the kerf is only .3mm. Carl, Nice skinny slot, but I am leery of those toothy teeth when cutting NS rail. Seems like it might snag as it starts the cut, whereas the fine-toothed ones tend to not?
carl425 These look interesting. Anybody tried them? They say the kerf is only .3mm.
I would strongly advise against using toothed disks on metal.
mlehmanNice skinny slot, but I am leery of those toothy teeth when cutting NS rail. Seems like it might snag as it starts the cut, whereas the fine-toothed ones tend to not?
I don't think those are teeth. I believe they are there to keep the blade from overheating. It also looks to me like they rotate the wrong way for them to be teeth.
OTOH, I've been doing some testing and it seems that the gap really doesn't need to be all that skinny. I've been rolling a car across a 1/8" gap cut across the track at a 45 degree angle and not seeing any derailments.
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
jd:
When you mentioned diamond saw blades for cutting gaps I realized that I had some cheap Chinese blades that I had bought a while ago. I gave one a try and it cut fairly quickly but the kerf wasn't quite as narrow as I would like. It was just a bit smaller than what I have been able to do with the reinforced fibre blade. I believe that part of the problem is that I am having trouble holding the Dremel tool steady which is a direct result of having somewhat shaky hands.
I have also managed to take a couple of bites out of the stock rails with both the diamond and fibre blades, again as a result of not being able to properly control the Dremel.
Bottom line is that I have decided to wait for the jeweller's saw to arrive before cutting any more gaps.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critterI am having trouble holding the Dremel tool steady which is a direct result of having somewhat shaky hands.
I have the same problem. I found that the right angle attachment helped me. With it, I'm able to anchor the heel of my hand on the surface of the layout and rock the blade down onto the rail.
Carl:
Thanks for the suggestion. I just ordered one, and I even got it for a decent price right here in Canada!
Randy:
I got the jewellers saw today and it is worth every penny. Blade changes and tensioning are are quick and easy. I gapped eight turnouts in about 10 minutes. The kerf is verf fine.
Thanks again for the suggestion.
I got the angle drive for my Dremel yesterday. I'm kicking myself for not getting one before.
What is it that they say about having the right tools.....?
hon30critterI got the angle drive for my Dremel yesterday. I'm kicking myself for not getting one before.
I'm glad to hear you find it as useful as I did. It's like the Dremel version of putting your pinky on the surface to steady your paintbrush.