Are you talking about this: http://www.micromark.com/grab-iron-bending-gauge,9768.html?
Or are you talking about the wire bending pliers they sell?
You can make a similar fixture to the one in the link by drilling an appropriate size hole at a distance equal to the width of the grab you need from the edge of a piece of plastic. Insert one end of wire in hole, bend wire toward edge of plastic, bend plastic over edge to form second attachment pin for grab, snip off excess.
The only "special" tool that I will use for forming wire is a decent pair of the rounded needle nose. Other than that your normal needle nose will work fine.
I will use a small serrated jaw, smooth jaw and a sharp diaginal cutters (don't use your Zuron on wire- maybe OK on brass)
As mentioned you don't need any specialty Jig, one can be made of styrene, either with appropriate holes drilled or as a bending block. I have fabricated intricate diesel/ caboose railings using .015 brass or (stiffer) phospher bronze or music wire.
The rounded nose pliers are great for smooth sweeping radiuses. If larger radius is needed just find a proper diam rod/ dowel etc.
The key to bending intricate rails is knowing where to start. I will start w/ the toughest bends leaving end or simpler bending for last. After test fits and minor adjustments they can be clipped off. Extremely small grabs are best done on a lomger length of wire so that it is easy to handle. Just need to be careful when clipping as we all know where those pieces will end up- that never/ never land of coupler spring and detail part black hole...
And do watch your eyes when cutting wire especially music wire.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
The first 2 answers are right on. If I have a number if grabs to bend I found that the bend over the edge of the plastic tends to wear & you don't get as sharp a bend as the first one with the pliers. What i do is to remove the back of a single edge razor blade CAREFUL!! & glue that back edge even with the edge of the plastic. You can make enough for years & still get a sharp bend every time. You should really hold the wire down with pliers right at the bend line while you are bending the 2nd leg. jerry
how does that MicroMark item even work? It just has holes going through it so that the bends are at the described on the tool length apart?
35 bucks seems kind of expensive for that...
304live how does that MicroMark item even work? It just has holes going through it so that the bends are at the described on the tool length apart? 35 bucks seems kind of expensive for that...
I don't think they're holes. I think they're more like notches. But your basic premise is correct. The advantage of that tool is that all the thinking is done for you. You just pick the size you want and pretty much get consistent grabs. That's not to say you can't make a tool similar to it if you want. I believe that I saw an article on making a pretty much identical tool in an issue of Mainline Modeller magazine.
All Ya need is a good pair of needle nose pilers. Ya dont need any fancy jig bender like that! In fact ya probably already have needle nose pliers in your toolbox!!!!! Thanks Kevin
I mostly agree. As a custom builder, I go thru a lot more grabs than most of you and while I make most of my own staight grabs with jigs (both of plastic and brass) I have made for specific locos, but when it comes to drop grabs, I buy mine from Tichy, they're economical, consistenly bent and a great time saver. DA also makes them.
I also make my own lift rings. With a pair of round needle nose pliers, you will usually have to grind or file down one of the needle tips to a sharp point to get the small diameter needed. I can actually make smaller eyebolts/lift rings than those that DA makes.
Jay
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