What size drill bit do I need to clean out the holes,on a HO scale shell, where the handrails snap into the frame. I need to clean the holes out after I paint the shell. What about the drill bit size for the grab rails?
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
get a cheep veinier from HF and a set of wire drill from MM.
When I was working on some P2K cars, I had some difficulty with grab irons. It was suggested to get a set of reamers. I did and found them invaluable in enlarging the holes. You do have to be careful not to make the holes too large, but with things that small the glue takes up slight over size holes. I would ream gently, try the part for fit, when right I would put a touch of glue on the hole and insert the iron. I found this better than putting the glue on the part, then a miss wouldn't smear glue on the side of the car.
Good luck,
Richard
anthony61 What about the drill bit size for the grab rails?
Hi, Anthony
This is a good excuse for you to get an inexpensive digital caliper and if your budget allows, a good quality drill bit gauge where you can test-fit the stanchion or rail and judge the size from there. (much easier to start smaller and work up)
http://www.micromark.com/micro-drill-bit-gauge,6618.html
The Micro-Mark shows sold out but there should be others in the 61-80 range.
Digital Calipers:
http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-digital-caliper-47257.html
I don't do Harbor Freight but the link is an example. Buy the best quality you can afford. They will be helpful for many modeling projects.
Good Luck, Ed
Drill a 1/16th" hole. Use some body filler, perhaps air-dry modeling clay, then insert the rail.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
gmpullman Digital Calipers: http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-digital-caliper-47257.html I don't do Harbor Freight but the link is an example. Buy the best quality you can afford. They will be helpful for many modeling projects.
I have owned that model, or its identical twin, for a number of years. It works perfectly. I have had zero problems with it, and its readings match those I obtain from my dial caliper.
I consider it a bargain.
CG
BroadwayLionDrill a 1/16th" hole. Use some body filler, perhaps air-dry modeling clay, then insert the rail.
Dear Brother Elias:
With all due respect to your considerable modelling accomplishments, 1/16" is waaayyyyyy too big!! Filling the hole with body putty after the painting is done is totally counterproductive and quite unnecessary.
Since not all grab irons are the same size, the easiest way to choose a drill would be to hold the end of a grab up to the shanks on a few drills and see what is fairly close. If you have a set of calipers that's great but not essential. It doesn't matter if the drill is slightly oversize (emphasis on 'slightly' Lion) because the gap will be filled by the CA. Don't even bother with #80 drills. They will break if you look at them funny.
Do you need to paint your grab irons a different colour than the body? If so, you will get better finished results by painting the grabs before installation. Most grabs have enough spare length that they can be stuck into a piece of foam. The paint has to be fully cured before installation, i.e. allowed to dry for several days. If you are using tweezers to install the grabs, wrap the tips in masking tape. Even then you will probably get a bit of paint damage but it is much easier to touch up the paint in the middle of the grab than trying to get the paint even where the grabs meet the body(if you paint them after installation). You might have to drill the holes a bit larger to allow for the paint.
Regards
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
hon30critterWith all due respect to your considerable modelling accomplishments, 1/16" is waaayyyyyy too big!! Filling the hole with body putty after the painting is done is totally counterproductive and quite unnecessary.
Ahh.... Let me adjust your scarcasm detector a little bit.
LION has seceral numbered bits and a whole bag of #80 bits. Got them from our power house. THEY got them from government surplus, probably after the Second World Mistake. They are wrapped in waxed paper. Not the kind your mother used to use, but rather the heavy sticky kind that the military used to wrap its weapons in. AFIK, the Russians still use it, or so one would think by reading Tom Clancy novels.
PS... Body Putty has held NYCT subway cars together for three decades. : )
I just bought a "kit" of bits from #61 to 80 and would recommend that the OP (opening poster) do so too, unless he has access to Br. Lions war surplus supplies. Add on details have various size nubs so you need several size bits.
There is one set at Micromark and Amazon where the bits are in a case and you can remove only the one you want. Other storage options are prone to spillage and then you are trying to decide if this bit is larger than that one.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
I recommend the digital calipers with a millimeter setting. I would also recommend having a set of nice millimeter drill bits since "non-scale" dimensions done in China are in millimeters. So things like holes, pins used for registration or assembly I find are commonly in millimeters for Athearn, Tangent and other models designed in China.
the Drill bit warehouse has a nice set of HSS wire drills for a reasonable price that comes in a metal fold out.
BroadwayLionAhh.... Let me adjust your scarcasm detector a little bit.
Sorry Lion, I didn't detect the sarcasm. Actually, I thought you had gone nuts!
I'd like to suggest a different approach instead of buying numbered drill dits in a set. The problem with a set is that you only have one of each size. Tiny drill bits will eventually break no matter how careful you are with them. When the one you need breaks, you have a problem. Yes, you can just go to the next size up, that is until it breaks too.
My approach is to buy several of the same size bits in a range of sizes. You don't need to buy every single size. You can skip a size or even two. I would suggest buying #79s instead of #80s and then work up from there. #79s are far less prone to breaking than #80s and the size difference of the hole is barely perceptable.
Another trick to prevent breakage is to chuck the drill bit so only enough of the bit is sticking out of the chuck to drill through your material. Drill bits break because they have been flexed. The minimal projection eliminates most of the flex.
While I'm at it, don't buy the bits with the large shanks. They will break very easily if used by hand. They are designed for use in high tech drill presses.
I have probelms breaking bits, heck i just look at one and it breaks. Have tryed all the tricks. Have tryed several differnt brands. Even bought a set of drills that denists use, broke them all also.
Modeling on the cheap
fourt:
You have to let the bit do the work. You cannot put any pressure on it. The bit will cut into the material on its own. I find that I break bits when I think things are going well and I try to speed up the process by adding a little pressure. Pop goes the bit almost every time!
Note that some new bits can be duds from the start. If a bit is simply spinning on the surface it is not ground correctly. Toss it!
hon30critterIf a bit is simply spinning on the surface it is not ground correctly. Toss it!
You need a center punch. LION uses a nail and a 2# hammer to mark the material. After all , center punches cost money.
BroadwayLionYou need a center punch. LION uses a nail and a 2# hammer to mark the material.
Lion makes a very good point (pardon the pun). I use a sewing needle glued into a wooden handle to mark the drill start point. The depression doesn't have to be huge but it does help the bit 'bite' into the surface.
Humm might have to try the sewing needle trick. Now how does lion use the nail and hammer with only one tail? and two paws?
This is what I use. Yes, it is primative! You can see that the handle has been put to many other uses.
It is also great for applying small amounts of CA or epoxy.
Or a spare drill chuck, which i used to rescribe panel lines on model planes. Going to have to try this next time i need drill a hole, thanks.
hon30critterIt is also great for applying small amounts of CA or epoxy.
Or you could use the "eye" end of a sewing needle which will wick up a dab of cement and deposit it in a precise manner. Or at least close
For some poking and prodding jobs a sewing needle with the very end of the eye ground off using a cut-off disk makes sort of a tuning fork looking tool which can be handy for applying cement or "nudging" parts into place. Several sizes are out there— up to some of the bigger carpet needles which can be handy for bending brass wire and such odd tasks.
I have a few sizes of these pressed into handles similar to yours, Dave, and they can be handy at times (Kadee coupler springs?)
Have Fun, Ed
fourtOr a spare drill chuck,
Yes, absolutely. If you have a spare chuck or a pin vise it would work great.
I do find that the cedar handle fits in my hand very comfortably.
All the best!
OK Ed!
Great suggestions! I'll have to raid my wife's sewing box again!
Thanks,
hon30critterI'll have to raid my wife's sewing box again!
That's only fair!
I lost a good pair of Opti-Visors when my little lady was "raiding" MY tool crib!
Come to think of it, I think she may have run off some of my good red sable brushes as well. I'll put the cat in charge of guarding my "stuff"!
Ed
While drilling out the headlight on the 2-8-2 i am working on i managed to break a 3/32 drill doing it. and of course it is now blocking the hole in the smokestack for that screw to mount to the body. I have all the luck. Any ideas on how to get it out?
Fourt we have all been there, but maybe not with such a small size drill bit.
Mark Twain summed up your experience. "A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something that he can learn in no other way"