Broken #80 drill bits and other frustrations with Walthers cars

[SunsetLimited]

I have a big drill press that i use, it can knock out a budd car in 8 or so minutes.

[tstage]

Hi Garry,

My advice with no. 80 drill bits is to use them in a hand held motor tool (or flexible shaft tool) with a speed control. I use an old Dremel with a foot-pedal speed control so I can hold the car in one hand, the tool in the other, and vary the drill speed with my foot. I keep the speed relatively slow so the bit cuts through the plastic instead of melting it. The smallest Dremel collets will hold no. 80s very well, especially if you keep one especially for that size and never use it for larger bits. The advantage of the motor tool is that it turns steadily and puts a lot less stress on the tiny bit than drilling with a hand-held pin vise.

Andy

Andy, 

I guess I could see your point if you were drilling into brass.  (That sure wouldn't be very much fun to hand drill 30-40 grab iron holes into. )

However, and with all due respect, a sharp drill bit in a pin vise will give you better control and "feel" (sensory feedback) for drilling in plastic than drilling with an electric motor like a Dremel - even at low speed.  Course, that depends on how steady your hands are and how well you can drill perpendicular to the surface.

If I did use an electric motor to expedite things, I'd rather use a drill press than a Dremel to drill holes, since that takes the vertical alignment "variance" out of the equation.

I hope I'm allowed to disagree with the "experts"... 

Tom

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Well, I have more people to thank for their remarks including gappleg and brakie.  So thanks very much guys.  Many thanks to Andy for his time to comment.

I have 2 CB&Q way cars (cabeese) that I did install grabs.  I had to repair the coupla roof a bit afterwards.  My remaining 4 CB&Q way cars are still new in the boxes. Don't know when I'll get to them.

Andy, I do have two Walthers Budd Santa Fe coaches and the only "grabs" I installed were the handrails next to the doors. My 10-car Walthers Super Chief has none installed.

As for #80 drills and Dremel collets:   I sometimes use a very small piece of wire insulation to get a snug fit.  I've been able to do so without any wobbles of the drill bits.

Happy Model Railroading everybody!

[twhite]

The problem for me, and many like me is age and arthritis, which plays havoc when using a pin vise and keeping it steady.  In the 50's, 60's 70's, 80's and 90's, I drilled, broke my share of bits but still got the grabs on the cars.

Now, human fraility is making it very difficult to drill all those holes, and on the last couple of Walthers cars, I just didn't put the grabs on.  My solution for the future?  Won't buy cars/diesels from any company that makes me drill those holes.

That said, I have a nice collection in a bag of all sorts of grabs and handrails for Walthers cars sitting on the work bench.

 

Bob 

 

 

 

I think I'm with you, Pastorbob--I've been building models since 1955--I bit my teeth on those metal Athearn freight car kits with 1,000+ parts, built (and enjoyed building) my share of Ambroid 1 in 5000 wood kits, still have a HUGE collection of wood Silver Streak, so I'm hardly what you'd call an RTR guy. 

So, guys, don't call me lazy or inept because the Walthers ABS is un-cooperative to drill bits.  It's not a matter of craft (I've plenty of that left), it's a matter of sheer frustration, after spending almost $40 and finding out that I've got 600 little pieces of wire to add, yet, and whether I use a low-speed Dremel or a well-aimed drill bit, or cleaning out the little dimples with an X-acto blade, I'm STILL going to be replacing #80's like it's going out of style.  Been there.  Done that.   

And I've DONE my share of Rivarossi and Stewart and all of the other plastic super-detailing some of you've mentioned.  It's easy.  I just turned 10 IHC passenger cars into a pretty good-looking passenger train with new wheels, couplers, details, weight, interiors--the whole shot.  It was enjoyable.  And it runs very well behind my E-6 A-B-B units.  Because the material was easy to work with. 

The Walther's ABS cars are not.  End of my argument.   Put the damned grabs on BEFORE you package them.  Charge me the extra $5.  I've got better things to do. 

Like maybe find another Ambroid to build. 

Tom  

[BRAKIE]

Tom said:Put the damned grabs on BEFORE you package them.  Charge me the extra $5.  I've got better things to do. 

 

Hear! Hear!

[mlehman]

It looks like I'm not the only one who's noticed that the Walthers plastic seems tougher than some others. Is it because it's ABS? Versus regular styrene? I know that the plastic narrowgauge kits I've worked with just don't seem to be that difficult. What do Railline, Grandt and PSC use?

[Southwest Chief]

Installing grab irons may be a pain, but what I notice right away with the comparison photos to the other makers cars is Walthers got the paint right.  NP green, especially the light green, is a tough color to get right.  But from the photos you posted, the Walthers car looks the most prototypical to me.  Now if they could only improve on the grab iron installation process

[loathar]

I wish I could afford a nice drill press with a X,Y vice on it. That would make jobs like this a lot easier.

[Sperandeo]

Hi Tom,

Of course you're allowed to disagree, but I don't think you can argue with my statement that I can do a better job with the motor tool/speed control combination than I can do with a pin vise. That's a true proposition as far as my abilities are concerned, I promise you, and I offer my experience as a suggestion to those who find they break lots of drill bits with a pin vise.

Another poster mentioned using a drill press. I have a small bench-top drill press and I use it whenever I can. It does a very good job drilling on the sides of carbodies or on flat parts before assembly. But when you have to rotate a passenger carbody through several angles to drill holes perpendicular to curved surfaces, the drill press starts to loose its advantage. Also, my small drill press can't accomodate even a 60-foot HO carbody standing on end, so the hand-held tool is my preferred instrument for drilling holes in the ends.

(Speaking of the drill press, which is a Micro-Lux that I bought from MicroMark, someone on another list doubted my statement that its chuck could hold a bit as small as a no. 80. He had read the specifications, which clearly showed this wouldn't work. That means the joke is on me, because I didn't read the specs. I just chucked up a no. 80 and started drilling.)

So long,

Andy

[Heartland Division CB&Q]

Thanks again, ANDY for your inputs on this topic!

BTW............ May 2007 edition of MR is great!. Jim Hediger's story, "Walthers: Celebrating 75 innovative years" is well done (normal good stuff by Jim) and relates to this topic.  I still have some old HO Walthers cars made from wood / metal kits.

Happy Model Railroading from the Heartland Division of CB&Q !  Garry

[tstage]

Andy,

Thanks for the response.  Granted it's slower than a drill press or Dremel, I still favor the feel and "feedback" I get from a pin vise.  However, I do respect your expertise and will have to try out your suggestions at some point.

Tom