Are there any currently available grate style drop steps for RS11s? I have an undecorated AM that I recently bought because K4 came out with some NKP decals. Old habits are hard to break. ?
Tom P
Alexandria VA
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Hello
I have found that they break easily
I used one just today to drill a very small hole into a thin brass metal boxcar step.
The hole size is about the diameter of a straight pin.
I am very careful?
I don’t want to lose this drill size
For anything of greater metal thickness or tougher than brass, I would expect it to break sooner than later!!!
I will never buy more of these
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On Mar 23, 2025, at 2:33?PM, Mike Swederska via groups.io <MikeSscale@...> wrote:
? Harbor Freight also sells them. Due to breakage I only use them for plastic never brass.?
Mike Swederska?
On Mar 23, 2025, at 1:04?PM, Roger Nulton via groups.io <roger.nulton@...> wrote:
?
Bob,
You’re right, those bits are great for avoiding the collet change. I have a small battery powered Dremel that is easy to control that I use them in. They are also very sharp! They are easy
to break, but so cheap that it barely matters. I used to get mine at train shows too, but those are nearly extinct now. I checked eBay and they appear to be readily available from China:?
Roger Nulton
?
?
I was changing a few mis. items in a drawer just a few minutes ago.? I once bought a box of carbide drill bits from a train-show exhibitor.? I think Micro tool people also sell the same thing--really just a bunch of bits (of
random sizes!) in a plastic box, but each bit has a fat collar around it.? I had thought that collar mount would save a lot of time just in not having to adjust the collet size for each bit change.?
I once tried to use them but it quickly broke.? I don't think I've tried any since, so to the back of the drawer they went!? I'm wondering if you gentlemen have used them successfully and how you deal with carbide bits??
Bob Werre
--
Mike Swederska
Meramec Valley Lines
Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16
https://www.youtube.com/@mikesscale3149
Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun!
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Is anyone here in the Northern Virginia S-Gaugers Club? The RS11 I just finished was originally owned by R Bruce Tibbetts. I sort of knew him and did some painting for him 30+ years ago. I just saw his obit he died about a month ago.. ? Thank You,
Bill Lane
Modeling the Mighty Pennsy, PRSL & Reading in 1957 in S Scale since 1987
See my finished models at:
Look at what has been made in PRR in S Scale! ? See my layout progress at:
Join the Pennsylvania Reading Seashore Lines Historical Society
It's FREE to join!??
Preserving The Memory Of The PRSL
?
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Having worked with them for many years as a Toolmaker and Manufacturing Engineer, carbide drills require very high rpms and a true running spindle. Not really suited for soft materials like brass and plastic. HSS and cobalt are much better choices for most of our modeling materials. Used to drill hardened steel with carbide.
Rob Fuhst? Grand Haven, Michigan?
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-------- Original message -------- From: "David Heine via groups.io" <dheineww4@...> Date: 3/23/25 3:48 PM (GMT-05:00) Subject: Re: [S-Scale] drill bits?
I have a bunch of them I bought in small sizes from Drill Bit City, including some smaller than #80. Because they are carbide, they are very brittle and will break with any side pressure. I only use them in a drill press or my Sherline mill with the sensitive?drilling attachment.?
Dave Heine
I was changing a few mis. items in a drawer just
a few minutes ago.? I once bought a box of carbide drill bits
from a train-show exhibitor.? I think Micro tool people also
sell the same thing--really just a bunch of bits (of random
sizes!) in a plastic box, but each bit has a fat collar around
it.? I had thought that collar mount would save a lot of time
just in not having to adjust the collet size for each bit
change.?
I once tried to use them but it quickly broke.? I
don't think I've tried any since, so to the back of the drawer
they went!? I'm wondering if you gentlemen have used them
successfully and how you deal with carbide bits??
Bob Werre
-- Rob Fuhst Grand Haven, MI
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Re: Logging Corner I (left side)
Ed,
?
When I saw your logging listing, it piqued my interest. Alas, I have built almost all of Bill's McCabe Lumber Co. series of kits, including both the Coon Gap and Slatyfork sawmills, both with interiors. They're not yet installed on my layout, but hopefully that will happen later this year.?
?
Your scene looks great!
?
Dave Heine
?
?
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Re: Logging Corner ; plus this and that!
On Sun, Mar 23, 2025 at 11:03 AM, Bob Werre wrote:
I was particularly looking at the lifts and cranes that I really would like, but his are largely built- in and mine are likewise .
My lifts and cranes are easily removeable.? They are not permanently built in place.? All it takes is a check to budge them loose.? Cheers..........Smiling Ed L.
--
Ed Loizeaux
Los Altos, CA
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I have a bunch of them I bought in small sizes from Drill Bit City, including some smaller than #80. Because they are carbide, they are very brittle and will break with any side pressure. I only use them in a drill press or my Sherline mill with the sensitive?drilling attachment.?
Dave Heine
I was changing a few mis. items in a drawer just
a few minutes ago.? I once bought a box of carbide drill bits
from a train-show exhibitor.? I think Micro tool people also
sell the same thing--really just a bunch of bits (of random
sizes!) in a plastic box, but each bit has a fat collar around
it.? I had thought that collar mount would save a lot of time
just in not having to adjust the collet size for each bit
change.?
I once tried to use them but it quickly broke.? I
don't think I've tried any since, so to the back of the drawer
they went!? I'm wondering if you gentlemen have used them
successfully and how you deal with carbide bits??
Bob Werre
|
Further to my previous comment, you can buy sets of HSS micro drill bits from China on Ebay for $3.00.? Harbor Freight sells a set of 30 HSS drills from 0.5 to 3 mm for $3.99.? So why fart around with carbide that are very likely to break?? Because you found some cheap somewhere and thought that they were a good deal?
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I agree with Mr. Kinder.? Carbide drills are made for use in very small drill presses or mills.? If you need to drill small holes by hand or by Dremel, get regular steel bits.
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These are either like printed circuit board drills, or similar.? Yes, extremely brittle and designed for use in good quality industrial CNC machines or something that is accurate enough to avoid any side load or tilting.? Very high odds of breaking them if trying to use them by hand in anything like a handheld motor tool or pin vise.
But, being used properly, fine for brass or almost anything.? But you need to prevent it galling.? And old machinist trick is to have a small block of beeswax you poke the drill into first.? (And much less messy than oils or cutting fluids.)? However, if not careful, even doing that will break them if you don't push absolutely straight in.? But for normal wire drills, it is a very handy trick.
Charles E. "Chuck" Kinzer
On Sunday, March 23, 2025 at 11:33:47 AM PDT, Mike Swederska via groups.io <mikesscale@...> wrote:
Harbor Freight also sells them. Due to breakage I only use them for plastic never brass.? Mike Swederska? On Mar 23, 2025, at 1:04?PM, Roger Nulton via groups.io <roger.nulton@...> wrote:
?
Bob, You’re right, those bits are great for avoiding the collet change. I have a small battery powered Dremel that is easy to control that I use them in. They are also very sharp! They are easy to break, but so cheap that it barely matters. I used to get mine at train shows too, but those are nearly extinct now. I checked eBay and they appear to be readily available from China:? Roger Nulton ? ? I was changing a few mis. items in a drawer just a few minutes ago.? I once bought a box of carbide drill bits from a train-show exhibitor.? I think Micro tool people also sell the same thing--really just a bunch of bits (of random sizes!) in a plastic box, but each bit has a fat collar around it.? I had thought that collar mount would save a lot of time just in not having to adjust the collet size for each bit change.? I once tried to use them but it quickly broke.? I don't think I've tried any since, so to the back of the drawer they went!? I'm wondering if you gentlemen have used them successfully and how you deal with carbide bits?? Bob Werre -- Mike Swederska
Meramec Valley Lines
Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16
https://www.youtube.com/@mikesscale3149
Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun!
|
Harbor Freight also sells them. Due to breakage I only use them for plastic never brass.? Mike Swederska?
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On Mar 23, 2025, at 1:04?PM, Roger Nulton via groups.io <roger.nulton@...> wrote:
? Bob, You’re right, those bits are great for avoiding the collet change. I have a small battery powered Dremel that is easy to control that I use them in. They are also very sharp! They are easy to break, but so cheap that it barely matters. I used to get mine at train shows too, but those are nearly extinct now. I checked eBay and they appear to be readily available from China:? Roger Nulton ? ? I was changing a few mis. items in a drawer just a few minutes ago.? I once bought a box of carbide drill bits from a train-show exhibitor.? I think Micro tool people also sell the same thing--really just a bunch of bits (of random sizes!) in a plastic box, but each bit has a fat collar around it.? I had thought that collar mount would save a lot of time just in not having to adjust the collet size for each bit change.? I once tried to use them but it quickly broke.? I don't think I've tried any since, so to the back of the drawer they went!? I'm wondering if you gentlemen have used them successfully and how you deal with carbide bits?? Bob Werre
-- Mike Swederska
Meramec Valley Lines
Modeling Mopac equipment in 3/16
https://www.youtube.com/@mikesscale3149
Don't let perfection get in the way of good enough! Keep model railroading fun!
|
Bob, You’re right, those bits are great for avoiding the collet change. I have a small battery powered Dremel that is easy to control that I use them in. They are also very sharp! They are easy to break, but so cheap that it barely matters. I used to get mine at train shows too, but those are nearly extinct now. I checked eBay and they appear to be readily available from China:? Roger Nulton ?
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From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Bob Werre
Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2025 10:07 AM
To: S-Scale <[email protected]>
Subject: [S-Scale] drill bits?? I was changing a few mis. items in a drawer just a few minutes ago.? I once bought a box of carbide drill bits from a train-show exhibitor.? I think Micro tool people also sell the same thing--really just a bunch of bits (of random sizes!) in a plastic box, but each bit has a fat collar around it.? I had thought that collar mount would save a lot of time just in not having to adjust the collet size for each bit change.? I once tried to use them but it quickly broke.? I don't think I've tried any since, so to the back of the drawer they went!? I'm wondering if you gentlemen have used them successfully and how you deal with carbide bits?? Bob Werre
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Re: Logging Corner ; plus this and that!
As I've been paying attention to much of what Ed has been offering for sale, I can only think and wonder about the mixed feelings he probably has about all this happening!, Then I'm not that far from that happening to my layout too!? Not trying to add doom & gloom but it's hard to see such a great place looking like a natural disaster is occurring!? Just part of life I guess.
Then to continue:? I was particularly looking at the lifts and cranes that I really would like, but his are largely built- in and mine are likewise .? I have two that with a couple of hours, this afternoon, will exchange places.? One is probably a S Scenery dock crane while the other a Leigh Valley pedistal model.? They both are in visually attractive places but also reaching across the tracks has or will attract damage.? So they will be swapping places.
I was also recently talking with Gilbert Freitag the son of Gil as he was talking about the disposal of Gils famous Stony Creek and Western layout.? His friends, who could salvage parts, were welcome to arrange for parts of it.? A large dispatcher's panel (12-20') was removed through a large window. while several structures are now on layouts in the area. There was also a 1:1 working lower quadrant signal in the back yard, baggage wagon and working crossbucks around the yard.
This thought process is coming from my frugal, recycling background, or perhaps another hundred ways to explain this! There is a small town called Ashley N. D. that we frequently visited.? It was on the SOO line and a short ways away was a grounded wooden baggage car, that sat their for many years until I wanted to photograph it as a art project--then it was gone! During that same weekend trip, I came across a two story SOO line depot that obviously had been sold or just dumped onto a farmer's pasture.? It had been severed to where the baggage area was several feet from the waiting/residence portion.? I did take the time for several shots and removed a short chunk of the soffit for a future color match.? Both sections were leaning, so they're not long till they're a pile of wood.? A bit more interesting was on a commercial oil field project,? again in North Dakota, where out in the prairie was a passenger car, again grounded.? Luckily I was just a harmless trespasser who again grabbed a few shots.? I would guess it was a NP car due to the arched window framing, but this was former GN territory so I really didn't know.? It had been turned into a field office at the edge of a sand pit, so again it was beyond its time.? I later found a couple of articles featuring it in local newspapers so other people are interested in it.
So if there are some words to describe all this mumbo, is that when you have a lot of irons, some are going to be hot, others fairly cold==do something and get back to work...as I'm about to!
Bob Werre
PhotoTraxx
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I buy HSS or Cobalt micro drills instead of carbide.? They cost money, not like a batch of carbide at an extremely low price.? You can search Ebay and find HSS for a little less.
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Hi Ken,
?
Which issues of S Scale Resource did your article appear in?? ?I have at least two, if not more, engines to add on a Stratolite 8911 beacon. I just purchased the last available 8911's on hand from Gotham Marine to use on a GP35 and U25B.?
?
Thanks
?
Michael Osweiler
?
?
On Wed, Sep 9, 2020 at 01:17 PM, Ken Zieska wrote:
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I was changing a few mis. items in a drawer just
a few minutes ago.? I once bought a box of carbide drill bits
from a train-show exhibitor.? I think Micro tool people also
sell the same thing--really just a bunch of bits (of random
sizes!) in a plastic box, but each bit has a fat collar around
it.? I had thought that collar mount would save a lot of time
just in not having to adjust the collet size for each bit
change.?
I once tried to use them but it quickly broke.? I
don't think I've tried any since, so to the back of the drawer
they went!? I'm wondering if you gentlemen have used them
successfully and how you deal with carbide bits??
Bob Werre
|
While some might consider this off topic, I think that since most of us have been married to a lady who has put?up with our weird preoccupation with "toy trains" will appreciate this.? ?My gal has?been very supportive of my hobby and she laughed at this.
Found in our local paper this morning --
"Rave to my wife of 31 years who told me the other day,'Overall, I love you more than I want to strangle you!'? ?Good to know!"
Have fun! Bill Winans
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My?experience with the Stanton drives under my Oriental?Ltd SW1 which weighs about a pound is that they can easily pull close to 20 "free rolling" cars on level track (about as much level track as I have).? ?Not as smooth or quiet as the original drive whose motor failed, but close?enough.? ?They do tend to fight one another on down grades, probably due to the slightest amount of gear lash, but the? SW1 is a flatland switcher, so no issue there.? ?What is nice is that they don't take up space within the locos, leaving lots of room?for whatever electronics/speakers one might use.? ?
I used the original OLtd truck side frames in my conversion, so there is no visual difference from its factory appearance.
Bill Winans
-------------------------
This is from the NWSL Stanton Drive, S Scale, Model 1615 instruction sheet:
?
...more weight means better traction and so another key design feature of the Stanton drive is that each unit can withstand additional weight of one pound without adversely affecting performance.? (Caveat here: Common sense suggests that any mechanical device forced to work continually under duress will probably have a shorter life span, so if you plan on using maximum weights please check the unit frequently to look for premature gear wear, etc. and then back off on the weight if need be.)
?
Thank you,
Matt Hogan
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Tommy,
This is from the NWSL Stanton Drive, S Scale, Model 1615 instruction sheet:
?
...more weight means better traction and so another key design feature of the Stanton drive is that each unit can withstand additional weight of one pound without adversely affecting performance.? (Caveat here: Common sense suggests that any mechanical device forced to work continually under duress will probably have a shorter life span, so if you plan on using maximum weights please check the unit frequently to look for premature gear wear, etc. and then back off on the weight if need be.)
?
Thank you,
Matt Hogan
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On Sat, Mar 22, 2025 at 08:29 PM, Tom Lennon wrote:
I haven't seen comparable data on Stantons but it's aussie cousin Black Beetle states "The weight on the centre pivot should not exceed about 100g (~3.5oz.). For locomotive applications the use of two Black Beetles is recommended."
Is this info available for the Stantons?
Tommy?
?
Tommy,
I believe the Stanton instructions mention the recommended/maximum weight...or contact NWSL.
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I located this info from a 2010 NWSL announcement about the Stantons:
?
The combination of rigid body, further stiffened by the printed circuit board, and these adjustable bearings means that the Stanton drive can be used in a variety of situations without you having to worry about "axle gear pinch" as a result of sway. We've run the Model 1220 (HO) with 1.5 pounds of weight on it. The unit probably wasn't especially happy, but it moved right along. What's more, the Stanton drive wants weight for better tractive effort. The Stanton drive was engineered to be tough, rugged, and reliable, and it's ready to go to work for you right now.
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Thank you,
Matt Hogan
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Roger Haag
Bill Lane
Roger Nulton
Bob Werre
SDL39FAN