Help with a project!

sgsellsit

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So here goes. I have been dabbling in some accessories for rc and ho scale. Fabricating not machining. My machining experience is very little. What I am looking for is some people out there that can machine small press brake fingers and bottom dies. Also I want to have dies made to make miniature roll formers. I would love input and collaberation. Thanks in advance.
 
By H-O scale, I am guessing you are refering to model trains. That's what I work in. R-C can be cars, aircraft, or boats. I have a little experience with aircraft, having helped a builder with a home-built. 12 in=1 ft, not a model. Didn't help with construction, just specialty tooling. R-C cars I have never messed with, they didn't strike my fancy. But I have used a lot of the parts for other contraptions. I work with stuff other than trains, usually as a "one off" or prototype. Whatever strikes my fancy at the time. . . In years long past (and preferably forgotten) I built electric powered boats, some to fairly large scale. But that was in the late '60s and early '70s, when I was attached to a Coast Guard icebreaker. Something to tinker with when we were at sea extended. Haven't done anything since.

For trains, I use a Horrible Fright press brake/shear, the small one about 10 in length. Had a larger 3 in 1 but it was too big. I have "made" fingers for that small press, not very complicated and didn't use any "machines", just a grinder. Never had to make any female dies, it's just a piece of keystock if I ever needed one.

The material I work with is brass "shim-stock", 6 in wide by 12 or 15 feet long. I stumbled onto some cheap a few years back in .003 and .013 thicknesses so bought up all I could afford at the time.

"Slip Roll" machines I have finagled on occasion. The 3 in 1 had a slip roll but it couldn't handle small, model sized stuff. I usually just bend the shim stock around a small shaft and then straighten the fingers after. There are several small machines on the market for modelers. I would start by looking at "Micro-Mark",
Page 34 and 35 of the current catalog. They have a good selection of tooling. And a few "over priced" electrically powered "toys". I won't call them machines, just some marketing man's idea of what a small power tool would look like. I have bought from them for many years, but when they jumped on the Chinese miniature machine band wagon, I sorta stood back. They do have some good tooling, you just have to look closely at what they offer and determine if you really need it or can make it instead..

One thing to consider about slip rolls is the length of the rolls. I could build one from small stainless tubing that would handle diameters to .300 in. In theory. . . In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, that's not always the case. In practice, once the .300 diameter tubes got beyond 4 or 5 inches, there would be a lot of flexing. That's why I just use a nail or shaft of slightly smaller diameter than desired and a piece of soft wood as a pressure plate.

As far as your original post is concerned, the question(s) are a little open ended. I would need a little more detail to be of any useful assistance. Be glad to help, but it mostly would be from a wheelchair now. So, a lot of "theory" and not that much "practice".

Bill Hudson​
 
First of all, Thank you Mr. Hudson for your service to this country. Also thank you for your information and wisdom. You gave me a lot to go on. I was a little vague not really knowing what direction to go. I am and have always been intrigued by anything remote control or miniature, especially if it was scale and realistic. These days they even have working hydraulic cylinders and pumps for rc. I thought it would be interesting to build actual working scale machines like a roofing/siding rollformers, hydraulic press brake, shear, slitter, trim formers and folders, coil upenders, decoilers, and coil cars that served a four fold purpose. 1) To bring realism to scale models or dioramas. 2) To have the miniature machines that actually make items for aforementioned projects. 3) Sell the products made on the machines. 4) Sell the machines. Later I would like to add different types of miniature industrial and power tools used in shops and industries. My mill and lathe experience doesn't go that far.

Everett Chandler
Florence, Alabama
 
Up front, materials are cheap and (currently) still easy to find. Brass shim stock and brazing rod are my basics. Formed shapes such as angle and channel are (still?) available from a brass supplier up north. I don't recall the name, but have a pretty good supply for what I do. Back in the day (my childhood~'50s) I used soup cans for tin plate. Sometime there, they started using plastic to coat the cans so that went south. Tin plate is still available but I don't use it, preferring the brass I have on hand. Modeling of any sort is a curious hobby. You will find materials in any place, usually as "refitted" or "rethought" parts. As much a mindset as anything. But nothing gets thrown out, every thing is useful, sometime, somewhere. Then there's plastics and adhesives. I don't use a lot of plastics, just for electical insulation. But there has been a great deal of excellent work with plastics. Then there's plaster(s), for molding masonry work and the like.

Machine work is not a necessity, but is useful to learn. There was a recent post on this site of a horse drawn road grader. A truely exquisite model, with little machine work. But, and here is the key: I worked for many years with an electric drill clamped up in a vise for a lathe. With a file as the cutter. What a good friend of mine called a "Puerto Rican Milling Machine". Carlos was second generation PR, so it's not derogatory, actually complimentary. Machine tools would be useful, but you don't need them. Skill with hand tools comes first, machine tools just save time and give a little better accuracy and repeatability.

I use a "resistance" soldering device (homemade), and a small HHO torch, for soldering anything bigger than a circuit board. Materials and tools are just the basics, you will need to learn many (seemingly unrelated) subjects. Eutectic solders and silver solders come to mind. Soft and hard soldering. Then there's brazing. Then beyond that, welding. No need to be an expert, but a working knowledge comes in handy. I have a welder and oxy/acetylene torch, but that's for serious work on my tractor equipment.

To get a beginning idea of what model building is about, I would suggest you find a mosel railroad club. Or better still, a model airplane club. Provided there are "scratch builders" in either club. Huntsville is close by you, there should be a number of clubs and hobby shops at your call, There is much to learn, I can only hope you have a good memory and lots of time. Real modeling is a deep subject, railroad and airplanes both. RC cars are still common, maybe a few boat builders. The hobby shop is as good a starting point as any. Just hang around and ask questions.

I could "lecture" for hours, this message is just the beginning. Find a good scratch builder nearby and use that mentor. It's a long, hard road and "selling" the results is a long way off. On the other hand, you may devise a gizmo that revolutionizes a hobby.

.
 
Everett, I'm not sure of the scope of your application, but in general press brake dies and finger brakes for thin or soft metals, especially in the small-scale, would be pretty simple to design and build.

I also enjoy "RC", but to me that means airplanes, quad copters, and more recently (in light of the FAA legal fiasco) I've been playing a lot with 10th scale buggies.
 
@sgsellsit

I have nothing to add except........
Welcome to the group!

-brino
 
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