Four tools you can make Table 2: Bit sizes
Bit size Decimal inches Millimeters 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
.0550″ .0520″ .0465″ .0430″ .0420″ .0410″ .0400″ .0390″ .0380″ .0370″ .0360″ .0350″ .0330″ .0320″ .0310″ .0292″ .0280″ .0260″ .0250″ .0240″ .0225″ .0210″ .0200″ .0180″ .0160″ .0145″ .0135″
1.397 1.321 1.181 1.092 1.067 1.041 1.016 0.991 0.965 0.940 0.914 0.889 0.838 0.813 0.787 0.742 0.711 0.660 0.635 0.610 0.572 0.533 0.508 0.456 0.406 0.368 0.343
weight. Using the Track Inspection Car assures the car will operate well on the layout. Also check the trucks with the NMRA gauge, as well as their ability to swivel smoothly.
Rock staining palette My layout has mountains formed from hundreds of plaster rock molds, and I wanted to find a faster way to stain them. With this “tool,” this is ac- tually a pretty simple concept, one can save a lot of time and do a better job. I “requisitioned” a muffin tin (cup- cake pan) from my wife. The muffin tin has twelve compartments, and I typi- cally use nine different water-based paints (Liquitex Soft Body Acrylics®
in
two ounce bottles) for my rock stains. I used a label maker to print the fol- lowing initials which correspond to the proper color name (the numbers refer to the Liquitex Soft Body Acrylics stock numbers): raw sienna (RS) No. 2002- 330; raw umber (RU) No. 2002-331; yellow oxide (YO) No. 2002-416; taupe (T) No. 2002-831; burnt umber (BU) No. 2002-128; red oxide (RO) No. 2002- 335; Venetian rose (VR) No. 2002-149; titanium white (W) No. 2002-432; and burnt sienna (BS) No. 2002-127. I squeeze out about a half an inch paint in the respective compartment and add water. The idea is to stain the rock, not paint it. When finished, I wash out the muffin tin and repeat the process again. I used to use paper cups but this works much better.
60
The drill bit holder (top) is made from two long pieces of styrene sandwiched with a series of spacers. It makes organizing drill bits by size much easier. To determine bit sizes an inexpen- sive dial caliper (aboveleft) can be used to check the diameters. Another organizational tool (above right) turns out to be plastic sample bottles (for the many liquids used in modeling).
Drill bit holder I have always had trouble handling the small drill bits we use in our hobby. The cases or racks the bits come in are likewise not easy to use. I needed a drill holder that even a clumsy person could conquer. To do this, I cut two pieces of .125″ styrene sheet measuring 1″×11″. One quarter-inch from an edge, I drew a pen- cil line, and with a hand-held pin vise, drilled a hole using each drill bit for its own hole. The holes were about an inch apart. The hand-held pin vise was suffi- cient for this task.
I used a label maker to print out the numerals 60 to 69. The numbers are, of course, also one inch apart. Returning to the styrene sheet, I cut out four small pieces to act as spacers to go be- tween the long 11″ pieces. As you can see from the photo, the drill bits fit nicely into their own hole and butt against the lower, solid 11″ piece. The spacer pieces can go anywhere but ob- viously don’t place one directly under a hole. I then did the same thing for the bits numbered 70 to 80. As an aside. I have found the easiest
way to size drill bits is with a caliper. I have a Drill Bit Gauge for Micro Sizes (Micro-Mark No. 14521) but found a caliper more accurate and easier to use.
Many good, inexpensive ones are on the market. I use a 6″ one from Prestige (No. 2197-1400). Armed with this in- strument and the enclosed table (Table 2), sizing bits is easy. The idea is to elim- inate “impediments” to your work.
Sample bottles This is little bit of a stretch. The next
“tool” is nothing I built, but it has be- come so handy in my workroom I want- ed to include it. Model railroading re- quires quite a few different liquids, including distilled water (for decals), alcohol,
glue, paint thinner, brush
cleaner, etc. Something inside me just wanted the containers to match, an un- necessary aesthetic thing, I suppose, but I suspect I am not alone in this. U.S Plastic Corporation sells what they call Cylindrical Sample Bottles with Dispensing Cap (No. 60144). I bought a dozen and made labels for each one. Then, I poured all my different solu- tions and potions into their respective bottles. The ones I use most are left on my workbench, and the others are stored on a shelf in a cupboard. Any so- lution I need is at arm’s reach. I have found these things to be help- ful and time saving for me, and I hope they will also help you in your layout building and at your workbench.
JUNE 2013
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