I am currently buliding a craftsman kit . And need to hand lay a short section of track, But cant find the special pliers needed to spike the track down with. Does and one out there have any info on where, I may be able to buy a set of these pliers or will a set of long nose neddle nose pliers work. I say the pliers to set the spikes with before but cant find any info on them or a manufacture that makes them .
MOST just use conventional ‘needle nose’ pliars. Special pliars are available with grooves cut in the jaws (Micromark?) but I’ve never used them.
Micro Mark makes pliers for holding spikes (#82839), however, regular needle nose pliers work well also.
I use needle nose pliers, modified with a (very) slight bevel toward the closure on each tip. The inner grooves (as manufactured) hold the spike head, while the bevels keep the closed plier from sliding off the spikehead when pushing to final level. About three passes of my 10" mill file produced the bevels I needed in the Home Depot Cheapo long noses I use.
Note that I also have an un-beveled pair, since the bevels make it impossible to grasp a fully-seated microspike by the head.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - on hand-laid specialwork)
Needle nosed pliers work. Somewhere, years ago, I acquired a hand spiker. It’s not pliers but a square shank with grooves cut in one side and on the bottom to hold the spike and position the tool on the rail to push it in. A nice wooden knob on the other end makes it easy to use.
Enjoy
Paul
I hand laid a small siding on my layout and just used needle nose pliers. I would suggest wearing safety glasses as well when you do this. You would be surprised how far those spikes will fly.
The Micromark pliers work very well, however, after laying a lot of hand laid track, the spring on them did break. However, I find they still can be used and do a good job. Not sure it is worth it to purchase for just a small job. But for a lot of track, well worth it.
Have fun. Hal
I have two spikers, and one special set of pliers but seldom use them. A normal set of needle nose pliers with teeth on the jaws is what I end up using most of the time.
I’ve actually modified the needlenose as Don suggests. By grinding a small “T” groove on a pair of serrated jaw needlenose you have an inexpensive spiking pliers. The T should be about 1/2 to 2/3 the length of the spike. The spike head nestles in the slot. I like using these over all other types. On one pair, I added a second slot (deepened existing groove) to give an alternate place to choke up on a spike for those hard spots. The more blunt tip of needlenose over a spiking plier makes for better pushing and head (flag) control to not knock rail web over and out of gauge. If you have a Dremel w/ a cutting disk or can borrow one for a minute, you can modify the tool in a couple of minutes.