Earlier this week, I wasted nearly an hour of valuable modeling time–by not doing what I advised others to do in another string! I’d soldered pipe hanger brackets of 1/64x1/16" brass strip to the boiler of my current O scale locomotive project and had spotted for the U-bolt holes. With the #77 (.018") chucked in my best pin vise, I carefully dimpled the spots so the U-bolts would be properly centered in the width of the brackets. I then drilled, and drilled, and drilled, over two 20-30 minute sessions in two days (drilling with a pin vise is very tiring, but with a drill bit this fine, it’s too dangerous to use even my MicroLux mini hand drill), without making any progress.
I’d advised another modeler to buy spare drill bits for his most-used sizes, and of course, I’ve been doing that for 35-40 years, but for some reason it didn’t occur to me to go to the little spares box on top of my big 18-drawer parts cabinet until I’d wasted 20 minutes with no discernable progress Tuesday. I changed the bit, and within ten minutes had drilled the outer holes in all four brackets! Next session, I’ll somehow spot the inner locations, between the water feed pipes and the boiler, and drill them, and it will be a fairly simple matter to form the U-bolts of .016" brass wire, then solder them from underneath, leaving enough protruding to suggest nuts.
Please profit from my boo-boo, friends, and if several minutes of drilling doesn’t take you through thin brass or tinplate, scrap that bit and replace it with a fresh one! Modeling time should be fun, not tedious. I have a half-dozen or more sizes of bits I habitually use, so I have packages of spares handy. You can get them from many LHSs, Walthers, Micro-Mark, Model Expo–and probably others that will be suggested by Forum readers.
But it’s much more challenging with a dull bit, don’t you think? [;)]
I agree, jobs go much better with not only the right tools, but tools that are in good condition. I tend to suffer with a dull Xacto blade too long cause I can’t get me dad’s “don’t throw that away” mantra out of my head. When I come to my senses, I replace it, and the work goes much easier. The same can often be said for cheap tools, like the stuff you find at train shows. Not always a bargain.
Yes, we’re all stubborn cusses – and cheap ones. From paint brushes to grinding wheels to drill bits to batteries there comes a time when ya gotta let go.
Another area where you are punished for being frugal and rewarded for being lavish is knife blades of the Xacto type. They dull faster than you think, and that is why the knife blade wanders all over when trying to cut styrene or card stock. If the cut is worth doing well it is worth doing with a fresh blade. And by “fresh” I mean, right out of the package. When it comes to knife blades, don’t use the word “fresh” the way the food stores do
Similar topic: I was wondering why my NWSL “chopper” wasn’t working with a certain brand of scale lumber. Of course it wasn’t the lumber at all – just reversing the single edged razor type blade worked wonders. Doh!
Yes, it’s hard to overcome those early, teenaged days, when we had to juggle our allowances to cover so many things that we used (X-acto blades!) until, as my dad used to say, “You could ride to Chicago on it and it wouldn’t dent your butt.” All my friends are familiar with my frugality: I always refer to it as my “Scottsh Nature” (Dad was Celtic all the way: Irish on his mother’s side, Scottish on his father’s)–and put it in Old English, in red, in my letters. My brother was the smart one about these things. He encouraged me to buy such things as the 00-90, 0-80, 1-72, and 2-56 taps and tap drills; a Dremel Moto-Tool, and even my first parts cabinet (no workshop should be without adequate storage, so you can actually FIND things!). He counseled me to “buy the best tools you can afford at the time, and get better ones as you can afford to update.”
He was also a great one for making his own tool stands, such as the one he made for his taps and tap drills. That’s usually the second thing I do when I buy a new set of lathe bits or whatever. I’ve said elsewhere in the Forum that I finally got so angered at trying to find tools on a cluttered workbench that I bought a tool caddy and trained myself, after more than 40 years of groping for lost screwdrivers and such, to USE the caddy*.* It doesn’t hold everything, but other o
When drilling in metal even with the smallest drills I always use cutting and drilling oil. The drills stay sharp much longer and drilling goes faster.
Ah yes, the ubiquitous drill-bit that just turns and turns and turns and never goes through. Oboy, do I know THAT one! I learned my lesson installing Tomar track-shoes on my brass lokies. Never have just ONE #63 bit, have at least TEN! Same thing goes for the #90 Taps.
The other day I was drilling into the cab of my Yellowstone to install cab-awnings (one little detail the Mfr forgot) and–SNAP! My very last #63. Made a dash to the Hobby Shop. Evidently Bruce realized immediately what I needed by the panicked look on my face. “I’ll make you a deal on twenty,” he grinned.
“Just GET them for me,” I panted. Several other customers gave me a funny stare, as if I was looking for some kind of ‘fix’ and Bruce was my ‘dealer.’
How many Drill Indexes does a modeler need? As many as you can cram onto your workbench!!
Thanks for reminding me, Nieuweboer! I often use regular “plastic safe” modeling oil when drilling small holes with my MicroLux mini drill press, due to the turning speed, and one of my first purchases after I bought my micro lathe, back in the late '90s, was a quart of cutting oil. I wouldn’t dream of drilling, tapping, or even just high speed turning of steel in the lathe without it, but it never occurred to me to bring the old hypodermic (Mom used Insulin, so I have a supply of them–with dulled points) from the lathe table to use when hand-drilling with the pin vise. I’ll certainly do it from now on.
Newbies, take note! Anyone who’s progressed beyond the “shake the box” kits, will probably be drilling in metal, sooner or later, so go to the plumbing section of your local hardware store or “box” and buy a quart of this thick, brown lubricant. (A quart will last you the rest of your life–and you can leave it to any friend or relative who models in metal.) IT’S AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY FOR TAPPING, TOO, if and when you get around to that phase of the hobby! I can’t tell you how many 0-80 taps I broke while tapping the holes for crankpin retainer screws. In O scale, it was common to retain side and main rods with washers and hex head screws turned into the crankpins; it closely resembles the prototype system, which used heavy steel washers and castellated nuts locked in place by giant cotter pins (the ends of the crankpins were shouldered and threaded).
Thanks again for the reminder, friend Nieuweboaer!
You Canadians and your Robertson screwdrivers, really. If I wanted to build a cabinet for my collection of Gordon Lightfoot records maybe I’d use a Robertson screwdriver.
We Americans will use Robertson screwdrivers when we watch hockey on network television. Heh! [(-D]
Oil is a very good suggestion when it comes to drilling metal, but most of the time I’m going thru plastic.
My dad had some talent, but I wouldn’t call him a handyman. He did, however, have a Depression-era mentality that stressed saving broken junk we didn’t need anymore, and things like bags and plastic soup containers. I’ve never quite understood what large quantities of such items will do for you in the event of a major economic collapse, but apparently they are the key to surviving such catastrophes. [swg]
Me, I’m just cheap, and not by choice. [sigh] But a rounded-off screwdriver can be ground into a makeshift chisel or awl, so some tools can enjoy a second life with a little modification.
