I am drilling tiny (#50) holes thru some of my HO rails (see diagram 1), so I can anchor wires (diagram 2) to be soldered-on (diagram 3).
I used a standard Dremel bit but I think the metal is too soft - it stopped working after I drilled thru 5 or 6 rails. I’ve looked in the MicroMark catalog and found ‘carbide’ bits, but I don’t know if they are any more reliable going thru nickel silver rail. I’m sure there are others out there as well. Are they worth a try, or should I just buy about 3 dozen of those #50 drill bits?[%-)]
Have you tried (carefully) doing a series of “press and pulls” while drilling so that the bit doesn’t get too hot? I would have thought the Dremel bit IS tungsten carbide, so other experts will have to jump in here.
Most Dremels spin way too fast for the tiny bit to dissipate the heat generated drilling thru a rail. Unless you have one that goes way down in speed, better buy that bunch of bits. You can also try using some cutting oil while drilling.
You do know you don’t need the hole to solder the wires to the rail, I hope.
Slow the speed down a little, use a drop of light weight oil for lubrication and buy a coupla dozen bits. You can make them last longer but high speed or high carbon bits are not really much harder then the rail. I don’t know if there are any high quality (cobalt or tungston) miniture drill bits. Those would last even longer if you could find them.
Why not just clip the wire to the rail to hold it while you solder it in place? It works for me.
Hi,
I’ve got to tell you that you’re wasting your time drilling holes in the rails so that you can run the wire through them and then solder. You only need to bend the wire at a 90 degree angle and set it against the side of the rail. Then, use some flux and solder the wire…it will be a strong bond that won’t pull off the rail.
In all my years as a model railroader, I’ve never heard anyone suggest drilling holes for attachment of the wires.
Save your drill bits for when they’re really needed.
I hope this helps.
Not only does it cause unnecessary work, if any wire or solder is sticking out of the inside of the rail, it will hit the flanges of the equipment. Especially on code 83 or shorter.
If you insist on drilling through the rail,you have to keep the bit lubricated with bees wax or light oil,use slow speed,and clear the hole often…even then you are going to use up those small bits at a high rate
I would just solder the wire alongside the rail myself, rather than drill a hole. But I HAVE heard of drilling holes in the BOTTOM of a piece of rail to insert a feeder, prior to spiking the rail down.(up into the rail, not through the web) Now THAT really strikes me as excessive. But, it is 100% hidden.
With that said, solid carbide bits would work fine for the task you are trying to accomplish. You can run them either “dry” (no lubricant) or “wet” (with lubricant). Just don’t lube it right after you’ve run it dry. Carbide is very hard but brittle. Quick temperature changes will shatter the bit.
I use carbide bits at work. They last and stay sharper longer than high speed drill bits. Worth the extra money in my book.
Certainly. I just go crazy trying to hold the wire to the track any other way.
I guess you know something I don’t… I can’t get my alligator clips to pinch the recessed part of the rails where I need to do the soldering. Does somebody make a special-shaped clip to do what you’re talking about?
I check for that and cut/grind away the excess if necessary.
The gentleman who suggested this to me is one the of “respected old-timers” among modelers in my region, so my ‘common sense filter’ wasn’t turned on when he told me about it 3 years ago. Hmmm, come to think of it… he just hired somebody else to build a new layout for him…![swg]
. . .
So……what I really need is a way to guarantee good electrical connections to each block of track, without having to solder the track at the joiners.
Ken, just use a pair of needle nose pliers with one hand, to press the wire against the rail, while soldering with the other. By tinning the wire and the rail first, you won’t need a third hand for the solder.
I agree with those that feel drilling holes in the rail is nuts. Those small bits are best used with a pin vise.
I just learned to solder when I started this hobby three months ago. Soldering the wires to the rails is not that difficult. The trick really is to bend the wires to the right shape to run parallel with the track. They pre-tin the wire, heat the track, and join them. You’ll get a system eventually and it will not be as difficult as it seems now.
I put a 90 degree bend in the wire at the end of the insulation so the bare wire is parallel to the rail and they put a slight “kink” in the wire to bend it toward the rail and then solder. As Paul points out, every once in a while I have to spike it to the rail but - with only one spike.
Yes, it’s called a hemostat. You can usually find them in tool stores or go look in your kids sock drawer. Also a Cross Locking Clamp will work.
Sounds tedious. That might be easy to do in G scale, but HO? If your good enough to grind the excess wire off without touching the rail head, you must be a surgeon!
You could use terminal joiners at every other joint as long as the rail is clean and the joiners tight.
You can also solder a wire directly to the bottom of the rail joiners (ala N-scale Atlas terminal joiners). The bottom of the joiner is flat. Put a small drop of resin on it, tin the wire, then heat the joiner while holding the wire to it, and hold it there until the solder hardens afterwards. The good is you can do these away from the track, so there is no need to worry about melting ties. It is easy, and you can make a lot of them in a fairly short time. The potential bad is that your power transmission is only as good as your connection between the rails and the joiner.
