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 Posted - December 16 2011 : 06:55:30 AM
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I recently posted on MR about wire bending jigs, but generally received pat answers such as " I use a needle nose pliers " and so on. I already know that and have done that.
What I was asking about was if anyone had made their own HO scale grab iron jig for various grabs- and how they did it, or if they knew of any inexpensive commercial ones, other than the Grab Handler at $34.98 from Micro Mark, which I find very expensive.
Before going further, yes, I know I can get bags of them (regular, roof type, caboose curved type) from Tichy and others at low cost, but just humor me here. I saw a reference to American Model Builders HO (item # 900) Gran Iron Forming/Bending Jig, but found no acompanying image on any of 5 hobby sites offering this item, which is about $ 5-6.
Does anyone have this and an image they can share?
I will probably break down and get the pre-made stuff, but as a do it yourselfer on the cheap, I just wanted to cover all bases first.
So, if anyone has done something other than the pliers thing, and has made a home-made jig or that cheaper AMB one, please let me know.
The idea is to get the same result consistently and the challenge of doing it myself.
Siouxlake/Ron
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Posted - December 16 2011 : 08:21:05 AM
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Well, Ron, There is a other solution. This should work(In theory) Drill two holes in block of wood the width of the wire and drill them the proper lenght apart. Make the holes the same depth. Cut the wire to a proper length, and the insert 1 end into 1 hole and do the same to the other end.
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Posted - December 16 2011 : 09:01:41 AM
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quote:So, if anyone has done something other than the pliers thing, and has made a home-made jig or that cheaper AMB one, please let me know.
The idea is to get the same result consistently and the challenge of doing it myself.
Siouxlake/Ron
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Hi Ron, about 25-28 years ago in my early teens, I used the small nails pounded into the top of a wooden box and bent my grab iron wires around those. It worked well for me at the time. I acquiring collections as I have done, I have since accumulated several others that other people had done in the past. If I can locate them, I will try to post pictures. I do not recall if I still have my wooden box, but I might. This might be in cold storage though. The making of my own jigs worked well for me and I was so cheep then I used copper wire from rolls that I stripped he insulation off of.
Now I have so many various hand rail packets & kits that I do not think I will ever need to use the jigs again..but who knows.
Sean
"If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!" - Mario Andretti!
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Posted - December 16 2011 : 12:29:32 PM
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Same here. Nails pounded into a piece of wood. This works well for consistency. Use an original handrail as a pattern, if you can.
Where the handrail turns 90 deg. from vertical, drill a small hole in the wood to accommadate the end of the wire.
Unspoken expectations are premeditated failures.
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