Third Rail Chairs - N Gauge 3D printed, pack of 100

[Stuart Down Under]

I'm up for a heap of those! I'm using Peco code 55 and I already have the code 40 rail to do the job. Will they work for 4th rail too, do you think? I'm just starting on a stretch of Met line now.  At one per 25mm, I would need 850 - the thought of installing that many is rather daunting, but certainly easier than any plan I have come up with so far! 

[RBTKraisee]

I'm up for a heap of those! I'm using Peco code 55 and I already have the code 40 rail to do the job. Will they work for 4th rail too, do you think? I'm just starting on a stretch of Met line now.  At one per 25mm, I would need 850 - the thought of installing that many is rather daunting, but certainly easier than any plan I have come up with so far! 

I think these should work perfectly well for 4th rail down the centre of the track.   Would you not need a jig to help with perfect central positioning every time?

You should double check your stock to make sure the extra 0.5mm in height above the main rail heads will not interfere with anything.   It shouldn't be a problem, but given those are famous last words, you should check to be certain!

The chairs for flat sleepers are ready to order and I can start shipping next week.   The 'sloped' ones for the outer end of Peco concrete sleepers are still to be tested, but they should be ready to order soon too.

Anyone wanting to place an order should send me an email at the gmail address on my forum profile.

Ross - Now starting to wonder what's involved in setting up an online shop...

[Southerngooner]

Crikey, just done a quick calculation and at 24 chairs per foot of single track I'll need 3120....... Think I might start with ten packs and see how my brain is after fitting that little lot! It'll be easier (hopefully) than drilling holes, inserting dressmakers pins and then soldering the rail on!

Dave

[Mr Sprue]

Don't want to spoil the party, but was tempted to cut some plates and mould inject these!

[RBTKraisee]

Crikey, just done a quick calculation and at 24 chairs per foot of single track I'll need 3120....... Think I might start with ten packs and see how my brain is after fitting that little lot! It'll be easier (hopefully) than drilling holes, inserting dressmakers pins and then soldering the rail on!

Dave

First, unless you're planning to do both 3rd and 4th rails together, that should be only 12 per foot, not 24

Still, even at half your original number I think I can certainly do some sort of bulk discount for you.   Off the top of my head, how does buy 10 packs, get 2 extra packs free sound?

Ross.

[RBTKraisee]

Additionally, the first chairs arrived with both @LASteve and @David7 and the initial feedback boils down to "they certainly are tiny".

Dave suggested the possibility of oversized versions and while I'm usually all about doing it exactly to scale, I also realise there are real world practicalities to consider when you're talking about accurately handling hundreds of parts that are each smaller than a grain of rice!

I think Dave's idea is a great one, so I'm planning to do a couple of additional prints with 1.5x and 2x larger versions and I'll post them out to the guys on Tuesday (Monday is Labor Day holiday here in the US so the post office is closed).   So hopefully by the end of next week they will both be able to provide a little more feedback as to which ones look good in-situ, and how much easier (if at all) the larger variants are to handle.

I think this is a very useful test and I hope everyone is happy to wait another week to see which solution works best in real life.

Ross.

[Southerngooner]

I believe that the chairs should be at 4,6 or 8 sleeper spacing dependant on curvature, etc according to clag.org.uk, so I have worked on 6. I built a test section this year using dressmakers puns on every fourth sleeper and it looked a bit too many, but 8 looked too few. Bearing in mind I have a lot of points that will take up some more. If I assume 6 per foot then that should bring it down to around 2000........ A bulk discount would be good, might help a bit with the postage. I'm quite happy to be a UK distributor to save on collective postage, with the only proviso being I'm not actually living in the UK! We've sold up in France and are due back mid-October, so happy to be involved from then.

Dave

[Mr Sprue]

@RBTKraisee One question I have to ask:  Is what type resin have you used?  As most standard SLA resins are relatively brittle.

[RBTKraisee]

@RBTKraisee One question I have to ask:  Is what type resin have you used?  As most standard SLA resins are relatively brittle.

I started with ordinary Anycubic Grey, but following feedback from the guys, I've already decided to switch to using some Siraya Blue instead, its a lot stronger and has a bit more elasticity in final cured form.

Ross.

[njee20]

Siraya Tenacious is even better! Expensive over here, but really impressive how much it helps. I'm tempted to try 10% with standard grey on all prints to try and make them a bit less brittle.

[RBTKraisee]

Thanks for the advice, I'll add a bottle to my Birthday wish list

Ross.

[LASteve]

Thanks for the advice, I'll add a bottle to my Birthday wish list
Ross.

It's my birthday next week. I'll get Jill to send you a bottle She asked me today what I wanted for the railway!

[RBTKraisee]

Thanks for the advice, I'll add a bottle to my Birthday wish list
Ross.

It's my birthday next week.

Really?   Mine's on the 21st    Small world, eh?

I'll get Jill to send you a bottle She asked me today what I wanted for the railway!

That an extremely generous offer, but there's no need to do that Steve.   Do something nice for your own railway - and take photo's to share with the rest of us    I appreciate the sentiment very much though! 

Ross.

[RBTKraisee]

Just following up some comments from the guys, to reduce the stress on the very thin plastic parts of the chairs, caused by curved track wanting to spring back into straight shape, I'm going to suggest using a rail bender as an awfully good idea.

I first looked these nifty devices up when I was looking to build my own turnouts and double slips, but they tend to be quite expensive.

Then I found the website below, where someone built their own, for an awful lot less!   Now, I haven't yet done this myself, but I thought I'd share the website for all to see and consider.   If any of you do decide to give this a go, I - for one - will be really interested to hear about your experiences!

https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/15932

Ross.

[Bob G]

It's my birthday next week.

Really?   Mine's on the 21st    Small world, eh?

Mine's the 14th. Must be something about Virgo perfectionists....

Bob