Is there another source for Z scale PC ties other than Fast Tacks? I was about to place an order with them untill I got to shipping charges... $20.00 to have UPS ship a few bags of ties and some rail joiners! Thanks Chris
I think that's the only supplier of PC ties in Z Scale. I bought some of them when I first bought my #6 and #8 code 40 jigs, but found then kind of expensive so I just bought a brake/shear combo like the Micro Mark one. I got mine from Harbor Freight for $120. Then I ran into the problem of getting the width sheared the same. The size you need is .04" wide, and my best work was sloppy at from .03" to .05" wide, so only select ties would fit in the fasst tracks jig. The jig ended up giving me a whole world of greif, and I found I could hand build a turnout much better by just gluing the PC ties onto a photocopy of the turnout layout and just soldering it up following the template. When the track on all my modules warped up in the sun, I scrapped the whole hand laid track thing, bowed down in defeat and submitted to ugly but reliable trackwork. For a home layout I might consider hand laying, but i don't have the time for a home layout, just getting my modules operational for a show is a job. -Robert
Hmmmm this give me an idea. I work at a newspaper and we have a hydraulic shearer that they cut tall stacks of paper with. The mouth of the machine is about 3 feet wide and there is a stop guide in the back that has an adjustment wheel with measurement marks. That and I have 2 12"x12" pieces of PC board. I have some scale print outs of turnouts from Fast Track. I don't mind the prices at Fast Tracks, but that shipping was way off base. Thanks!
Well I didn't have the best luck at work today. The back guide won't come all the way up to the blade, it stops about 2 inches back. I could use a spacer block, but there were other problems. The PC board kind of wanted to shatter and splinter. And this was right down the middle of the sheet. When I tried to cut off about 1/8" (just eyeballed) it was worse. I think it was too powerful or maybe the PC board was different. Oh well back to cutting them into strips with a cut off wheel...very messy! EDIT: Just noticed the Fast Track ties are only 1/32" think, the board i tried to cut was 1/16" thick...back to the lab. [ March 09, 2006, 04:04 PM: Message edited by: Chris333 ]
Well just to clear the air since I used their name. I E-mailed Ron at Fast Tracks and he told me the "calculate shipping" button was broke and only giving UPS options. I tried again today and it worked with shipping down to $6.95. So I placed my order. I'll post pics when I get something built.
Where are you getting your PC board stock? Is it phenolic or fiber glass? All I can ever find is fiber glass and it eats about any tool I try to cut it with.
I'm not really sure what it is made from, but it is the same type they sell at Radio Shack. I probably bought it over 10 years ago so I forget from who. It came in 12"x12" sheets. The few times I've used it in N scale I just cut it with a motor tool and cut off wheel. It is very messy and makes a big cloud of dust the second the tool hits the PC.
Yellow brown then. It only has copper on one side where the yellow-brown radio shack stuff has copper on both sides: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102495&cp=&kw=pc+board&parentPage=search
Well to give you an answer you can get them from Republic Locomotive Works. The ties are in 6" strips and you cut them to length. They fit the jigs just fine. I ought to know I am with the club that supplies them to Republic so these are the only ties that I use. I will say the Fast Tracks ones are nice because they are already cut to length but they are much more expensive.
I have several packs of those ties from RLW. There is some kind of green ink flux or something on top of them, but they solder really great! I think the have a DGM triangle logo on them. I also bought 3 of the cast pot metal track gauges from RLW, but I like the MTL trip pin coupler height gauge better. -Robert
We bought the PC board that had photo resist on them by mistake but all you have to do is set them in the sunlight or any UV light source to break down the resist and then use alcohol to remove. Steel wool works just as well.
