Railroad Forums 

  • Homemade Nut-Bolt-Washer sets (from guitar string?)

  • Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.
Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.

Moderators: 3rdrail, stilson4283, Otto Vondrak

 #69843  by snowplough
 
I need some NBW's (nut-bolt-washer) sets for a trestle that I'm building, and I'd rather not have to wait to order them from Grandt Line. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I might make my own?

I've read that some guitar strings now have a hexagonal core. Does anyone know if that core is retrievable? (I don't know much about guitar strings.) My thinking is that a hexagonal metal string would likely make a good starting point for some hexagonal nuts and bolts.


snowplough

 #69856  by astrosa
 
The hexagonal core can be obtained simply by unwrapping the finer wire that is coiled around it. Problem is, this core is usually steel or stainless steel, which means you'll need special hardened flush-cutting pliers to cut it (you could do it with regular flush-cutting pliers, but it would chip the blades). You could also cut it with a Dremel cutting disc, but either way it would be difficult to cut off short lengths of it.

A much better alternative is the hexagonal styrene rod made by Plastruct. It's available in several sizes from .020" and up, and they even suggest scale bolt heads as one possible use for it. You can order direct from their site, or from Walthers, or check the Plastruct display shelves that many hobby and craft stores carry.

 #70553  by Rusty_Rail
 
What I used to do, is take a block of clay, mash it flat, then I press a round cylinder into the clay, then I would take a small bolt/nut assembly from my box of watch parts, and press that in the middle of the cylinder imprint in the clay, then repeat all over the clay, then put dabs of epoxy into all the imprints. When the epoxy was dry, I'd pull all the epoxy pieces out, clean all the clay from the epoxy with solvent. Then I'd have a bunch of bolt/nut/washer castings. I'd sand the backs flat, so they could be glued on models.

I deal with guitar string for my business, and would not recommend trying to cut little pieces like that for what you want. The cutting wouldn't be so hard, it's the fine filing that seems like it would be too tedious for me. I think that hex-cor would get quite distorted when having such small pieces cut off.

Rob

 #70668  by snowplough
 
Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I'll give them a try.


snowplough