The OG Tipster

[ogtipster]

Hi everyone. I'm the OG tipster. Actually you all are the OG tipster. Here's my idea. We all have tips from time to time to share with each other. Why not have a special place to post these. So I have created a new member, the OG Tipster. You all can use this ID and here is how. Log into ebay as: ogtipster. The password is: ogone1. Once you are in you can post pictures to go along with the tip. The pictures will still have to be approved, but we are usually fast there. Tell me if you like this idea. So here's the first tip which I modified from an article in O Gauge magazine. "Easy and affordable building lighting." Using a brass rod and affordable Life-Like lamps with wired sockets 433-1215, you can follow the schematic for construction. Replacement screw-in bulbs are 433-1213. Bend the brass rod to form a loop and right angle at the bottom. Make it long enough to go up through a 3/8" round hole in the benchwork and into the building. Cut the socket lead off the socket and solder the socket to the brass rod. The other lead comes from the bulb. Insert the assembly from below and secure with a screw acting as a contact terminal. See schematic. These can be connected to any lighting bus in parallel. The result is easy replacement of a burned out bulb and no disturbance to the building and surrounding scenery.

[ogtipster]

OG Tipster here. I want to paraphrase my good buddy Pete with a tip from another thread: You might try the really thick CA, one of the three grades of the stuff. Some makers call it slow. But it is really thick and will fill gaps better than the medium. You all should have a spray bottle of Accelerator for your CA. Especially if using the thicker formulas. Put your parts together, spray the accelerator on the joint, THEN apply the CA with a toothpick or other applicator on the inside of the joint. Almost instant bond and gap fill at the same time. DO NOT put the spout of CA up to the sprayed joint though. It will get stuck there. Any CA that oozes out of the gap can be sanded or cut of with a hobby knife. There, my work here is done. Now I am off to mysteriously raise the bids on the auctions of members of our group!!(hee hee) OGT

[untabubba]

Tip: Don't forget to spray the inside of your WS latex rock molds with "wet water". That is the recommended "release agent" as per instructions. Marc

[ogtipster]

OG Tipster here with another one for you hard working model railroaders, and Marc too. Ever use a clothes pin for a clamp? Sure you have. But don't you wish it were smaller or thinner on the clamping end? It would be nice to have a bigger flat area to clamp things with. Longer clamping jaws would be nice too to reach into places where the clothes pin can't go. Take a gander at the OG Clamp. Just reverse the jaws my good buddies and there you have it. ;) OGT

[nutz2u22]

Sam uses my "bobbie pins" for clamping small items together while the glue dries. He says they hold without putting to much pressure on the parts. He also puts rubber bands around the handles of his pliers to make emergency clamps. He can adjust the tension by how many bands he puts on the handles. I even caught him using a pair of my old panty hose for an emergency fan belt last year. It lasted until we were able to get to a service station. Close mind you. But we made it. EZTipster

[ginzokid]

Anybody ever use old Christmas tree mini lights for building lighting? The average power pack gives 18 volts AC from its accessory terminals. Each bulb draws about 2.5 volts, so you can cut apart the old strings and use about 7 lamps per string. You will notice that I have said to use one extra bulb per string. That will insure that each bulb gets LESS than the MAX voltage available and thus prolong bulb life. You could even go with 8 bulbs. Be sure to cut off the 110V plugs. You wouldn't want to plug the short string into the wall socket by mistake. An alternate source of power is the old wall accessory power plug in transformers that came with your out of date calculator, answering machine or other electronic gadget. Just check the out put power and connect the correct number of lights. A group of these can be plugged into a "power strip" so all you have to do is flip one switch for on/off control. In larger scales, these lights can even be used for street lights or porch lights. So, before you throw away that old mini light set, try this for recycling. B-)

[nutz2u22]

Marc, Sam buys 100 bulbs for cheap from Micro-Mark tools on line. Don't buy them at the LHS. FL, Don't you go broke with all those small transformers needed for so many circuits? CJ, Yard sales. After Christmas sales at Wal-Mart etc. Estate sales. Lots of sources. EZ

[trmwf]

Whenever you have that delicate little piece of detail part that you are getting ready to add to the latest project and you have already applied the CA and aiming it towads the appropriate spot and it suddenly pops out of the tweezers and hits the carpet, my tip is to just sit still for a few minutes and let the CA dry before getting on your hands and knees to look for it. This morning I "lost" a small section of dark green porch railing. I searched and searched for about 30 minutes but to no avail. I finally got p***ed off and gave up opting for a fire in the fireplace and a couple of beers while I kicked the old shoes off, leaned back and did some reading. A couple of hours passed and I decided to go search for it again since we know it couldn't have walked away or hid from me. Another 20 minute search was also fruitless so I decided to go out and shovel a little snow. As I was putting on my shoes I found the little bugger glued to the arch of the shoe sole. From know on, I ain't moving until the CA has had a chance to set up!!! prof

[ginzokid]

Four quickies here. 1. To add to the Prof's above line; I use "Pic-n-Stic" sticks for holding small objects for placement and/or painting. They are like Q-tips with wax on the tip. Micro-Mark sells them. No flying parts with these. 2. Tired of getting your hands dirty when holding things you are painting or staining? Get some cheap disposable vinyl gloves at the hardware store. 100 cost me $10 up here. You can also pre-qualify for a "sandwich artist" position at Subway with your own supply of gloves. 3. Use your vacuum to find small parts. No I'm not nutz! Take a leg off one of your wife's torn panty hose and stuff it down the hose. Secure it on the outside with tape or a rubber band and vacuum away. Pull the panty hose out of the vacuum hose and you will be surprised what you have picked up. This way you don't have to mess with the interior bag or canister. PS: Get permission to use the panty hose first. 4. Use a flashlight to find that small flying part. Get down on all fours, not as easy for some of us as it used to be, and shine the flashlight horizontally across the carpet or floor. Get your face right down there too so you can look across the surface. You will be surprised what you can find, even in a room with the lights on. B-)

[ogtipster]

Here are a couple of cool tools that I have and have used with great success over the years. The first is a 4" long piece of solid aluminum rod, I think the more recently made ones are stainless steel, that is drilled with a small hole on one end at the edge and ground concave and slotted at the other. This one happens to be for N scale, but I think they make other scales too. The hole is to insert a rail joiner into and then push on to the rail without hurting your tender little fingers. The other end is slotted to fit over the rail and enable you to slide the joiner into any position you want. I'm explaining this since I don't know if you can see the diagram on the packaging. Tool #2 is a nail driver called The Gandy Dancer. We were discussing how to drive the track nails into plywood and this is the answer. The painted square brass tube has a solid round "shepherd's hook" shaped sliding brass rod insert that is powered by a rubber band. The rod is magnetized. How it works is you pick up a nail and draw it up into the tube with the magnetic rod. The farther you pull up, the more force you get to drive the nail. Place the end of the tool over the tie you want to nail down and release the sliding rod. As a test with the 1/4" rubber band shown, we drove a track nail through the plastic laminate and totally into the plywood under the hobby shop counter. In other words, you can generate a lot of force here. Practice is required so you don't over drive the nails. Again I state this for you if you can not read the print in the picture. I have no idea if both of these companies are still in business. One has a phone and address, the other, just an address. Maybe one of our AZ members could check on Crossbuck for the nail drivers. -- Edited by ginzokid at 08/07/2007 5:30 AM -- Edited by ginzokid at 08/07/2007 5:33 AM

[untabubba]

How about using MinWax Stain Markers to color the wood of laser cut wooden kits! I read about it in an article in "Model Railroad News" (I'm getting it free, from a coupon.) They reviewed an A Frame cabin put out by New Rail Models. http://www.newrailmodels.com/Products/A-FrameCabin.htm This baby is deaf-in-italy going in my woodland/campground scene!! The manufacturer suggests this technique and the author of the article say he is now a "convert". The results look spectacular! I bet this would cut way down on the warping, I've heard people complain about, caused by regular paint! See, Denise gave me Earl Smallshaw's Tenement Row for Christmas, but I'm afraid I'll warp it all out of shape. Next time in Home Depot, or Lowe's I'm going to see what the color selection is like. Marc

[ginzokid]

Marc, That one sounds good. I haven't received my MRN yet. Lost in the mail again! I'll have to try that. You could probably get color variations by how many times you ran the marker over a particular spot. And about the warp; you are still applying a wet product to the wood. Remember to paint the inside also and this helps block light and counteracts the first side warpage. Now where is my MRN? B-)

[beastranger]

For the temporary fences around the layout, I'm making copies of the backdrops I won from Pete. I'll just cut out the skyline and glue or tape them in place. Punk

[untabubba]

Pete, The on-line instructions I read tell you to do both inside and out. It's a great little structure. I can't wait to get it! (Shame for you it's only in N and HO. 😞 ) :p Oh, and I've read the Tenement Row instructions and they tell you to glue little "braces" on the inside of the walls to help counteract warpage.....and I thought you made that up! :8} Punk, What ever you do.....do it FAST! Jeeze, it sounds like the Olympic diving finals up there!!! ]:) 😮 ]:) :O :p Marc

[beastranger]

Marc All done with the "fences". My hand is sore from cutting out the rooflines on all those backdrops I copied. Just for the heck of it I cut out some extras and mounted them on foam a couple of inches behind the first row to give some depth. Looks pretty good for what they are. Roll of film is almost used up so pictures will be along soon. Punk