17 replies to this topic

[W. J. Dougherty]

Over the last several years with the rise of Retro racing I have seen numerous new chassis building jigs being introduced by several manufacturers.

What jig do you like and for what reason?

How are they different??

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each??

If you could buy only one, which one would that be and why??

Thanks!!

[Pablo]

So many nice new jigs on the market now, I would probably just call Mike at Chicagoland Raceway, explain what kind of cars I wanted to build, and buy what he recommended.

[Steve Deiters]

The only thing I would suggest is make sure you get one that is thick. Too thin and they warp in the middle after a few heat cycles too many I guess.

[Mopar Rob]

If you ever want to build something shorter the 3-7/8" WB or a 1/32 than I would get Rick's R-Geo. Besides they have always been nice thick material.

[dc-65x]

I REALLY love my "Rick's Jig" (R-Geo) . It's worked perfectly for angle winder, full sidewinder or inline.......even dual motors and 4WD:

[Dominator]

I have one of Rick's original's like the one pictured above but mine does not have the extra holes in the middle. I probably have close to 20 chassis built on it. I've resurfaced it twice so far with still plenty of meat left on it.

[Mark Wampler]

I have had two BackTrack models. The Retro Pro model is straight forward, true and gets the job done. The wire bending utility is very handy as well. I highly recommend. I fried my first one with too much heat. I tack things together and then transfer to the granite tile to finish up.

[MSwiss]

So many nice new jigs on the market now, I would probably just call Mike at Chicagoland Raceway, explain what kind of cars I wanted to build, and buy what he recommended.

The only thing I would suggest is make sure you get one that is thick. Too thin and they warp in the middle after a few heat cycles too many I guess.

Good point by Steve.
Geary and I've sold hundreds of the various versions of his 1/2" thick Backtrack jig.
I've had 3 or 4 complaints of them warping.
While in some cases it was prolific builders who liked to use a lot of heat, in the case of one
of the warped blocks, I have witnessed the builder at work and I wouldn't consider him as someone who uses
an above average amount of heat. Was it the amount of heat used or that particular pc. of Corian, who knows?

Thus, I talked Geary into coming out with a thicker block, a full .950" thick laminated Corian seen here:
http://slotblog.net/...opro-jig-block/
It's so new, Geary hasn't yet come up with a price on the complete block.

With all that said, don't assume even the new .950" thick block is impervious to heat.
If it was, you wouldn't see this recent thread:
http://slotblog.net/...on-slate-block/

Corian is a compromise material for a chassis jig. One prominent and prolific Retro chassis builder
has posted about having to even resurface his 3/4" periodically.
Once we find the right material, a non-Corian version of the Backtrack will probably be introduced.
Expect a fancier version of this jig I bought in 1984.



It will be pricey but well worth it.

[tonyp]

Back order me one.

[MSwiss]

Tony,
Can you use the above pictured one in post #8 for free?

[Rick]

Looks like about everyone but me still has one around or three. I am pretty sure they are some type of composite and not real quarry type slate. I also think the inuendo of them having asbestos in them looks pretty good to being true.

Have any of you old timers every hit it with a torch?

I will amend this post if I can find a picture of something someone posted a couple of years ago. It was priceless. LOL

[Cap Henry]

I dont have a champion block either Rick, before my time! LOL

[gascarnut]

I never did have a Champion jig, but back in the day I had one of these, and they DID contain asbestos back then:



The modern versions are a similar but asbestos-free compound, it's a real nice jig for 1/32 scale cars.

[tonyp]

Mike, sure!

[MSwiss]

Mike, sure!

You can pick it up at Sano 5.

It's way too valuable to risk shipping. LOL.

[Ron Hershman]

Have any of you old timers every hit it with a torch?

I had a "slate" jig once that I used for brazing in pillow blocks only. The "slate" flaked away over time where the heat hit it.

It was not a Champion block, but sure looked like the same material as a Champion.

I never put a torch to a Champion block.

[Marty Stanley]

There was a time when we all had to go and attend a "Quality Course" at the manufacturer I worked for required it.

During the course they defined "Quality" as something that fully met the requirements for the application of the product. Going by that definition, if a person wanted a wristwatch that kept good time and worked well all the time, it was a quality product. So a Timex could be defined as a quality product.

The reason I bring this up is because you really need to define what your requirements are so you can logically decided which of the many quality jigs really suit what you're going to do with it.

Rick Thigpin has posted many excellent photos that show just how flexible the R-Geo Products Super Jig is. I find it to be the most flexible jig out there and have found that it can be used to build any chassis you want to build. The flexibility is excellent - it's kind of like a fine tool. If you need to do special things - much like Rick has shown in his photos, the "T" channel lets you position a holder, positioner or chassis part just about anywhere. It gives you the ability to become creative.

Not only can I build a wire and brass chassis with this jig - and do all of my soldering right on the jig, rather then tacking parts in place and then having to move to a soldering block to finish it up - I can also use it as a jig to build a flexi chassis. There are so many holes, the "T" channel and axle locators, you can set up just about any flexi chassis or wing car chassis on the jig.

I simply find it the kind of jig that let's you do what it is that you really want to do - the flexibility of the design and the fact that you can solder on it without damaging the surface just makes it the kind of jig that I want to have. Since I find it meets all the requirements I have in a jig for building a wire and brass flexi chassis from Jaildoor to complex Formula 1 chassis and everything in between, according to the definition that I learned in that "Quality Course" I would have to say that R-Geo's Super Jig is a quality product.

Just my opinion of course.

[JerseyJohn]

There was a time when we all had to go and attend a "Quality Course" at the manufacturer I worked for required it.

During the course they defined "Quality" as something that fully met the requirements for the application of the product. Going by that definition, if a person wanted a wristwatch that kept good time and worked well all the time, it was a quality product. So a Timex could be defined as a quality product.

The reason I bring this up is because you really need to define what your requirements are so you can logically decided which of the many quality jigs really suit what you're going to do with it.

Rick Thigpin has posted many excellent photos that show just how flexible the R-Geo Products Super Jig is. I find it to be the most flexible jig out there and have found that it can be used to build any chassis you want to build. The flexibility is excellent - it's kind of like a fine tool. If you need to do special things - much like Rick has shown in his photos, the "T" channel lets you position a holder, positioner or chassis part just about anywhere. It gives you the ability to become creative.

Not only can I build a wire and brass chassis with this jig - and do all of my soldering right on the jig, rather then tacking parts in place and then having to move to a soldering block to finish it up - I can also use it as a jig to build a flexi chassis. There are so many holes, the "T" channel and axle locators, you can set up just about any flexi chassis or wing car chassis on the jig.

I simply find it the kind of jig that let's you do what it is that you really want to do - the flexibility of the design and the fact that you can solder on it without damaging the surface just makes it the kind of jig that I want to have. Since I find it meets all the requirements I have in a jig for building a wire and brass flexi chassis from Jaildoor to complex Formula 1 chassis and everything in between, according to the definition that I learned in that "Quality Course" I would have to say that R-Geo's Super Jig is a quality product.

Just my opinion of course.

I agree with the wildman. While there are other brands that work very well, Ricks jig with the center channel going along the complete lenght gives me more clamping options.
The only change I made was useing wing nuts as opposed to regular ones on the channel pins.....................JJ