3139 replies to this topic

[Duffy]

Wire bending's a learnable skill, Ben; and you can plot out your build to pretty much do the TonyP "one wire, one bend" strategy, & do all your fiddly work with a Dremel at the end of things.

I reach for my good Grobet parallel jaw pliers for just about anything I do in 1/16" and less:

These have a vee-groove right down the middle of one jaw that makes it a breeze to set up any bend in just the right spot and lay it over with a firm thumb, and parallel jaws are way more secure in gripping side-load jobs that'll pop out of a hinged plier with the slightest hint of offset pressure.

I am enormous fan of R-Geo products and own a couple of his bending jigs, and I use 'em for repeat & production work. It may be my own inability to "see" how to accomplish one-off bends as easily as my pliers. I dunno.

This subject really needs its own thread, that should certainly include some plier basics as well as THIS tutorial on the R-Geo bender - but also some techniques on laying out where & how a wire should bend, estimating bend-radius allowances, all manner of goodies. We should talk.

Duf

[macman]

Nice tool... I have been considering a pair of Duckbill pliers for bending, since my 9" linemans pliers are just too big for a lot of stuff & needle-nose have too much skinny nose that tends to flex too much... I bend electrical conduit on a semi regular basis, so multiple bends are a matter of pride with me, but the lack of a decent bender with measured take-up is a pain when doing these builds...

 

I recently did do some back to back reverse 90 bending using the 1/8 pegs on my jig to make the front end on the above chassis, but the thought of pulling all the pegs out in order to do a few of bends then having to reconfigure everything to continue work on the chassis is somewhat daunting, to say the least... Rick's tutorial was helpful for this, wish he would add some more to it...

[Joe Mig]

So with the weekly Stock car racing going on at Slots-A-Lot my first car just don't cut it with a best finish of 3rd place out of at least 7 or 8 that I raced in. So I decide to make a new one and I'm almost finished with it.  the chassis has .062 main rails 4.5 in WB and a .750 guide lead and it is weighing in at 72 grams as pitched.  I'm shooting for the 133 to 138 gram mark is that possible or is it to heave at 72 grams ?  I'll post this picture and more when finished.

 

[Tex]

Looks good, Joe... stout. What kind of track will you be running it on?

[DCR]

... Well, I'm getting faster. Built this in two long evenings. I built this chassis #5 a little heavier, it weighs 45.5 grams as it sits, should build a nice 93-94 gram car. This is the first one I've built with a steel tongue...

 

Take care everyone...

 

Don

 

 

[Joe Mig]

[quote name="Tex" post="464514" timestamp="1360729101"]Looks good, Joe... stout. What kind of track will you be running it on?[/quote

What event track it works it works good on but mostly a kingalmen and a hill climb and onces in a while a king if it is better then my other stock car.

[Casey Belarde]

Here is my first attempt at building a Retro slot car.

 

JK kit chassis

.062" brass rail

 

Any tips and pointers would be great. Still have to install the rear axle tube and front axle yet.

 

 

 

 

[DCR]

Hello Casey....it looks good!...much better then my first chassis.....Starting with a "Chassis Kit" is a great way to go,with a nice kit like a Warmack,RGEO,Slick-7,JK or a Hanada a lot of the engineering that a new chassis builder has to deal with is already figured out for you.You can find photos of chassis like your planning on building on the net to look at and study.Building your own chassis can be a lot of fun,and it will really help you understand what makes a slot car "Work",,and after building,you can work on the fine art of "Tuning" on the car.It's amazing what a good "Tuner" can do with a car,,like mounting bodies,setting the guide flag,front wheel height,,and lets not forget the evil rear tire selection,,,so many choices.

Please keep sharing photos with us,as it inspires others to try there hand at building.....Good Luck!

Thanks Don

[Milkman]

Hey Casey,

 

Pretty niffty job on your first chassis.  Looks like you'll be racing it soon. 

[gascarnut]

Casey,

 

Great start! I hope you enjoy the building. As Don says, it is fun and can get to be addicitve.

 

I would add a rail of .055 or .062 steel  down each side next to the straight brass rails. i fear that the frame will be too weak to take a good hit as it is right now.

 

Also you will need some sort of stops to prevent the pans drooping at the rear., just a piece of wire soldered to the pan and resting on the "ears" of the rear end will work.

[Casey Belarde]

I have some .047 steel that I was thinking about running down the outside of the brass railand bend up to support the axle tube,that i just installed here at work lol. kinda slow so i get to play

[gascarnut]

Good idea - that will work well.

[Casey Belarde]

this one is my son's chassis, I'm building a r-geo dragon slayer for myself,when I'm done with his..

the only thing I can figure out is how do all of you get the solder to flow thru the bottom side also?

I'm using a SNAP-ON butane iron rated to 125w , rosin acid flux?

only seem to have that issue with just the chassis rails? I'm i loosing heat to the set up block?

[Casey Belarde]

what is the tumbler that every one seems to do to their chassis?

[RichardE]

I am not 100% sure but I believe it is a tumbler/vibratory container used with a substance/media to help clean/shine brass and piano wire retro chassis after construction.  Shooters use crushed/ground walnut shells and/or corn cob treated with a polishing substance to clean/shine brass before reloading.  People who collect and work with non-precious stones will use a tumbler with a different type of media to smooth/polish stones before being used in jewelry.

 

Hope this helps,

 

Richard

[gascarnut]

Do a search on "tumbler" you will find lots of info.

 

The best thread is this one: http://slotblog.net/.../?hl=a-tumbling

[S.O. Watt]

Wire bending's a learnable skill, Ben; and you can plot out your build to pretty much do the TonyP "one wire, one bend" strategy, & do all your fiddly work with a Dremel at the end of things.

I reach for my good Grobet parallel jaw pliers for just about anything I do in 1/16" and less:
plier.jpg
These have a vee-groove right down the middle of one jaw that makes it a breeze to set up any bend in just the right spot and lay it over with a firm thumb, and parallel jaws are way more secure in gripping side-load jobs that'll pop out of a hinged plier with the slightest hint of offset pressure.

Duf

These pliers are available from McMaster-Carr in case anybody is looking for a pair

[Casey Belarde]

here is the dragon slayer that I'm building for myself

another slow day here at work and once again I did't bring everything to finish it lol

Attached Images

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[MantaRay]

This is my completed version of the new RGEO Speedwagon Chassis Kit.

3 and 2 rails of .047 on each side.

Pans hung with .062

.047 bite bar.

Weighs 42.7 gm as pictured

Will be going to Rick for Him or Rick Jr. to try out.

 

 

[Rick]

Great build Ray! Pretty much how I pictured it in my head too. Will be looking forward to the test and tune. At 42 grams, leaves lots of room..............Nice job!!!

[MantaRay]

Here is an "Inside Out" JK X25. 

I removed the "Inside" section of the pans and that weight went back on ont the "Outside" with the Angled Brass and bracing.

The Rails, Front Pan Tie and Rear Stops are .062.

The Rear Pan Tie Bar is .055....it worked well sitting on the anle brass over the .062 rails.

I added the .032 torsion wire to keep some tension on the pans. (Pretty sure the SpeedZone guys came up with that.)

Weighs 52.5 g as pictured.

OOOOPs....still need to add L brace to rear stops............

 

[Bernie]

Nice looking builds Ray. I especially like the RGEO, pretty trick!

[ejgehrken]

3D Racing Chassis #010

 

8-Rail Formula 1 Chassis

8 rails of 0.047" wire

4.125" wheelbase, 0.940" guide lead

Built from FSF 3/4" F1 Kit
 

Attached Images

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[usadar]

Bud Bartos of BRP, famous for his threaded front axles, has been building Z-Rail chassis for me & our Retro Tokyo racers.

 

This is what he built for me very recently, Z-Rail Plumber Can-Am for my Gerding King in Tokyo.

He will also build another Can-Am, Z-Rail Torsion version.

 

Haruki

 

[Tex]

Nice lookin' chassis; good build, Bud!