The Appalachian and Atlantic railroad, was in the process of relaying rail, in North Parkersburg, WV, but the Rail replacing equipment suddenly have failed to operate. Work has resumed, but by hand. Ceo, engineer, switchman, conductor, MoW worker, and Clergy Pat Miller said "We need to get equipment to replace these doggone pliars, they don't cut brass worth a darn."
Hey Pat, I always use a Dremel tool with a cut off wheel. I get a lot cleaner cut with out as much filing afterwards.
Ditto on the Dremel- it's good for cutting, drilling, grinding, etc- kinda like an electric Leatherman tool. I have one I bought back in 1980- it has a cord, and the original brushes. The speed is more variable than on my wife's cordless Dremel (which runs high & low speed), but I've wound up using hers more often. Did I hear you say "cut brass"?
The dremel, that's the problem. I looked and looked for decent disks to cut with, the best i found seem to break off on your fingers. Yeah I gotta cut up brass to throw it away, and to cut NS track to fit in place. I've been bored and need to do something .
The disks are fragile, but at high speeds they cut very, very well. As for the brass track, I have a suggestion: cut the rails into 39-foot sections (use a 40-foot boxcar as a crude measuring tool), paint the sections with Rail Brown, Rust or whatever, and stack 'em up either in the yard or on a flatcar. Makes for great scenery material.
I have to chime in on this. I prefer the Dremel over any of the rail cutting hand tools. Agreed, the discs are fragile...take gentle care in installing them...only tighten the screw snug not too tight. Higher speeds work great. I found that there is a little filing that is needed, but not nearly the work with rail nippers. One caution...you MUST be careful not to cut on an angle, or use the cutting disc to file the angle away until it's straight. Jeff Augsburg & Concord R.R. (a fictional shortline in Central Illinois) http://www.pegnsean.net/~revnjeff
Hey Jeff, I bought a 5 pack of the fiberglass reinforced cutoff discs at Harbor Freight several years ago for about $5, and these things don't break. They just wear down small. I would recommend the fiberglass reinforced ones because they are a lot safer, and last a long time.
I too am a Dremel die hard! The cut off wheels pray is speaking of are really good for grinding an filing an do not break! However, I do use all 4 types of Dremel cut off wheels! The thinest to the reenforced ones... Different tool an bit for different jobs....
i used to use discs that were consdierably thicker, maybe made out of card board, and had a really big grit surface, it cut wonderfully, but i haven't found them anywhere. I'm not even sure I have the cutting disc rod, lol. I'll keep looking. Thanks for the help.
