Mr Grumpy

[Steph Dale]

Piercing saw, short frame; adjustable for length and tension. What jewelers, silversmiths and coppersmiths use.

Fret saw, long frame, adjustable for tension only by bending the frame, used more for wood or ivory.

Steph

 

[SteadyRed]

Anyone thinking about buying a piercing saw frame take a look at Knew Concepts, not cheap, but worth every penny.

I was skeptical but they are very light, but don't flex, or flex very little, even I can make good clean cuts without snapping blades.

Dave

 

[Dan Randall]

Anyone thinking about buying a piercing saw frame take a look at Knew Concepts, not cheap, but worth every penny.

I was skeptical but they are very light, but don't flex, or flex very little, even I can make good clean cuts without snapping blades.

Dave

You mean this one?

Knew Concept 5

If so, I seem to recall Steve Cook flashed out on one and was most impressed.


Regards

Dan

 

[Yorkshire Dave]

blood can be removed from the model with warm water so no harm done

You mean you don't leave it on together with the sweat, toil and tears .

 

[SteadyRed]

You mean this one?

Knew Concept 5

If so, I seem to recall Steve Cook flashed out on one and was most impressed.


Regards

Dan

That the one. Seems expensive compared to traditional frames, but over time it will pay for itself will less snapped blades.

I bought mine from a jewellery maker in Bristol, she isn't VAT registered so I got a good deal.

Dave

 

[Steph Dale]

It's certainly worth avoiding the cheaper end of the market. By far the majority of piercing saws available now have the frame locking screw on top, which is completely the wrong place as it actually slackens off the tension in the blade as the screw is tightened. Slack blade = broken blade.
I use a genuine Eclipse frame, with the locking screw on the side so it's easy to control tension in the blade. It also means there's a chance I could use broken blades, but rarely find I need to these days.
Oh, and don't skimp on the blades either, the cheap ones are useless...
Steph

 

[pakpaul]

I purchased a Knew Concept 5 about a year ago, and it was a total revelation as to how easy to use a piercing saw accurately can be, it scores on the ability to set the tension consistently and correctly. I weighed mine, and found the weight of 145 grams to be identical to that of the 3" Eclipse PS51 non adjustable frame; a 5" adjustable frame I have weighed in at 250 grams. I find I can now set the blade tension better on the eclipse saw, and get consistent results with that which I could never do before.

I fully agree with the purchase of the best blades only and use Valorbe. I can use them till they are nearly blunt. I don't think it is a good idea to use broken blades, to have broken them they must have been bent or twisted or similarly abused, and the bit left over will be more likely to break or find its own way in a cut.

Paul

 

[Overseer]

It's certainly worth avoiding the cheaper end of the market. By far the majority of piercing saws available now have the frame locking screw on top, which is completely the wrong place as it actually slackens off the tension in the blade as the screw is tightened. Slack blade = broken blade.
I use a genuine Eclipse frame, with the locking screw on the side so it's easy to control tension in the blade. It also means there's a chance I could use broken blades, but rarely find I need to these days.
Oh, and don't skimp on the blades either, the cheap ones are useless...
Steph

I agree about the blades but not about the position of the locking screw on the piercing saws. I have both an Eclipse one and one with the screw on top but always use the latter. The screw on top actually tightens the blade - the trick is to loosen the screw right off, put the blade in then gently pull the top of the handle end so it is past vertical then tighten the screw. Tightening the screw pulls the handle end to vertical so the blade is nicely tensioned without having to bend the frame like you do with a fretsaw. The one I have looks just like the one for £10 available from Cookson as an alternative to the Knew Concept one linked to by Dan.

 

[SteadyRed]

@Mr Grumpy sorry for taking your threat away from it purpose, the excellent MOK Collett 14xx.

You are doing an excellent job on it.

Ive got something with lots of slot & tab which will be combing to a workbench near here soon.

Dave

 

[Mr Grumpy]

@Mr Grumpy sorry for taking your threat away from it purpose, the excellent MOK Collett 14xx.

You are doing an excellent job on it.

Ive got something with lots of slot & tab which will be combing to a workbench near here soon.

Dave

No probs,
I'm after some good quality tools, so any information is appreciated !

One other thing to be wary of with the slot and tab construction. When building you loco, if a part is missed or fitted incorrectly it is a devil of a job to correct!!
At least one part of this kit isn't mentioned in the instructions or shown in photos. Luckily MarkJJ had let me know in time.

 

[Healey Mills]

No probs,
I'm after some good quality tools, so any information is appreciated !

Here, Here!!! This info was just what I needed too as I'm looking for a good fret saw to have a go at Stephs split axles

Keep up with the build Grumps, it's looking very good.

Cheers
Lee

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Thanks Lee,

I decided to go up to the front end and fit the smokebox saddle and splashers. All was very straight forward, although a tad tight around the sanding gear rod.

I thought I would place her up on her wheels and check the wheels revolve freely with the splashers in place. Couldn't resist popping on the smoke box and boiler!
I will tackle the outer body wrapper next.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

Crikey, seems ages since my last post!!

Real life matters and running back and forward to the post office sending most of my models to the four corners (and beyond) of the UK has kept me busy.

Anyway, back to this beautiful little locomotive.

I have added the cab/tank overlays and they were a breeze to fit. The corners formed without incident and David has added a little extra meat on the wrapper above the cab doors to prevent warping when bending to the roof profile. See below.

I'm about to fit the tank top overlays, and a couple of slots don't quite match up with the inner tank top. No real problem, just need to exercise a little caution when I attach them!






The extra 'meat' above the doorway, which is filed back after forming the roof profile.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

I have got the bunker and cab doorway beading and valance in place and it all went on without a fight! There were a couple of overlays that had me baffled, so a quick phone call to mission control (David Sharp) soon had me on the right track.
The part numbers are: 1082, 1083. They are the detail overlays for the smoke box saddle. Even though I had the splashers and sand box rodding in place they went in ok. I did have to trim a corner off the one adjacent to the rodding though.
I turned a couple of sand box covers for the foot plate as I couldn't find the correct pattern ones on the sprue.
Another reason I'm keeping a low profile is that I damaged the fire box casting. when a drill sheared. I'm totally to blame as I attempted the operation with out the proper tools.
So now I have a nice new pillar drill, centre punches, scribe and other items that should prevent me from ruining perfectly good castings.

 

[West Junction]

Richard

That's looking very nice, I will check for parts 1082 and 1083 as I know I haven't fixed them.
Where there are openings in the overlays (such as for the cab steps) which back on to brass castings have you drilled/opened up the castings for the tabs or are you just going to reduce the tabs to the thickness of the overlay?

Peter

 

[Mr Grumpy]

I will cut back the tabs. I think as long as there is enough tab to position the step it should be ok. Might burn my fingers though !

 

[West Junction]

That seems the most sensible although for the wire handrails I will try and and drill the brass although thats hard work by hand. I think I am going to have the same problem as you identifying some of the overlays.

Pete

 

[Mr Grumpy]

I got the replacement fire box drilled today. Ok, so to the average moddeler no big feat, but for me the first attempt hadn't gone well.
So, I believe investing in the proper tools for the job, and more precise marking out has paid off. Now for the boiler!

 

[Brian Daniels]

I just went round 1450 at Didcot today with the camera so if there is anything you need a picture of I might be able to help.

 

[Mr Grumpy]

I just went round 1450 at Didcot today with the camera so if there is anything you need a picture of I might be able to help.

Thanks Brian,
One of the areas I could do with a photo of is the lifting rings on the tank tops if you have them please?
Mark JJ has supplied quite a few photos, but you can never have enough!! So I'm sure I will think of more!