Hello All
How can I bend a piece of track without a rail bender? I’m currently looking for a few pieces of 8’ diameter preowned curved track for a WYE section I’m putting in and I’m coming up empty unless I want to spend alot.
I got thinking I have several sections of 5’ straight that maybe I could bend to suit. These are aristocraft brass track with euro ties. I figure I could remove the screws and then get to bending but how can I maintain a nice consistant curve and not get out of gauge? I need to make up just one quarter of a circle.
Any ideas to get it uniform?
Thanks, Todd
Sorry, get a rail bender… if you don’t want to spring for a dual track one, you can find ones cheaper that do a single rail.
Of course, a bunch of people will come back and tell you they can “belly bend” brass… but you used the word “uniform”… you just cannot belly bend the ends the same as the middle.
I think Llagas Creek or Sunset Valley have single rail benders for a lot less than a dual bender.
Greg
Todd,
I have BOTH the Sunset Valley Railroad rail bender and the dual bender. I bought the single bender first@$85. Took way too long to bend and then assemble. The dual bender was my saving grace although it cost $230. Remember you can always use the dual bender for other areas on your layout. It’s not always a one-shot deal.
Welcome Todd
All the track on my latouy was bent over my knee and I’m happy with it. I had a large piece of scrap plywood that I cut to the curve I wanted. I then CAREFULLY bent the LGB flex over my knee until it matched the curve I wanted. I then bent the second one slightly larger and slid the tie strips on. Most of the curves are 15-foot radius so they weren’t near as hard to bend. knee.
i do bend by hand.
slipping out the rails from the track, cutting the sleeper web on one side, knee-bending one rail*, slipping it on, then bending the other rail and checking its curve by laying it upon the plastic spikes, where it shall fit later.
(* - with some occasional help of a small hammer)