I’m in the process of building three more steel boxcars - EBT style.
I’ve got some brass strips and I was wondering if anyone had devised a jig for bending these?
Actually, the bending isn’t that hard, it’s that twist in each leg that I’d like to get consistent.
My jig is “Call Phil”, cause I like his steps. But yea, bending my own would be cheaper. I cant imagine a jig for bending the twist though. maybe a jig for a vise that has a ‘bottom’ so they all come out the same. The top would have to be rounded a bit so you get the neat twist. Hmm…
Have you called Phil lately? Emails remain unanswered; phone messages haven’t been responded to.
And here I was hoping that you had come up with another neat jig like you did for those grab irons… 
Perhaps the twist could be put in the strap before you bend them?
Just a suggestion, I was thinking of the same thing and was looking at the bending brake on Micro Mark website, they have a winter special on and its selling for about $55.
Regards
Dave
I just use two pair of pliers, around 1/8" apart after I’ve made all my other bends. Twist one relative to the other.
Later,
K
Kevin,
that is the method that I use. I have a large combination pair of pliers that the jaws are used to form the base and sides of the step. When bending up the sides I execute the vertical bend and then place a smaller pair of pliers approximately 1/8" from the jaws on the pliers used to form the bend and then apply a twist in the appropriate direction. The trick then is to drill the ends of the strap to insert the nut/bolt castings.
Any pictures of what you guys are doing/bending?
I ended up making a jig out of acrylic: http://www.largescalecentral.com/articles/view.php?id=113&force=1 It makes for some quick and easy strap steps. Here’s mine compared to an AMS step:
Pretty clever…
