Any of ya’ll out there that use rail clamps or other means & keep your old 332 rail joiners want to sell them at a reasonable price? I’d be interested.
Terry
Robby has AML code 332 joiners on sale for $13.89 for a pkg of 10. Check the ‘Clearance Sale’ link.
Jerry
That’s my point. Robby’s are a decent retail price and they are still $1.38 per joiner. My LHS sells them $15 for a pack of 10. A club member sells brass rail clamps for $1.25 each. Overkill for battery powered locos, but the route I’m going to take if i can’t find any at a cheaper price.
Terry
Terry Burr “That’s my point. Robby’s are a decent retail price and they are still $1.38 per joiner. My LHS sells them $15 for a pack of 10. A club member sells brass rail clamps for $1.25 each. Overkill for battery powered locos, but the route I’m going to take if i can’t find any at a cheaper price.”
Terry,
Have you considered the option of soldering the joints of the rail joiners. Worked good for me when I was laying code 100 or 70 rail. As long as you make allowances for expansion and contraciton, it should work just fine.
Jerry
I’ve taken to making my own joiners from aluminum flashing. Cut about an inch long, and maybe a half inch wide, center over the bottom of a piece of rail, and using linemen’s pliers, bend. Not pretty, but they work at keeping the rail in place. YMMV
Bob has a good idea Terry. What about using regular joiners and tap some holes for small hex screws to keep secure. Like aristo does with their track. That might be the most cost effective. If your using battery, joiners like splitjaw etc… would be a waste of money.
I dont think I would ever soder joints, especially if you want to take the track up or rearange in the future.
I have a large amount of stainless steel aristo-craft, if you are interested.
Nico
My bad…
I ASSumed without looking that Jerry was refering to regular rail joiners not clamps. At my local hobby store 10 aristo rail joiners not clamps sell for $15. I just saw the same 10 pack on ebay for $12 plus shipping. Both are a rip off in my opinion. I just looked at Robby’s store. $13.80 is a good price for rail clamps.
Bob, I considered making my own but frankly right now, I’m tired of scratching stuff. If I could pick them up for a reasonable price I would rather.
Shawn, if I do make em (see above) I wouldn’t drill em. Just sliding them on works well for me. If they move I crimp them with a pair of side cuts.
Nico, will the stainless react with aluminum? I know brass hasn’t so far.
Terry
Nico Corbo said:
I have a large amount of stainless steel aristo-craft, if you are interested.Nico
Terry I have a Sh!!!t load as well. maybe we could trade for some of your end of train devise’s
Nick
Sandstone & Termite Railway has a “how to” on making joiners. I make my own and for indoors I use light sheet metal from tin cans. Outdoors is copper or light brass.
I was fed up with always seeming to run out of joiners when they were needed. I make a reasonable amount at a time and keep then in a jar in the cupboard until wanted.
http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/satr/track.htm about halfway down page is the article.
Cheers from Andrew
Sandbar & Mudcrab Railway
Terry,
I do not beleive so, but I do not know for sure.
Nico
Terry, I have some rail jointers for you.
Call me.
Bob
Great contribution, Andrew! Loved those web pages of yours… Oh, and welcome aboard!
Andrew Simpson said:
Sandstone & Termite Railway has a "how to" on making joiners. I make my own and for indoors I use light sheet metal from tin cans. Outdoors is copper or light brass. I was fed up with always seeming to run out of joiners when they were needed. I make a reasonable amount at a time and keep then in a jar in the cupboard until wanted. http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/satr/track.htm about halfway down page is the article.Cheers from Andrew
Sandbar & Mudcrab Railway
Andrew great site. Greg (Sandstone &Termit) is going to be heading to the US and he plans on stopping by for a visit. Im looking forward to it.
And Train-Li has clamps 10 for $16.00. What gives with Joiners being almost the smae cost as clamps!!
Terry,
Did you ever actually get rail joiners?
Nico
I did. I forgot to subscribe to this thread and forgot to reply. Talked to a few people and they said not to use stainless with aluminum unless i put a layer of something between. Not really what i want to do. So, my friend Bob came through and gave me one standard boat load of Brass joiners. Brass and aluminum corrode but very slowly. I can live with that. What still blows my mind is that a stamped brass joiner is almost as much as a machined brass connector with stainless screws.
There’s a marine product called “Tef-Gel” that is used when we put stainless screws in aluminum. It creates a very good dielectric barrier that prevents the electrolysis you worry about. It also is a mild lubricant. Sorry I did not post that information sooner. I am astonished at the cost of the brass joiners.
Update: Tef-gel is not cheap either… http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/userportal/show_product.do?pid=546&engine=adwords!6456&keyword=tef_gel
At home depot / lowes / menards in the electrical section you can find a tube of “no-alox” or similar… made to keep corrosion down on aluminum wiring… small tube not real expensive.
Use that stuff since specifically formulated for aluminum. Been using it on SS rail and rail clamps with no problems. It’s about the consistency of light grease.
You can also use “anti-sieze” available at most auto parts stores, really good heavy grease usually with nickel or moly in it, but it gets all over stuff, definitely more messy. It’s more of a super non-siezing compound, not an anti-oxidation barrier, and not specifically formulated for aluminum.
Greg