John Caughey said:
What tools are in your shop? Some thing that can cut or grind a long straight taper will go a long way to saving any sanity left…
John
You mean like my milling machine? 
John Caughey said:
What tools are in your shop? Some thing that can cut or grind a long straight taper will go a long way to saving any sanity left…
John
Well I have a respectably equipped shop. Table saw, shop smith, stationary belt/disk sander, two different sized band saw, planner, jointer, router and table, scroll saw, drill press, two miter chop saws, and various hand tools.
Is there something else I need because I could totally justify $1000.00 dollars on a new tool to save $200.00 on turn outs. That’s how I operate. I “needed” a shopsmith mark V, used $500.00 bucks, so I could have a lathe so I could make ten spindles (50 bucks at lowes) we need for our stairs. Please tell me I need a molding plainer to make my turn outs or maybe a 3 phase overhead sander.
Steve Featherkile said:
John Caughey said:
What tools are in your shop? Some thing that can cut or grind a long straight taper will go a long way to saving any sanity left…
John
I use a belt sander, turned upside down in its carrier. I’ve been told that I shouldn’t use a grinding wheel for brass or aluminum, though I suppose a special wheel can be had. I’ve been told that the soft metal gets into the wheel, and causes the wheel to fly apart. Ouch.
A disc sander would work, too.
Steve,
would a case of beer and some pretzels buy your expertise when I decide to start making these? I love deer park ( yeah right) so a trip up there may pay off. Honestly the whole tangent 6 times the length of the horny toad lost me…
I use a disc sander with a table, Delta is the brand, but there are many knockoffs out there now. it also has the belt sander built in, but I never use. the table allows me to get relatively square to the rail base when sanding. I use long sticks of rail to allow me to hold on, a glass of water to cool things down, and plenty of sanding discs, 220 grit if I remember correctly.
Al P.
or…you can make up one frog, make a mold from it, then cast your own…
Maybe this will hep:
It all just about the angle that the frog makes. A ratio between rise and run. 8 units long and one high is a #8 . The large the number the more gentle/gradual the switch. Which equates to running longer equipment.
Randy,
Nice visual representation and a very close approximation. Probably as close as any of us need to get in order to build a working turnout. If you want the exact math involved in the calculations, see my post in the reference section at
http://largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/23019/turnout-frogs-numbers-and-angles
Randy Lehrian Jr. said:
Maybe this will hep:
It all just about the angle that the frog makes. A ratio between rise and run. 8 units long and one high is a #8 . The large the number the more gentle/gradual the switch. Which equates to running longer equipment.
Yep that explains it. I guess I am just a visual guy but I get it now
Devon Sinsley said:
I guess I am just a visual guy but I get it now
Me too! that’s why I figured I’d put it out there for us visuals. By the way Bob is completely right and if you’d like to go further down the rabbit hole then you should certainly click his link to see a truly accurate visual.
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
John Caughey said:
What tools are in your shop? Some thing that can cut or grind a long straight taper will go a long way to saving any sanity left…
John
You mean like my milling machine?
Too late???
said in jest
John Caughey said:
Hans-Joerg Mueller said:
John Caughey said:
What tools are in your shop? Some thing that can cut or grind a long straight taper will go a long way to saving any sanity left…
John
You mean like my milling machine?
Too late???
said in jest
Nah, prior to LS there were umpteen years in the smaller scales when a well equipped shop was always very handy.
And whatever wasn’t in my shop my customers had in theirs, from high-precision profile grinders - very handy to grind form tools for RP25 - to Wire-EDM machines for a lot of the stuff that now gets laser cut. 
Understood, last night’s search for pigment turned up a #8 Z scale switch I fabricated…
John
John Caughey said:
Understood, last night’s search for pigment turned up a #8 Z scale switch I fabricated…
John
My insanity isn’t at that stage yet, but I handlaid some Code40 Z track and that brought me mighty close.
@Davon Got a few bucks to spend on something that you don’t know how much you need it yet?
Look into this:
http://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_view.php?ProductID=4980&category=1387807683
You’ll never look back.
Dave,
I would love to have a small mill and metal lathe. But there are just to many toys and not enough money. Especially for those of us that prefer to fish instead of work