Large Scale Central

Tricks/recycling

General Discussion
#102

a mobile shelf for paints - on the cheap

i had another fit of orderlyness…
while shoveling my junk from one place to another, in the hope to gain some space for more junk, i came to my paints and pinsels.

while i seeked a place, where to put them all together, a thought disturbed me.

i realized, that for the next two or three years i will use paints mainly on the layout. or in other words - far from the avayable storage shelves.
so the idea was born, to get a movable shelf for the paints.
as the accesses between the different parts of the layout are only about three foot wide, i looked for something with wheels, not wider than 1 ft.
in the furniture section of our store i found nothing. at the local competition they had as much as we have.
so it was DIY-time again.
somewhere i have a pair of wheels. i know. what i don’t know, is where.
while seeking them i found the remnants of a former office chair. (did i mention, that i hate to throw things away?)
and i found some perfiles and trays from metal shelving.

so i amputated the office chair. (luckily a cheap one with plastic feet) and screwed around a little.

this is the result:

(http://kormsen.info/thisnthat/bilder/colourtray01.JPG)

(http://kormsen.info/thisnthat/bilder/colourtray02.JPG)

the lower shelf is for the rattle cans.

(and on second thought, i will put a third shelf below, for the paint in tins…)

the whole thing is 1 by 4 ft. and can be moved like a wheelbarrow, and was entirely built with materials that i had lying around.

#103

Great ideas, one and all. I use styrofoam from packing crates for abutments, embankments etc. And I’ve used ordinary sand glued to foam blocks for hopper car loads. Plastic trays from frozen food entrees make good parts bins. “O” rings can make rubber tires for auto/trucks.

I never was much good at throwing things away BEFORE I got into garden railroading. Now I’m even worse!

#104

After reading the whole thread (to date), I’ve got too other ideas about spray cans. (1) after the paint is gone, keep the caps, as you can spray paint into them, and dab the color over chipped spray paint. Perfect match! (2) to store paint cans, I bought a six foot length of plastic pipe about three inches in diameter (your dimensions may vary in the metric world). Cut into six inch sections and glued side by side, they make a durable paint can holder.

#105

Dick, I usually decant the last bits of spray paint. I carefully open the can and put the last little bit of paint into a glass jar. This is good for touch ups and little jobs. Thing is, no matter how well I seal the jar, it eventually dries out. Also there is usually a marble in the can. I dunno what I am going to do with those marbles, but since folks tell me I have lost mine…

I also save any nozzles that still work. And replacing a clogged nozzle has allowed me to use up more then one can of otherwise unusable spray paint. The cans, once emptied, are also a good source for tin plated steel, for those of us who scratch-build using that stuff.

Dick, I am also a pack rat. Every few years I get the urge and start cleaning out my over full stash of junque. But once I have throw out some of it, the fever fades and I keep the rest of it for…

#106

I am going to post this in 2 parts because I want the punch line to follow.

If you sit around long enough, someone will eventually say “What could I do with my bowling ball that I haven’t used in 25 years?” You know - Old Bowlers can’t lift their…

Answer: Recycle it!

So come along, we’ll hike up to the top of the mountain to see…

#107

#108

The Pixley Waterworks!

I have seen some pretty odd water tanks on “This Old House” and in my travels, so I ask:

Why not?

#109

And NO I’m NOT carrying a bowling ball to the Drag & Brag!

#110

Just roll it then! :wink:

#111

I use artists’ acrylic paints, which come in tubes, for just about everything. These have to be squeezed out, artist-style, onto a pallette where they can be blended into the desired hue.
I find a white foam produce tray makes a fine disposable pallette. For the water needed to dilute the colors and rinse my brushes I use a 1 litre plastic yoghurt container. I add a drop of detergent to help the water flow. My pallette is very light, of course, and it tends to shift around on my work surface. I place my yoghurt container full of water right on the foam tray to hold it steady. If you’re a messy painter you might find that all the drips and mess stay confined to the tray.
Whew! I have just completed a marathon painting session over tha last month or so. I repainted, re-lettered, re-numbered, and weathered seventeen cars. I am staring at eight flats which need to be done, but I think I’ll be saving them for next year.
Fred’s coming over, and we’ll need the dining table.

#112

I use artists’ acrylic paints, which come in tubes, for just about everything. These have to be squeezed out, artist-style, onto a pallette where they can be blended into the desired hue.
I find a white foam produce tray makes a fine disposable pallette. For the water needed to dilute the colors and rinse my brushes I use a 1 litre plastic yoghurt container. I add a drop of detergent to help the water flow. My pallette is very light, of course, and it tends to shift around on my work surface. I place my yoghurt container full of water right on the foam tray to hold it steady. If you’re a messy painter you might find that all the drips and mess stay confined to the tray.
Whew! I have just completed a marathon painting session over tha last month or so. I repainted, re-lettered, re-numbered, and weathered seventeen cars. I am staring at eight flats which need to be done, but I think I’ll be saving them for next year.
Fred’s coming over, and we’ll need the dining table.

#113

To dilute my artists acrylics I use methylated spirits (I’m in Australia and I am not sure what it is overseas) instead of water. This decreases the drying time dramatically.

I just painted 6 ore cars in an just over an hour I could handle the paint after a few minutes.

I can even use them in my airbrush, got this tip from the plastic modellers at work.

To make smoke stacks for my locos I use probiotic containers (Yakult), I cut the top parts off of 2, then glue them together big end together I then use a cheap plastic click type hose joiner as my mounting onto the smoke box. The bottom part I use as paint cups.

#114

From Wikipedia…

Denatured alcohol, also called methylated spirits or spiritus is ethanol that has additives to make it poisonous, extremely bad tasting, foul smelling or nauseating, to discourage recreational consumption. In some cases it is also dyed.

Denatured alcohol is used as a solvent and as fuel for alcohol burners and camping stoves. Because of the diversity of industrial uses for denatured alcohol, hundreds of additives and denaturing methods have been used. The main additive has traditionally been 10% methanol, giving rise to the term “methylated spirits”. Other typical additives include isopropyl alcohol, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, and denatonium.

Denaturing alcohol does not chemically alter the ethanol molecule. Rather, the ethanol is mixed with other chemicals to form an undrinkable solution.

Yakukt…

#115

Joe, yea, that’s what Wikipedia says. But when I worked on continuous ink jet printing equipment, we found that the denaturing process altered the electrical properties of the alcohol, just enough as to make it unusable as a solvent for the ink. So the company had to buy pure grain alcohol to use as a solvent for the ink. By the end of the day the ink was properly solved, as were the techs who were working on the equipment.

#116

John, how do those acrylics hold up outdoors?

#117

The most useful of my homemade tools are my sanding blocks. They are simply an 8 1/2 by 10 1/2 inch piece of 3/4 inch thick medium density fiberboard (MDF) with a sheet of emery cloth fastened to it with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive. After the glue has cured the hanging edges of the emery cloth sheet are trimmed clean with a sharp box knife.

They are a quick way to make anything smooth and level like the edges of snapped styrene sheet. The edges of the board can also be used to square material so that inside 90 degree edges can be sanded. I have three boards with different grades of emery cloth on them: extra coarse 50 for quick sanding, coarse 80 for smoothing, and fine 150 for polishing metal and plastic, or sharpening X-Acto and box knife blades.

My cheap sanding tools for smaller jobs are dollar store or Walmart emery boards (nail files). The can be cut to fit into tiny locations, or punched to clean the around the bases of posts.

In the past I have used double-sided foam tape to fasten battery packs, components platforms, etc. to the floor of diesels or steam tenders. But I have found that over time it dries out from the heat and lets go. This year however, I found some 3M outdoor mounting tape in Dollarama that is much, much stronger and is not foam based.

For temporary taping requirements, nothing beats hockey shin pad tape. It cuts clean, stretches over irregular surfaces, holds tight, and can be removed without leaving any glue residue like duct tape.

If I am working on a long term project I fasten the screws back in the parts I have removed so they do not get mixed up or lost. If it is a quick repair, I place the each set of screws in an adjacent compartment of a dollar store pill box. That way they don’t hide someplace on the floor and can be fastened back in the proper place by opening the adjacent compartments from last to first.


These pill boxes can also be used to sort and store small parts.

One of my most used tools is a toolmakers vise from Micro-Mark. It is great for holding small parts that have to be machined, filed or sanded; and will lay flat on its base, nose, or sides.

Vise number 60282 has a 1 1/4 inch capacity, and vise number 21134 a 2 1/2 inch capacity.

#118

Doug Arnold said:

John, how do those acrylics hold up outdoors?

Well, Doug, my cars stay out all summer long, rain or shine.
The acrylic carrier seems to hold up just fine. That is, the paint hasn’t decomposed or turned to powder or washed off the cars.
As for the hues themselves, that varies, depending on the source of the hue.
I have a model that has spent the past 6-7 years indoors. The red acrylic stain that I put on it was chemical dye-based and has faded away completely.
But my boxcars and gondolashave spent a lot of time outdoors and they haven’t faded.
They were painted with earth-based pigments, and that seems to make all the difference. The earth pigments I use are yellow ochre, burnt and raw sienna, and burnt and raw umber. Also, the several blacks I have used - Mars Black, Carbon Black, and Iron oxide Black, have all held up. My favorite is iron oxide, it just seems more metallic to me, but that may just be psychological because of the name… Titanium White also holds up well.

#119

I use the metal straight sewing pins for rivets. They come in various head sizes. I have a steam and sand dome made from PVC coupling for the base, pipe for the body, and various drawer pulls or other do hickies from the hardware store for the tops. Gives a old style Baldwin or grant look. Any king of pipe or tuning gets saved. same with wire. The stupid plastic stuff everything comes in today that is hard to open works great for windows. My wife used to have these fancy little lotion bottles with cool tops that I have saved for sand domes or smoke stacks or whatever.

#120

"other do hickies "

I’m sorry but we are mere hobbyists … these technickle terms really push our smarts…

#121

John Caughey said:

"other do hickies "

I’m sorry but we are mere hobbyists … these technickle terms really push our smarts…

That’s why we come here, John, to get smarter. :wink: