Just got ICS’s NBW’s in!
So organized!
Now for an evening of measuring & modeling them. I’ll post the spreadsheet when that’s all done, maybe later in the week.
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Been meaning to ask, does anyone know when hex (vs square) nuts & bolts came into common use? This page suggests the 1880’s, and that would be after “my” cars were built.
The transition from square to hex seems quite fluid and vague, which is understandable.
Point being, I’m gravitating toward the ICS offerings, which seem to be mostly square.
I think it depends on application. I have some furniture from the 1930s that is assembled with square nuts and bolts, but my dad had a lathe from the 1920s that had mostly hex-head.
Interesting. To your point, a couple of references I saw mentioned square heads having greater surface area, and therefore possibly better holding power. Furthermore, and this is just a guess, the sharper corners might have helped in anti-rotation as well (like a lock washer).
Cliff,
Although we started marking the sprues later in the game, i believe all those on sprues will match up with the list i sent.
Al P.
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Thanks very much Al.
By the way folks, the detail on these ICS castings is amazing. On the larger NBW’s you can actually see the bolt threads. I suspect that’s your work, Al? Really sharp.
Cliff,
Actually the use of square nuts in wood furniture is still used. The square nuts bit into the wood easier making a more solid wiggle free connection. As per your question concerning the hex vs the square pertaining to when the cars were built. I personally would think they would have used whatever was the easiest and cheapest available at the time to get the job done. It’s mining equipment not high speed mass produced stuff.
I still don’t think they used glue though and I find that comment a bit fishy myself!
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Cliff,
I do not recall doing any threads.
Al P.
After measuring samples and running numbers, I’ve finished my cheat-sheet on fastener castings.
Fastener Castings C Jennings 4-17-25.pdf (1.6 MB)
Instructions are on page 1, so if you care about this, and it isn’t clear, let me know.
For visual reference on each one, there’s the manufacturers’ web sites. For my samples (which were mostly one-off’s), I used some 2" coin collection mounts for easy access (without loosing the things in the carpet, some are tiny).
Now, on to picking the right one(s) for the ore car.
#12 looks pretty universal. Take the package to the DMV when you go into have your license renewed. You will have plenty of time to review the choices there …now serving #98
Cliff, Could you give the web site for these ICS bolts. I can’t seem to find them. Thanks.
You bet, Don. Good to see you.
I’ll complain and say add another column: 1/29. 
Thanks Cliff. I thought it might be them.
Easy enough to add, but does anyone actually use that (or 1/32) in the US, for older period models?
Thanks for looking it over.
Probably not. But I’m sure someone will find it useful. 
Happy Easter, all.
After church this morning, I’ve been learning how to use a planer, which was my main recent Christmas+birthday gift in December. To an uninitiated person such as myself, I was a little confused about what got done and when, to produce precisely-dimensioned lumber. But it all worked out fantastically.
Here’s the setup, with table saw and planer. I needed a no-rain day of course to do this, since it’s sawdusty and I don’t want to do it in the shed.
For those who care, but don’t have a planer, here’s the steps I went through, starting with 1x6 cedar planks from Home Depot. I’ll bet more experienced folks will have shortcuts or better ideas, but this was my take.
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For a given set of same-dimension lumber, rip (on teh table saw) a part of the cedar plank that will get it all in, rip cuts and all.
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Plane the broad face down some (up to 1/8" max), flip it over and do the same, until you near (say, 1/16") the dimension you’re going after, and has a smooth surface on both sides. Plane a piece of scrap ahead of the good stuff so you can measure it and plan the next pass.
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For the final pass, take the scrap piece and gradually lower the planer cutting head until the scrap has the thickness you want. It wasn’t difficult to get to +/-.005 of the intended dimension.
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Back to the table saw again, for the planed plank, rip individual strips to around 1/8" greater width than the intended opposite dimension.
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On the planer, going through the same process, and with a piece of scrap leading the way, and with both sides getting at least one pass in the planer, reduce the other dimension to the final value. You can feed multiple strips at a time.
As you can imagine, a lot of setup with both the table saw and planer is needed to get to one precise dimension. So, the more stock needed of one dimension, the better.
In my case, all is wonky at 1:20.32; dimensions all seem random to three decimal places. But in a couple hours I was able to rip and plane 2/3 of the stock for maybe 20 cars, and get at least +/-.004.
So, I’m pretty relieved / excited that it worked!
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Well, I’m pleased you were in church this morning and Happy Easter as well. However now that you have your " precisely- dimensioned lumber " perhaps you can work on spacing it correctly so you can come out with “clean dimensioned angles” ?
We all have our cross to bear, Rooster. 
I’m here all Easter week!
Seriously though Cliff, is that the Dewalt 735-x? I’ve been debating between that and the Metabo DH330, and am having trouble finding a direct comparison.
I really like the fact that you can easily upgrade the cutter on the dewalt though.
