Hayfields 7mm 3D Printed Turnouts

[Hayfield1]

I am sorry for a long delay in adding to this thread, the reasons are :-

1 I have been finishing off 4 kit built locos
2 Waiting for the latest Templot release
3 Waiting for plug track parts
4 The Scale7 Albury meet is getting nearer, where I will be demonstrating 7mm scale 3D COT and Plug track

Well the locos have nearly been taken as far as they can be until the weather has turned both dryer and warmer
Secondly the Templot release has arrived, I have cut the ply for my 7mm COT track test plank
Finally waiting for a filament dryer which apparently will improve the performance of my printing


Also I have been having a chat with a couple of folk, Terry who will be printing the additional parts I require for the plug track kit, Terry also asked me for a couple of prints of FDM bases, both COT and plug, and another retailer who is interested in the concept of 3D track printing for his next personnel project

So the COT/Plug track projects are back on and after the priority items I will have a go at printing a 4mm scale COT track turnout

John

 

[Hayfield1]

Just been using up some old filament, tried the new style common crossing design (which is mainly aimed at 4mm scale) in that the check rail chairs as well as the common crossing has stub chairs to aid rail fitting



A B6 curved (4.4m radius) COT turnout to 0MF gauge (31.5mm gauge). The filament has been out in the open for 2+ months, so not in prime condition



To use up filament just printing off some chairs (note a bit of stringing, probably due to exposure to moisture)



Test print in a few ways, using Sunlu PLA+ filament and Filament dryer (drying out the remnants of the old reel which I will test once dry

A few more jobs to complete prior to testing a 4mm COT track turnout

 

[Hayfield1]

Following on from my plug track Templot build I received the additional parts I required plus a few more bits



The first and most interesting part is the production version on 3mm ply, I did receive a few chairs which Terry modified but not enough to use on this track base.

Now in the Templot club there has been quite a bit of opinions on Resin and FDM printed chairs, what has happened recently is in using a certain brand of filament and keeping it dry in a filament dryer the print quality is better. The truth is the gap between FDM and resin prints has really closed up, to an extent you need to get very close up to notice the difference, to me the advantage is FDM printing is easier, far less messy and overall quicker



I am sorry for the quality of the photos, plus they are four times their real life size, when compared to ABS chairs there is little or no difference


My bad computing skills, S1J to the left S1's in between and for some strange reason a PL4 chair to the right



Slide, S1 & L1 chairs, this photo seems to catch the crispness of the printing



Slide chairs PL1 to 4, they are both sided and handed, somehow I have disabled the raft function, I use more glue but save on Filament

Likewise the common crossing and check rail chairs are also position sensitive

Now I am experimenting to see how viable FDM chairs are in turnout building, the known problem areas are the PL3 & PL4 chairs and the wing rail chairs. These may well have to be loose jaw type or Terrys half chair versions

Certainly the latest developments has for me made life far more easier, I cannot do any design or programming skills to the game, but I can try and bring a bit of the end user/track builder experience to the project.

I am now testing the filament brand I have been using from the start, namely Esun by printing an EM gauge COT B6 turnout. The price difference is negligible especially as the filament is probably the cheapest element in the whole process. I think the cost of filament is 10p for 20 plug chairs. However that's not counting the cost of getting here, but its been hours of pleasure, fun and frustration.

Worth the journey, certainly

Do look at what Terry is doing at Kosmik

7mm Scale B6 to B12 Turnout Kit | Kosmik

This kit contains the following items:1 x Laser cut Ply timber base (2 or 3 pieces) 3mm thick1 x set of 3D printed Resin Chairs comprising of: S1 Fixed Jaw S1J Fixed Jaw L1 Fixed Jaw P Fixed Jaw CC Fixed Jaw*, CC-R Fixed Jaw*, CC-L Fixed Jaw* 1 set of HEEL Chairs Fixed Jaw 1 set of VEE Crossing...

www.kosmik.co.uk

Terry will be demonstrating at this years Risex this coming weekend

Risborough and District Model Railway Club

Risborough and District Model Railway Club

www.rdmrc.org.uk

And James Walters has been very busy

 

[Hayfield1]

I left the Kosmik turnout build as I was missing some of the revised parts which are in the production kits and are a great improvement, Terry has to a certain kept to using whole chairs rather than chairs with loose jaws, by redesigning some chairs into half chairs.

I was sent several revised items, the first 3 revised half chairs rather than loose jaw chairs, also for show only a set of loose jaw check rail chairs



These are three sets of half chairs designed to make it easier to fit chairs which hold 2 rails
Top left PL1 to PL4
Top Right check rail chairs
Bottom Vee chairs



These are the additional switch chairs, left to right PL1, PL2, Pl3 & PL4

PL1 & PL2 only have the stock rail through the chair as the switch rail slides on the slide plates so are full chair, PL3 & PL4 are half chairs to make construction much easier

r

These are the check rail chairs, top row go on the stock rail, bottom row on the check rail, the two end chairs are hander R (right) L (left) as they go on the flared end



For information only this is a set of loose jaw check rail chairs. The stock rail is laid on the chair and the jaws are pushed in, likewise the check rail is laid in and the other jaws are pushed in

Back to the build I want to change the PL1 to PL4 chairs as they are so much easier to fit as half chairs rather than sliding the stock and switch rail through one chair



Sorry about the focus in the foreground, Half chairs PL4, & PL3 are slid on the stock rail along with chairs PL2 & PL3. the stock rail can be easily fitted into position



Now I slid on the two remaining Half chairs PL4 & PL3 and again the switch rail is easily fitted

I must say a very easy solution and probably much easier to print than loose jaw chairs and jaws. Certainly an easier solution for the novice builder

 

[Hayfield1]

Carrying on with the build, the stock rail was cut to length, preformed to shape and the standard S1 chairs threaded on


These are the set of half check rail chairs, the top set of half chairs are for the stock rail, the bottom half of the chairs are for the check rail, the two end chairs are end sensitive. CCR & CCL must go in the correct position. Looking from the outside of the stock into the center CCL is on your left side and CCR is on your right side as they fit over the check rail flanges rail into the center.

Looking at the photo above, the upper chairs fit the stock rail the lower set of chairs fit on to the check rail


You can see here the raft has been turned around 180 degrees, the stock rail CCL has been fitted on to the stock rail



I have now fitted all 3 center check chair outers on to the stock rail



All 5 of the outer check chairs have been fitted to the stock rail. out of sight I have fitted the rest of the chairs and the curved stock rail now fits nicely into the fret



This view shows the switch chairs PL1 to PL4 in-between the last slide chair and a L1 chair, PL3 & 4 are half chairs. The other half chairs will go on the switch rail once made



A quick overall view of the turnout with one check rail and a switch rail yet to be made and fitted

I must say these revised half chairs made fitting the stock rail very easy

John

 

[Hayfield1]

Both for a domestic test track for me to use with my loco kit building I thought a lightweight 3D demonstrating board would be a good investment

A base board from a 3mm thick sheet of ply 48" x 9" has been built. You can see I have used Copydex as an impact adhesive to lay some 3mm High density foam



A simple A5 turnout with about 16" run offs at both ends. the etched primer is nearly white



The single track has the base sleepers and chairs painted but the masking tape is still on the rails until I have touched up the painting



Next up will be fitting the track to the track bed and ballasting, simply to show what 3D printed track looks like in use, and of course see it working.

I will have it with me at the Scale 7 meet at Albury and also hopefully at GOGA show at Kempton Park

John

 

[Hayfield1]

Masking tape has been taken off and rail tops cleaned

Track positioned where it goes, I plan to fit the track one section at a time



Scrap test pieces do come in handy, neat Copydex painted on to the track bed, track placed on it, then ballast poured over, clearly needs another 1mm covering of ballast. Still quite a change from bare PLA+ filament

 

[Hayfield1]

Thought I would make a start laying the track, Both stock rails and the vee had 2 wires soldered to them without damaging the filament. Ballast will be laid in two applications to both hide the webbing and build up the height