Any ideas out here for homemade clamps for holding sides of buildings together when gluing? I am working with N scale kits. I want to get a square corner when i glue it together. Paul
Clamps
- Thread starter plbab
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I've seen something similar to this commercially available, but shouldn't be too hard to home-brew:
1. Take two pieces of right-angle material (steel, aluminum, brass?), both about 2" longer than what they'll be clamping.
2. Except for 1" at each end, remove enough material at the angle to allow access for applying glue, etc.
3. Put the two walls to be glued between the angles and use clamps of some kind to hold the angles together.
4. Apply the glue through the access openings described in Step 2.
Here's a (very) rough illustration. The red and yellow part are the two angles, the green is one of the walls.
1. Take two pieces of right-angle material (steel, aluminum, brass?), both about 2" longer than what they'll be clamping.
2. Except for 1" at each end, remove enough material at the angle to allow access for applying glue, etc.
3. Put the two walls to be glued between the angles and use clamps of some kind to hold the angles together.
4. Apply the glue through the access openings described in Step 2.
Here's a (very) rough illustration. The red and yellow part are the two angles, the green is one of the walls.
I saw the coolest thing on a website... can't remember the name, but I'm sure when I give the description, others will know...
But basically it's this: A metal surface and some very strong magnets. It's use is very simple: You arrange the magnets on the metal surface so that it acts as a clamp and since you can move the magnets around, you can hold just about any shape. Works real good for making 90 degree corners and such!
At any rate, don't see why you couldn't make one of these yourself.
But basically it's this: A metal surface and some very strong magnets. It's use is very simple: You arrange the magnets on the metal surface so that it acts as a clamp and since you can move the magnets around, you can hold just about any shape. Works real good for making 90 degree corners and such!
At any rate, don't see why you couldn't make one of these yourself.
If anyone's interested, MicroMark has those gluing jigs on sale for 19.95. Item number #60304. I don't work for them, by the way.
Paul this picture is staged so I could show you the method I use. To ensure the corners of the building walls are square and level I work on a piece of 1/4 inch plate glass. I like this work surface because it will ensure your building will sit flat. In addition the surface can be cleaned easily of excess glue and paint with a single edge razor. Below the glass I have a piece of graph paper. I find this gives me a good visual reference. To hold the building walls I use several sizes of tool maker vises. The ones I am using I found at a flea market. The "rare earth" circular magnets shown, I purchased I believe at Radio Shack. Rare earth magnets are very strong and hold much better than the cast ones. Notice the green piece of sandpaper on the right. This is a adhesive back strip that I stick onto the glass to sand the edges of the building walls. Wears out - peel it off and replace it. The plate glass work surface is also very forgiving if you accidently glue a section of the wall to it. Little proding with a razor and it breaks free.
Attachments
If you use angel iron or aluminum for n scale, with a bit cut away to alow space for gluing, you could use wooden clothes pins for clamps.
Well after some searching on the internet, and a trip to the hardware store i now have two clamps. Both are made from V shaped aluminum stock. For home made they seem to work very well. One is from the idea billk posted. Paul