New Vise and a Cheap Tool

Two tools and a link, today.

First, the link.  Take a couple minutes and read over this information page on "Twisting Wire for Great Grab Irons" at the Labelle Models site.  (The page will open in a new window, and then you'll need to open the pdf file.  It's FREE!)  Don't get distracted reading all the other great articles - come back here and finish this page first.

Next, my new cool tool, a really great mini-vise from Micro Mark.

Sure, you can probably buy one cheaper on ebay, but this is one case where you really do get what you pay for.  I got mine on sale!  This little vise is very well made from cast steel, not aluminum, in Japan.  Think Samurai swords.  These guys know what they're doing.  I trued the jaws with a few swipes of a file, but it was already very close to begin with.  I left the sticker on the side because I think it looks cool, and I'm even considering weathering it.

The other tool is so cheap, it's free if you know where to look.

My grab iron jig is a coffee stir stick.  It just happens to be the right size in a couple dimensions:

First, it's a width gauge for setting tape on the jaws of a pair of pliers I use to bend the basic shape of the handrail.  As you can see, it lays nicely between the locating marks (+____+) on the side of the CV car.  It also serves as a means of setting the depth for the handrail's first break. 

I've got a large vintage vise on a home-built stand down in the garage.  And, I've used it to make grabs in this manor before.  However, there was a lot of slop in the jaws, and being used, they weren't that sharp.  Plus, my modeling desk is upstairs and I'd like to be able to sit down and bend a grab iron when I've got a few minutes before I have to get the kiddo to preschool, or before dinner is ready, etc.

I can bend a grab from straight wire to ready-to-mount in 2-3 minutes.  That adds up to over an hour for a car like the current ventilated car.  I'd rather break that tedium into smaller bites.  Even so, I consider it time well spent towards realism and that fine-scale appearance that I believe contribute so much when upgrading a classic kit.

I managed to get my second April post in just under the wire.  Next month I hope to show the completed ventilated box car and some progress on the second CV kit.