Post by Keith Tanaka on May 8, 2015 20:14:03 GMT -8
As many of you know, scratchbuilding a hardbody chassis requires many tools to get the job done properly.
Newbies (beginning scratchbuilders) can often be overwhelmed by the tools required and the techniques they need to learn in order to produce a good chassis (aligned properly, strong, good handling).
To help the newbies, I'll list a minimum of tools which I believe are needed to get the job done properly without overspending or going hogwild.
Here's the list by order of importance:
1. Soldering iron: perhaps the most important tool of all. I highly recommend the Hakko model FX-601. It's lightweight yet powerful enough to handle all of the soldering encountered during scratchbuilding.
It's compact and can easily fit into your slot car box without taking up much room. It has a built-in temperature control to adjust the heat for low temperature work (soldering the motor lead wires to the motor terminals) and can also handle the heavy duty
work (soldering 1/16" brass sheet (guide tongue and side pans) and all piano wire sizes (including 3/32" piano wire axles). It's not a low cost iron (about $70) but it does the work of two irons (low and high wattage irons) and eliminates the need for a
separate temperature controller. Just as important as a soldering iron is the "acid flux" to be used. I highly recommend "Stay Bright" acid flux as it works best.
For soldering lead wires, do not use acid flux. Instead, use rosin flux. Rosin flux is used for electrical connections (and will not weaken electrical connections over time) whereas acid flux is strictly for soldering structural metal parts.
Also, its good to have a soldering iron stand with a sponge. Weller has a standard model which does the trick.
2. Dremel tool: This does all of the heavy duty cutting of piano wire and brass sheet. Without it, you will spend a lot more time and effort cutting metal. It's a versatile tool with many different cutting, grinding and polishing tools available.
I prefer using the corded model as it has all the power you need without worrying about running a battery low as with the cordless models (which are not as powerful). The corded model is also cheaper than the battery powered models.
I use a Dremel model 3000 (about $75 which includes some tools), but you can buy cheaper models as well as very cheap tools at Harbor Freight (not as reliable).
I recommend the Dremel Cut-Off Wheel No. 409 and the rugged reinforced cutting wheel to perform all of the cutting of piano wire and brass. These two cutting wheels do a good job. A polishing tool or buffing disk can help clean and give the finished chassis
a nice, clean look.
3. Adel Nibbler: This nibbling tool is very good at cutting 1/32" thick brass sheet (can also cut 1/16" thick brass but only in very small nibbles), typically 1/32" thick brass.
It cuts brass sheet quickly and is very handy to have compared to other ways of cutting brass sheet. You can use a Dremel tool as well but I prefer to use the Nibbler as its ideal for cutting front end chassis and side pans.
Of course, if you have access to a band saw, you can cut thru brass sheet very fast (if you have the right cutting blade). The Adel Nibbler typically costs around $45 (unfortunately the cost has doubled in the last few years).
Another good nibbling tool is made by Klein Tools. It cuts brass similar to the Adel Nibbler.
4. Various pliers: Pliers are the basic tools needed to bend, form and cut piano wire and brass sheet. Typical pliers used are: needle nose, combination jaw (your typical standard plier), diagonal cutter, heavy duty line cutters and locking vise grip plier.
Needle nose pliers: I use these type pliers the most. A good standard size needle nose can be used to bend piano wire.
Combination jaw pliers: Your standard type pliers. Also used to bend piano wire.
Diagonal cutter: Cut most smaller sizes of piano wire. Heavy duty diagonal cutters are used to cut larger size piano wire (up to .063" diameter)
Heavy duty line cutter: Cuts larger piano wire (up to 3/32" piano wire).
Locking vise grip: handy to use when working with large piano wire and thick brass sheet. The locking feature is very useful when bending heavy duty piano wire and other metals.
5. Bench vise: to hold brass sheet when cutting. Also can be used to hold a car body when reforming the lower side panels of a car body. A good, compact, adjustable bench vise is very useful when building.
6. Hack saw: to cut brass sheet. Easily cuts 1/16" thick brass sheet. A band saw will do the job quicker but obviously costs a lot more to own.
7. Chassis jig: building a properly aligned chassis is very important and a good chassis jig makes the job much easier. There are many different types available.
I use a "Precision Slot Car" chassis jig. Also, you need wheel jigs for the various tire sizes used for hardbody racing. Besides ready made wheel jigs, you can make your own from worn metal or plastic gears.
8. Digital Calipers: to measure piano wire size and brass sheet thickness; measure tire diameter; wheelbase, chassis width, etc., etc. Very important to use calipers when building and setting up your cars.
Plenty of affordable digital calipers available online or at your raceway (approx. $20-$30).
9. Misc. tools, etc:
Small fan to keep solder and acid fumes away.
Safety glasses to protect eyes when using the Dremel tool and when soldering.
Set of small files: I bought a cheap small file set at Harbor Freight. They work fine and last a long time, a good, cheap buy that does the job. A larger flat file is also useful.
Wire stripper: for trimming lead wires properly. A standard hand wire stripper tool will do the job properly.
Guide flag threading tool: to extend the threads on a guide flag to the bottom portion of the flag. I use one sold by Rick Bennardo.
Pinion gear remover: several brands available. I also have a tool which can press a pinion onto a motor shaft. There are some pinions which fit tightly onto a motor shaft.
Scissors: good pair of scissors for various cutting tasks. A good quality scissor is helpful.
Allen wrench: a good Allen wrench (I recommend the Hudy long allen wrench) is needed for tightening down the wheels, gears, etc.
10. Tire trimmer: I use a Hudy tire trimmer. This tool is not cheap but is a very worthwhile investment that will last a long time and provide the right size tires for all of your cars. You'll also need a power supply to run this tire trimmer. If you can't afford one in
the beginning, you can usually borrow one at the raceway from a fellow slot racer. Slot racers are usually very helpful to one another and its very common to borrow some of the more expensive tools needed now and then while at the raceway.
Besides a tire trimmer, another tool which is handy but not necessary unless you like to tune your car's handling more precisely, is a hardness measuring tool. This tool measures the firmness of the rubber tire. In other words, you can tell by the hardness of
the rubber whether a tire will have more or less grip than others. This helps when fine tuning the handling of a car.
I'm sure I forgot something, but this list is a good start and should provide the important tools needed to build a good chassis. I'll update as needed.
Any comments?
Keith
Newbies (beginning scratchbuilders) can often be overwhelmed by the tools required and the techniques they need to learn in order to produce a good chassis (aligned properly, strong, good handling).
To help the newbies, I'll list a minimum of tools which I believe are needed to get the job done properly without overspending or going hogwild.
Here's the list by order of importance:
1. Soldering iron: perhaps the most important tool of all. I highly recommend the Hakko model FX-601. It's lightweight yet powerful enough to handle all of the soldering encountered during scratchbuilding.
It's compact and can easily fit into your slot car box without taking up much room. It has a built-in temperature control to adjust the heat for low temperature work (soldering the motor lead wires to the motor terminals) and can also handle the heavy duty
work (soldering 1/16" brass sheet (guide tongue and side pans) and all piano wire sizes (including 3/32" piano wire axles). It's not a low cost iron (about $70) but it does the work of two irons (low and high wattage irons) and eliminates the need for a
separate temperature controller. Just as important as a soldering iron is the "acid flux" to be used. I highly recommend "Stay Bright" acid flux as it works best.
For soldering lead wires, do not use acid flux. Instead, use rosin flux. Rosin flux is used for electrical connections (and will not weaken electrical connections over time) whereas acid flux is strictly for soldering structural metal parts.
Also, its good to have a soldering iron stand with a sponge. Weller has a standard model which does the trick.
2. Dremel tool: This does all of the heavy duty cutting of piano wire and brass sheet. Without it, you will spend a lot more time and effort cutting metal. It's a versatile tool with many different cutting, grinding and polishing tools available.
I prefer using the corded model as it has all the power you need without worrying about running a battery low as with the cordless models (which are not as powerful). The corded model is also cheaper than the battery powered models.
I use a Dremel model 3000 (about $75 which includes some tools), but you can buy cheaper models as well as very cheap tools at Harbor Freight (not as reliable).
I recommend the Dremel Cut-Off Wheel No. 409 and the rugged reinforced cutting wheel to perform all of the cutting of piano wire and brass. These two cutting wheels do a good job. A polishing tool or buffing disk can help clean and give the finished chassis
a nice, clean look.
3. Adel Nibbler: This nibbling tool is very good at cutting 1/32" thick brass sheet (can also cut 1/16" thick brass but only in very small nibbles), typically 1/32" thick brass.
It cuts brass sheet quickly and is very handy to have compared to other ways of cutting brass sheet. You can use a Dremel tool as well but I prefer to use the Nibbler as its ideal for cutting front end chassis and side pans.
Of course, if you have access to a band saw, you can cut thru brass sheet very fast (if you have the right cutting blade). The Adel Nibbler typically costs around $45 (unfortunately the cost has doubled in the last few years).
Another good nibbling tool is made by Klein Tools. It cuts brass similar to the Adel Nibbler.
4. Various pliers: Pliers are the basic tools needed to bend, form and cut piano wire and brass sheet. Typical pliers used are: needle nose, combination jaw (your typical standard plier), diagonal cutter, heavy duty line cutters and locking vise grip plier.
Needle nose pliers: I use these type pliers the most. A good standard size needle nose can be used to bend piano wire.
Combination jaw pliers: Your standard type pliers. Also used to bend piano wire.
Diagonal cutter: Cut most smaller sizes of piano wire. Heavy duty diagonal cutters are used to cut larger size piano wire (up to .063" diameter)
Heavy duty line cutter: Cuts larger piano wire (up to 3/32" piano wire).
Locking vise grip: handy to use when working with large piano wire and thick brass sheet. The locking feature is very useful when bending heavy duty piano wire and other metals.
5. Bench vise: to hold brass sheet when cutting. Also can be used to hold a car body when reforming the lower side panels of a car body. A good, compact, adjustable bench vise is very useful when building.
6. Hack saw: to cut brass sheet. Easily cuts 1/16" thick brass sheet. A band saw will do the job quicker but obviously costs a lot more to own.
7. Chassis jig: building a properly aligned chassis is very important and a good chassis jig makes the job much easier. There are many different types available.
I use a "Precision Slot Car" chassis jig. Also, you need wheel jigs for the various tire sizes used for hardbody racing. Besides ready made wheel jigs, you can make your own from worn metal or plastic gears.
8. Digital Calipers: to measure piano wire size and brass sheet thickness; measure tire diameter; wheelbase, chassis width, etc., etc. Very important to use calipers when building and setting up your cars.
Plenty of affordable digital calipers available online or at your raceway (approx. $20-$30).
9. Misc. tools, etc:
Small fan to keep solder and acid fumes away.
Safety glasses to protect eyes when using the Dremel tool and when soldering.
Set of small files: I bought a cheap small file set at Harbor Freight. They work fine and last a long time, a good, cheap buy that does the job. A larger flat file is also useful.
Wire stripper: for trimming lead wires properly. A standard hand wire stripper tool will do the job properly.
Guide flag threading tool: to extend the threads on a guide flag to the bottom portion of the flag. I use one sold by Rick Bennardo.
Pinion gear remover: several brands available. I also have a tool which can press a pinion onto a motor shaft. There are some pinions which fit tightly onto a motor shaft.
Scissors: good pair of scissors for various cutting tasks. A good quality scissor is helpful.
Allen wrench: a good Allen wrench (I recommend the Hudy long allen wrench) is needed for tightening down the wheels, gears, etc.
10. Tire trimmer: I use a Hudy tire trimmer. This tool is not cheap but is a very worthwhile investment that will last a long time and provide the right size tires for all of your cars. You'll also need a power supply to run this tire trimmer. If you can't afford one in
the beginning, you can usually borrow one at the raceway from a fellow slot racer. Slot racers are usually very helpful to one another and its very common to borrow some of the more expensive tools needed now and then while at the raceway.
Besides a tire trimmer, another tool which is handy but not necessary unless you like to tune your car's handling more precisely, is a hardness measuring tool. This tool measures the firmness of the rubber tire. In other words, you can tell by the hardness of
the rubber whether a tire will have more or less grip than others. This helps when fine tuning the handling of a car.
I'm sure I forgot something, but this list is a good start and should provide the important tools needed to build a good chassis. I'll update as needed.
Any comments?
Keith