Hey Jay,
Norm said previously he was not interested in selling a fully assembled version of these couplers. Any interest on your part?
Assembling these things just doesn't go well with fat fingers. But I would get a number of them assembled preferably that work with the magnet.
Richard
@Greg Amer (Greg) What kind of coupler is on the unit in this photo: (https://www.gbrx.com/wp-conten...1/06/maxiiv_1007.jpg)?
@A. Wells posted:@Greg Amer (Greg) What kind of coupler is on the unit in this photo: (https://www.gbrx.com/wp-conten...1/06/maxiiv_1007.jpg)?
Anthony & Richard,
Both photos are type E bottom shelf; abbreviated SBE.
Richard,
These are not very hard to put together even with fat fingers and crappy eyesight. It’s only 4 pieces and the only tool I used was pliers to fully seat the knuckle pin down after I started it into the holes by hand.
Cheers,
Greg
Rich,
I'll talk to Jimmy about it. I was somewhat hesitant to get involved. Many issues, least of which would be, dealing with certain modelers that will never be happy with anything.
When you mentioned the difficulty with assembly, are you referring to getting the couplers into the draft boxes, and all that goes with it? I think these couplers, in Norm's larger boxes would be far easier.
Jay
Not mentioned anywhere in this thread (I may have missed it though) is whether these will mate easily with a regular KaDee.
With enough liquor you can get anything to mate easily.
Yeah.....that's what she said!!!!!!
@Tom Dempsey posted:With enough liquor you can get anything to mate easily.
After reading this thread, I took note of the couplers on a passing train recently. There were only a few, maybe less that ten, couplers that did not have shelves. I was surprised how many double shelves couplers there were. I recall when the single shelf coupler first came out, McConway Torley advertised that if everyone used single shelf couplers, double shelf couplers would be unnecessary. They felt so strongly about this that the sold the single shelf coupler at the same price that they sold the E60 for.
All I know is that simple assembly takes time, and time is money. If it only takes ten minutes to assemble a pair, that adds ten bucks to the price (unless the assembler gives away his or her labor).
The overhead "gets" you. I think the minimum order for assembly without being charged a half hour for setup would be 20 pairs.
I don't know about Jay, but you couldn't pay me enough. I am sticking to flight instruction, where I charge enough to offset "set-up" time. And it is not mindless assembly - it is actually fun!
Boo Rim assembles them for Protocraft (not the shelf variety) and they end up ~$12 a pair. Works for me. I will loose either the drop pin or the knuckle pin 50% of the time.
Boo Rim does not pay US wages, I bet.
one could buy several hundred and ship to Boo Rim for assembly?
@bob2 posted:Boo Rim does not pay US wages, I bet.
one could buy several hundred and ship to Boo Rim for assembly?
Well Duh! Why do you think no model train manufacturer builds stuff in the U.S. Nobody in the U.S. manufacturers much of anything anymore except maybe cars. Because in China/Korea there are not all the health and safety stuff and unemployment insurance, 40 hour work weeks (had to laugh at that one), pensions or IRAs, minimum wages, blah, blah, blah. All said and done U.S. workers make 2X to 10X or more what their Chinese/Korean counterparts make. While McDonalds employees here want $10+ an hour McDonalds employees there make less than $10 a day and work 12+ hours a day. And there is a line to take the job if you're not OK with that.
You said you wouldn't do it at any price. They do not have that choice. That is why things like squid games happen.
But you cannot take the parts and ship them there for assembly because they won't accept them unless they do the whole thing. My guess is that the parts are cast in Asia anyway. All of those rules also make foundry work restricted/regulated in this country.
I personally would rather live here, even if I cannot get sand castings made.
@Greg Amer - Which SBE is most suitable to my endeavor (https://mcconway.com/catalog/freight-couplers/)? Where could I find diagrams of such a coupler from all sides?
Anthony
Hi Anthony,
The car in the photo you posted earlier is stenciled SBE60EE on the face of the car right below the DO NOT HUMP stencil. I’m not sure about where to find detailed diagrams.
Greg
@Greg Amer posted:Hi Anthony,
The car in the photo you posted earlier is stenciled SBE60EE on the face of the car right below the DO NOT HUMP stencil. I’m not sure about where to find detailed diagrams.
Greg
I'll make due with the diagram from the McConway website coupled with photos. It does provide measurements. Now I just have to figure out what a "Yoke" is.
It sure does. Did you design it?
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