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OK so I do have way too much time on my hands. I designed and made a jig to drill 1/8" holes in the centers of Gragraves ties. Ordinarily, I use a drill press to predrill 1/8" holes in track before screwing it into the layout base.

However, I have had occasions where pre-drilling was not possible and I wanted to drill holes in ties on-the-fly. So easy enough to hand drill but my holes have not always been centered on the wood tie and I have split the wood times many many times.

TO AVOID splitting I created the "jig-to-center-drill-gargrave-ties-on-the-fly (JCDGTOF). Here are pictures of the JCDGTOF in action:

jig3jiG1JIG2

This was cut from 1/4" and 1/8" acrylic. There are 11 pieces glued together.

 

UPDATE

So I was having some issues gluing the acrylic pieces because the acrylic glue requires a less than tight fit so the glue can seep into the spaces. This meant that it was hard to completely center the pieces and the end supports were too loose. I  modified the design and cut a glue-jig form enclosure.

Also, Ross Custom(RC) track ties are a slightly different size than the Gargraves(GG) ties and RC track has spikes!  To add to the issues, the RC spikes are not uniformly placed on each tie!  So I designed a slightly different JCDGTOF to accommodate the differences. 

 

 

The red lines constitute the form enclosure cuts. Note the second from the top is the RC parts with the slight cut-in to provide for the spikes. The lettering is engraved on each JCDGTOF.

 

 

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Images (6)
  • jiG1
  • mceclip0
  • mceclip1
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  • JIG2
  • jig3
Last edited by AlanRail
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When I built my 3 rail railroad I had the same problem. This would have been a great tool have back then. Just wondering why did you put holes on the outside of the outer rails? I built an entire layout and I didn't put one screw on the outside of the outer rails. I assume the four holes in one tie is for illustration purposes. Not criticizing just wondering. You did a great job making that tool. 

Attached is the latest .SVG file for the JCDGTOF. you will need 1/8 and 1/4 clear Acrylic sheets.

When this is over, and you need a laser cutter, most  Joann Fabrics have GlowForges to rent. Use this attached .svg  file to create the JCDGTOF parts. 

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Last edited by AlanRail

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