What is the best way of cutting Peco 80 rail please?
I think it depends on personal preferences and also to the location where the cutting is taking place e.g. on the workbench or in situ on the layout. Some possibilities:
- Xuron track cutter
- Fine hand saw
- Dremel type tool and cutting disc.
All have their advantages.
Sturdy wire cutters also work, but the cut is likely to need more filing than with a Xuron tool to give a neat end and enough wastage to do so needs to be allowed.
A jewellers saw is ideal but an ordinary fine bladed junior hacksaw or razor saw can be used if done carefully. The issue is the rail web is very thin and to saw easily and neatly there should be at least 3 teeth covering the thickness of the material otherwise the blade will chatter and catch. There is so little material that cutting on the draw stroke helps when the blade is too coarse.
Starting the cut with a fine file also helps.
I use a track cutter because, being a bit on the lazy side, I find it quicker and easier than using a razor saw.
The slight downside being that I found I had to run a needle file along the underside of the rail to remove the small burr that the cutter leaves.
Xuron gets my vote, never used anything else for years now.
Thank you all.
Track cutter it is.
The minor issue for me
with the Xuron cutter is that whilst one side of the cut will be (reasonably) flat the other will be pointed and either need to be filed back flat or cut again by reversing the cutter.
My personal preference is to use a saw (razor saw or jewellers piercing saw) for track, especially in situ as it's easier to get the cuts in both rails opposite one another (rather than angled across the track) especially if you use a razor saw in conjunction with one of the hardwood clamping blocks. When it came to cutting rail for hand-built track unless I wanted an accurate cut for making check rails and the like (when I'd use piercing saw) I used some Xuron cutters, just being careful to get the cut square to the rail and remembering to file the rough side of the cut just after cutting.
Ultimately though as GraemeD says it will come down to personal preference in the end.
My problem with saw/disc is that it leaves a bigger gap than the Xuron, and is a lot more fiddly. You don't have to file back the "pointy" rail to a flat edge, it's not visible, just get rid of the burrs, but that applies to disc/saw as well. I always chamfer the tops of the rail very slightly as well just to make the joint smoother. Xuron's are pretty cheap so I'd suggest try both, though the disc is only cheap if you already have a mini drill!
Regarding the depth (width?) of the cut, the normal discs you see for sale are pretty wide, are there really narrow ones (say 0.5mm)?
The best way to cut Peco rail is to do it before it is laid!
I just use good quality wire cutters and then file the ends.
I did have a Xuron cuttter but I broke it trying to cut some steel 0 gauge rail!! I should get another!
If you have to cut after the track is laid a fine cutting disk on a mini dril is the way to go. But you do need a steady hand or the gap will be too big.
Obvioulsy always ware eye protection how ever you cut the rail!
A jewellers/piercing saw can make a very fine and neat cut.
A good few years back I got some second hand Peco points from another member that had been converted cutting the closure rails and wiring them to the frog. I wondered how such a fine cut was made until I noticed the plastic webbing under the rail was also cut. The original owner had presumably fitted the blade to the saw after threading it between a pair of sleepers and cutting the rail from side to side rather than the top. The rail gap was tiny, perhaps under 0.5 mm.
Quote from: GraemeD on January 18, 2021, 13:39
A jewellers/piercing saw can make a very fine and neat cut.
I have an Eclipse jewellers saw. Regrettably, I have just ordered a Xuron cutter!
Ntw, you can't have too many tools.
Quote from: Derek Clark on January 18, 2021, 15:02
Quote from: GraemeD on January 18, 2021, 13:39
A jewellers/piercing saw can make a very fine and neat cut.
I have an Eclipse jewellers saw. Regrettably, I have just ordered a Xuron cutter!
Now, you can't have too many tools.
I use a Xuron to cut the rails prior to laying. If I need to cut a gap after the track is laid then a jewellers saw will work very well. The gap is very fine, and you need to sure that the rails cannot touch, either by moving or by expansion. Or as I discovered once, by the use of either graphite or conductive oil (can't remember which) which filled the gap and caused a hard-to-track-down short circuit.
Yes, I've had track circuit train detection defeated by graphite in such a rail gap. After that I pushed a thin sliver or plasticard in the gaps, held in place with thin superglue. The excess was trimmed back with a scalpel and smoothed off with a Garryflex or track rubber block.
Possibly superglue by itself would do it, or the guitar repair trick of pressing some baking soda into the gap and filling with superglue. It would be fiddly as the slot cut by a jewellers saw is very thin.