Greenwich Couplings - Cutting the pin argghh!!

[Stephen Rainsbury]

Any suggestions how I can bend the pin on a Greenwich coupling a bit shorter please? Even with my snipe nosed pliers I end up with a couple of mm before the bend and it looks nasty

[Retiarius]

Is there any reason why you could not put the pin in from the other side and solder it in place? If you put a tiny blob of grease and piece of cigarette paper between the loop and the body fitting it should not stick when soldered. You can then cut the pin almost flush and file it to shape.


It would be similar to the method I used when fastening the conrods onto my Liliput 2095 when Tranfabriek sold me some etched counterweights and conrods.


https://narrowgauge.retiarius.com/new-counterweights-and-connecting-rods-for-liliput-2095-h0e-diesels/

[Stephen Rainsbury]

Is there any reason why you could not put the pin in from the other side and solder it in place?

I can't think of any reason, I will try that tomorrow. It would probably be worth scraping back just enough of the black and tinning it before fitting so I only need the soldering iron in place for a second or two :)
Thnaks!
Stephen

[Graeme Dunbar]

A touch of glue? If the hole is a tight fit superglue might not run or wick through and gum up the works otherwise a spot of epoxy?

Unfortunately pins are hard so crimping/squashing the metal is probably not an option, but soft brass wire might work. It depends on how snug the fit is. If the clearance is small then should be possible to squeeze it to an interference fit. Given that the forces are so small and it will probably take an eternity to wear through even copper wire might do.

[Alec Hudson]

I just run a small amount of superglue around the head with a pin. When dry snip the other end off.

[Graeme Dunbar]

That's lateral thinking! 8) Of course there is no need to glue the loose end! The pinhead end gives more surface area and the other end can be cut truly flush.

[Simon Hargraves]

I have seen some photos of Greenwich Couplings which had been assembled using copper wire for the pivot rather than a track pin; instead of bending the end over, the person who'd done it used pliers to squeeze both ends of the wire, effectively forming a kind of rivet...while I haven't tried this myself, it may be a better solution than using a track pin. Alternatively, Greenwich couplers used to be supplied with lengths of thin (about 0.45mm dia) brass wire, I still prefer to use this as I find it easier to form a neat right-angled bend...the only disadvantage being the need to bend both ends of the pivot pin.
Simon.

[Julian Evison]

I just run a small amount of superglue around the head with a pin. When dry snip the other end off.

That is so much better than what I have been doing. Thank you

Julian

[cp.409067]

I just run a small amount of superglue around the head with a pin. When dry snip the other end off.

That is so much better than what I have been doing. Thank you

Julian

Agreed. That is one of those so simple but excellent alternative ideas. Thank you.

CP

[Stephen Rainsbury]

I just run a small amount of superglue around the head with a pin. When dry snip the other end off.

That is genius, I take my hat off to you sir :-)
Stephen

[rander]

A couple of years ago I bought some packs of Greenwich couplings from a trader at an exhibition. They were obviously not his usual stock as he specialized in 00 coach kits, but they were obviously very old stock from somewhere. The packs contained brass wire rather than Peco track pins. I could be jumping to conclusions, but this gave me the impression that originally brass wire was supplied as the pivot. Perhaps they later changed to track pins because they were ready blackened?

[Stephen Rainsbury]

Perhaps they later changed to track pins because they were ready blackened?

I am not sure i only bought my first ones last month, but that makes sense they might also be cheaper.
Stephen

[Stephen Rainsbury]

I thought I read somewhere that some people put a dot of superglue inside the fold for the buffer beam and another in the folds of the NEM pocket version, or did I imagine that?
Stephen

[Hugh Norwood]

Some time ago, I went over to using that good standby- brass handrail wire as I found the pins very hard to cut, too. It doesn't notice that the wire is black.

[Nigel Matthews]

 I assembled some the other evening, not my favourite activity. It must have been and old pack as it did have the brass wire as described above. Opening out the holes helped a bit in getting the wire through. Bending the wire neatly with a small pair of long nosed pliers was easy enough.

Construction did speed up a bit after a while, i supose after I got "my eye in". It was important to bend the "ears" of the coupling loop and body of the coupling so there was good alignment and with a bit of play.

Great idea above with the superglue on a track pin.