01-15-2011, 06:36 PM
I had the Miller ballast spreader and it was more of a pain then it was worth. Easier to just pour the ballast out and use a foam paintbrush to shape it and brush off the tops of the ties - you can cut the brush so it fits between the rails nicely for this purpose.
For a soldering tool, consider a soldering station, temperature controlled. Unlike a regular iron it doesn't continually heat while it's on, it goes to the set temperature and that's it. My 45 watt one was inexpensive and has worked well for everything from building electronic circuits and installing decoders to soldering track together. I also have a 100/150 watt gun I use to solder feeders to my #14 bus wires, as 45 watts just isn't enough for the heavy wire.
--Randy
For a soldering tool, consider a soldering station, temperature controlled. Unlike a regular iron it doesn't continually heat while it's on, it goes to the set temperature and that's it. My 45 watt one was inexpensive and has worked well for everything from building electronic circuits and installing decoders to soldering track together. I also have a 100/150 watt gun I use to solder feeders to my #14 bus wires, as 45 watts just isn't enough for the heavy wire.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad of the 1950's in HO
Visit my web site to see layout progress and other information:
http://www.readingeastpenn.com
Visit my web site to see layout progress and other information:
http://www.readingeastpenn.com