07-27-2021, 02:12 AM
Yeah, they're fairly easy to make. I use Tichy's .0125" phosphor-bronze wire, mostly 'cause it stands up well to handling, but brass wire will work, too. You could probably use .015" if you want the stanchions to look a little heavier, but it's a little harder to bend and by the time you solder the handrail into it, it might look overly bulky.
I originally made the little jig, shown below, for making grabirons for the roofwalk laterals....the portion needed for making a handrail stanchion is the piece of wire between the two pieces of .015" piano wire that have been forced into slightly undersize hole in that little block of hard maple. The first step is to fold a piece of fine sandpaper, then drag the wire through it several times to remove any oxidation - this will make soldering the handrail in it easier.
I use a small pair of smooth-jawed pliers to make a 90º bend (more-or-less) near the end of the wire, then slip the phosphor-bronze wire between the two "pegs" of piano wire. You can then use both the pliers and your free hand to manipulate the end of the wire into an "eye" - the .015" peg, around which you're forming into an eye, will then accept a handrail of that diameter....
Your initial effort may end-up with the portion which will be inserted into the boiler shell not at the proper angle, but it can be corrected by grasping the "eye" with the pliers, and using your free hand to manipulate the angle of the mounting portion. The formed eye should look like a lollipop on the end of a stick, and not one which is drooping to one side, like this one...
(The "droop" is useful for the roofwalk grabiron, though, as it can be slipped over the grab itself, then squeezed around the grab so that it can be soldered.)
It's been quite some time since I last made my own handrail stanchions, and I'm unable to come up with a photo. A couple of years ago, I was visiting English's Model Railroad Supply in Pennsylvania, and their selection of brass stanchions was to hard to resist, so I stocked-up on a number of styles and sizes...
While it can be satisfying to make your own, the cost of buying ready-to-use ones isn't all that prohibitive. Both English's (Bowser - formerly Cal-Scale) and Precision Scale carry a good range of styles and sizes.
Wayne
I originally made the little jig, shown below, for making grabirons for the roofwalk laterals....the portion needed for making a handrail stanchion is the piece of wire between the two pieces of .015" piano wire that have been forced into slightly undersize hole in that little block of hard maple. The first step is to fold a piece of fine sandpaper, then drag the wire through it several times to remove any oxidation - this will make soldering the handrail in it easier.
I use a small pair of smooth-jawed pliers to make a 90º bend (more-or-less) near the end of the wire, then slip the phosphor-bronze wire between the two "pegs" of piano wire. You can then use both the pliers and your free hand to manipulate the end of the wire into an "eye" - the .015" peg, around which you're forming into an eye, will then accept a handrail of that diameter....
Your initial effort may end-up with the portion which will be inserted into the boiler shell not at the proper angle, but it can be corrected by grasping the "eye" with the pliers, and using your free hand to manipulate the angle of the mounting portion. The formed eye should look like a lollipop on the end of a stick, and not one which is drooping to one side, like this one...
(The "droop" is useful for the roofwalk grabiron, though, as it can be slipped over the grab itself, then squeezed around the grab so that it can be soldered.)
It's been quite some time since I last made my own handrail stanchions, and I'm unable to come up with a photo. A couple of years ago, I was visiting English's Model Railroad Supply in Pennsylvania, and their selection of brass stanchions was to hard to resist, so I stocked-up on a number of styles and sizes...
While it can be satisfying to make your own, the cost of buying ready-to-use ones isn't all that prohibitive. Both English's (Bowser - formerly Cal-Scale) and Precision Scale carry a good range of styles and sizes.
Wayne