Utility poles

[cnw1961]

Bored? Looking for new challenges? Make your own utility poles!

On my last lyout I used plastic poles made by Rix. They looked quite nice, but somehow the plastic poles did not look right. So I decided to do my own wooden poles. First I thought of using the Rix crossarms, but plastic crossarms on a wooden pole? Naw...

I started by cutting this 1/8" skewer down to a length of 5".



Next I sanded the upper half to make it a bit thinner than the bottom.



To make it easier to glue the croosarm to the pole, I cut a little groove close to the top of the pole.



The crossarm is a little piece of .040" stripwood. I cut it to approx. 1 1/4" x 1/16".



Then I glued the crossarm to the pole and stained the utility pole with thinned india ink. The next pic shows the pole with the first insulator already attached. That’s where the fun begins.



To make the insulators, I used a round .040" styrene rod and cut off little pieces of about .080".



Then, holding a insulator with a pair of tweezers, I dipped one end in super glue and placed the insulator on the crossarm. I tell you, after placing the third insualtor on the crossarm, you’ll start to squint .

For the supports of the crossarm I cut a .030" strip of .013 styrene. I used plastic cement to glue the supports to the pole.



Well, here it is.



Having seen this, I’ll bet you can think of better ways to waste your time .

[thumsup]

Kurt,

Very nice job on the power pole. I like the coloring, looks real. Can you "put a kink" in it, older poles aren’t always straight. Offered only as a suggestion because you maybe bored,

Joe

[Trucklover]

Well i read text on how to make them but the pictures just wont show up for me in this thread

I even let it try to load for 5 mins, but the pictures wont load Anyone else see the pics?

[LynnB]

Way to go Kurt the pole looks fantastic , you'll be well qualified after another 10 or so.

[Trucklover]

Ahhhh i see them now

VERY Nice work on the poles Kurt, those are WAY BETTER then any old plastic poles!!

BTW, i like how you added the yellow metal around the bottom of the pole, thats a neat idea

[cnw1961]

Joe, to "put a kink" in a pole is quite easy, I just have to take a bent skewer

Way to go Kurt the pole looks fantastic , you'll be well qualified after another 10 or so.

Lynn, that’s too bad, I’ll only need four or five more....

Josh, the "yellow metal" is simply paint. It does not show in the pics. I found this little detail in the pics from the Miami east rail district.

[e-paw]

I climbed a lot of poles when I worked for bell telephone and I say they look pretty convincing.

[Jesso]

Those look great! And thanks for the tutorial. Do you think they make skewers that would look right in N Scale? :-)

[Trucklover]

Josh, the "yellow metal" is simply paint. It does not show in the pics. I found this little detail in the pics from the Miami east rail district.

Thats a neat detail and i really like it

[cnw1961]

I climbed a lot of poles when I worked for bell telephone and I say they look pretty convincing.

I did not dare to hope that my poles would stand a professional inspection .

Scott, maybe toothpics?????

[dave_long]

Hi Kurt
I wonder if you could let me know what ratio your diluted india ink mix was for these. I've built a 5 or 6 now and I'm practising on spares ( I did get a pack of 100 ) but the mix (with IPA) I'm trying isn't quite right I'm either getting it too dark/black or too transparent, you've managed to get that dark brown aged wood look I'm also after.

Thanks
Dave