Best screws for mounting Kadee

Hi What are the Best screws for mounting kadee couplers to freight cars etc size and length Any help would be appreciated

Anthony

Reply to
Aceantman-Anthony
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Anthony Trying to find "instrument" screws readily is difficult without going direct to the manufacturer of the accessory involved. Here is a source I came up with that most everyone already has.

Find one of your old cassettes, the ones you buy blank for recording, and look in the corners. They hold the cartridge together. Also save the head spring pad, remove the felt and you have a nice wheel contact. There's a use for the little wheels and pins in the corners (tape guides) also.

-- David J

Reply to
L.Hamilton Silkitis

Ham: Try going to a screw-and-bolt dealer, if your town has one. We actually have an old-school hardware store (Ferrier's True Value) that carries tiny screws. You may not be so lucky where you are, though.

I believe Bowser has some screw assortments available. Go to

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and download some parts catalogs.

Cordially yours: Gerard P.

Reply to
pawlowsk002

0-80 or 2-56 screws are most likely what's needed.

RTL Fasteners offers efficiently priced small (or large) quantities of these modeling sized fasteners and associated tools.

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Reply to
News

2-56 x 1/2" machine screws work in most situations (and are the screws Kadee used to include with some style couplers). An easy source is Radio Shack who sell a small package of these in a variety of lengths for electronic chassis projects. For a lot of screws, you can save quite a bit by going to a fastener supply house. Geezer
Reply to
Geezer

As mentioned in other posts, 2-56 screws are commonly used. Length to suit.

Since you're in AU you're more likely to get BA screws. A #2 screw is .086" dia. 8 BA is .087". If you can get them, go for 8 BA.

Reply to
<wkaiser

A single 2-56 is the specified screw for the center hole (round head) or

0-80 for the side ears (flat if desired but you can't tighten them down very hard or the plastic deforms or round headed ones). Don't forget that you can't just crank down on the screws but rather you should use them to hold the pocket in place while some adjesive makes sure that they don't rotate or otherwise move. If you put the screw into metal, use some locktite. For going into wood, either the metal screw or the equivalant wood screw can be used - #2 for the center hole and #0 for the side holes.

-- Why do penguins walk so far to get to their nesting grounds?

Reply to
Bob May

On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 16:05:03 -0700, I said, "Pick a card, any card" and "Bob May" instead replied:

Wouldn't you?

-- Ray

Reply to
Ray Haddad

2-56 1/4" or 5/16" pan head or round head.

HTH

Reply to
Wolf Kirchmeir

Thanks guys for your help, It still confusing to me but found Athearns screws in packs of 24, 1/4" 3/16 length seam good, I'mi going to talk to some hardware chains, Checked with tandy also, Dick Smith Electronics didn't have any when i visited them today, May be tandy but they are both owned by Woolworths in Australia I Will ring first, Found athearn screws on this site.

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at less than $1.80 a packet and Discountrainsonline for $1.95 pac of 24 cheaper than the kadee screws so i will see if they will sell to me down under.

Thanks Guys for your help, Now to find the model Railroader Articles, but they may be still at my parents on converting tyco/lifelike cars to kadee couplers , upgraded some to metal wheels a big improvement and worked well, If any one can send me scans it would be apreaciated My Email is theantman1@aa(Removeme)pt.net.au Thanks heaps The search continues

Anthony

Reply to
Aceantman-Anthony

Anthony, The best are the insulated screws that Kadee sells themselves! Paul

Reply to
PJCS

Don't forget that these are hardware so the hardware store may have ones that small. Also don't forget the hobby shop as Morris Screw Co. packages the little screws for the hobby trade. For larger quantities, online places like McMaster-Carr will have them.

-- Why do penguins walk so far to get to their nesting grounds?

Reply to
Bob May

Aceantman-Anthony wrote:

Kadee conversion is pretty straight forward. 99% of all the freight cars in the world take a #5 kadee. Locomotives are more varied, and it is worth checking the Kadee conversion coupler list in either the big Walther's book or on line at the Kadee website. Most freight cars don't conduct electricity so you don't need to worry about electrical insulation on the couplers. Locomotives are a different story and hot chassis models do want electrically insulated couplers, if you want to double head them. For cars with body mounted coupler boxes, you merely pop off the top of the coupler box, remove the existing coupler (horn-hook usually). Insert the Kadee bronze centering spring and then the Kadee coupler. Put the top back on the coupler box and you are done. For cars with truck mounted couplers (talgo style couplers) there are two ways to go. Kadee makes a drop in coupler to fit darn near anything ever made over the last 50 years. This works, but many think it better to convert to body mount couplers. Body mount looks better and backs up better. When backing truck mounted couplers, the thrust tends to c*ck the trucks and then a flange climbs over the railhead and you are on the ground. To convert. Remove trucks. Remove or cut off the truck mounted coupler. Glue a Kadee coupler box (the flat part) to the bottom of the car. With a pin vise, drill a hole in the bottom of the car to take the coupler screw. Assemble the centering spring and the coupler into the lid and fasten the lid with a screw. Replace trucks. After installation, check coupler height. You can buy a Kadee gage, or make your own. I mounted a block of wood of the proper height at the end of my test track and screwed a coupler to it. If you find the Kadee gladhand hitting turnouts, it's a good bet the coupler is too low. For dependable operation, eyeball the couplers as a train goes past. High or low ones are easy to see, and they will uncouple when you don't want them to. Low couplers can be shimmed up with #6 flat washers under the trucks. For those with the necessary eyesight and small motor skills, a tiny (VERY tiny) drop of cellulose cement on the ends of the knuckle coil spring helps keep the spring from popping off.

David Starr

Reply to
David Starr

Don't bother with the local hardware store, they don't stock anything that small.

Don't even bother with the major industrial supplies either, they stock, but are expensive.

Some of the hobby shops (HobbyCo) or the radio control shops might have the size you need, but will overcharge for a packet of 4 or 6 screws.

Go to

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and they have everything you need.

Excellent prices, and they ship USPS to Oz.

Get yourself a pack of each size you need.

Reply to
Robert Small

Maybe your local stores don't stock such things but mine do. It never hurts to at least ask and see what is really available. Being negative and pessimistic is not a good sign for enjoying the hobby!

-- Why do penguins walk so far to get to their nesting grounds?

Reply to
Bob May

Bob, you got it!

Being optimistic leads to creativity and that's the fun part of the hobby. Nice to know "the Gray matter still works. Want a small machine screw, look to an old "hard drive" from the computer, us older folks look to a "floppy" one.

There is still a few good screws left in your old drive.

As for the Penguins, "it was fluid when they left and frozen when they returned."

There, got that out of my system.

Always nice to see your contributions !!!

Thanks David J

Reply to
L.Hamilton Silkitis

I purchased a bunch from a place called Fastenall. I bought both phillips and slotted, in several sizes, 1/4, 3/8, and 3/16's (if I remember correctly). They were really cheap, compared to buying them a dozen at a time from Walthers. I think it was only a couple bucks for $100. Having the different sizes helps for different car mounting situations, and I hate mixing phillips and slotted on a single car. Oh yea, 2-56 was the size I bought. Kadee makes a

2-56 drill and tap kit (as well as a few other sizes).
Reply to
me

Don't know about the US of A, but here in OZ (where the OP and I are both located) the local hardware stores generally don't stock anything below 1/4".

The "proper fastener suppliers" do stock these sort of sizes, but want excessive prices. For example, Macphersons quoted me AU$0.50 each for #4-40x1/2" button head cap screw. And they only had 27 in Australia! I got a pack of 100 from the USA (via USPS) for under AU$10 in 10 days.

The local hobby shops sometimes have what you need, but often at AU$5 for a packet of 4 or 6 screws.

And yes, I have looked though all the local suppliers, and that's why I don't waste my time any more.

Reply to
Robert Small

I'd not worry about finding inch sized stuff in Oz or any other metric place. There are metric sizes that are rather close to what the inch sizes are and they will work just as well. Then, for the English, there are also the Witworth sizes with their much coarser threads which do well in plastics and wood. What is available in your area is often a lot cheaper than going with strictly inch measurement stuff. I'll also note that with small items like screws, most of the cost in small quantity purchasing price is in the packing and handling of the many packages. For something like a screw which we have been discussing, I'd not consider any package with less than 100 parts in it unless I KNOW tha I'm not going to be needing any more. It may take 10 years to use up that hundred but you will have had many years of not having to go out to the store to buy more (what with the cost of gas, that $0.50 pack of screws suddenly really become a $4 pack of screws.

-- Why do penguins walk so far to get to their nesting grounds?

Reply to
Bob May

Mr. May, since there are so many Bobs,

That was exactly the point I was trying to make, resourcefulness, where to find them in a pinch and as you mentioned earlier, creativity, that's what this hobby is all about.

I still have some good use left in my old floppy !!!

Even though I'm in the US, I have grown to appreciate Metric hardware having worked in the industry. Finer threads and generally better quality finish, not to mention greater range of available materials. Trying to find a 2-56 Phillips SST would be a problem, not to mention costly.

And since most of this stuff is manufactured overseas, guess what, METRIC !!! Why fight it, jump in and use it. There is plenty around, most often free.

-- David J

Reply to
L.Hamilton Silkitis

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