Hey guys,
I was just wondering if anyone has any tips on shaping and curving photo etch rails (for ships).
Thanks in advance!
I use 1/4" drive sockets as mandrels for making bends in a lot of metal and plastic stuff. For tight bends I use 2 nails close together in a piece of wood. Micro-Mark makes a couple different kinds of benders and small brakes.
Drill bit shanks. Go buy a set of drill bits from the local hardware store and use them. Wrap the railing around the shank end and roll on a semi-hard surface such as a section of newspaper. You may want to go one size smaller as the rails have a habit of springing back a bit.
Other alternatives include wooden dowels or brass tubing. While fine substitutes, they don’t have the size range a set of drills have.
Commercial hobby roller sets are also available, with a wider range of diameters than dowels but their price is more than a set of drills.
That sounds good. Im a bit paranoid of ruining the rails! not too confident yet. So do i lay the rail out flat on the news paper or whatever surface, then roll the drill shank from the middle up and down. will the rail start to bend up from that or have i got the technique wrong.
thanks for all your help!
That’s basically it.
Measure & cut your railing run first. Either put on the newspaper or lightly pinch it around the shank before rolling. One note of caution. Make sure the rail is perpendicular to the drill shank. If it is skewed you will roll a spiral as opposed to a cylinder
cool, thanks for all your help!