Joining White Metal components.

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KB78
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Joining White Metal components.

Post by KB78 »

Hi all,

currently working on a 1/20 project & have found that the White Metal forward wishbones are far! too short. I was wondering how I could increase the length?

I have some material left over from another project & my initial idea is to just butt one piece to another, end to end & Bond them together. Can anyone recommend me a way of doing this? Would I need to Solder the joint? If so, what kind of Solder, low temperature I assume? Any tips, idea's & help is greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

KB.
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dgwoodward2
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Re: Joining White Metal components.

Post by dgwoodward2 »

There are certainly a few different ways to accomplish the end result. I would say by far the "best" method would be to solder the joints since you can do white metal to white metal. The other option would be CA glue but that does not provide nears the same level of stability in my opinion.

If you do want to consider soldering, I highly recommend using a low melt solder of the 70 degree C type with the proper flux and then use a temperature controlled soldering iron set around 180 degree C. Other wise, you risk melting the white metal itself. I know others have shown online using a small torch with low melt solder but I never had the guts to try it at the risk of melting the white metal.

I have begun soldering wings, etc. on my 1/43 scale kits and it completely changed my confidence in the joint. Many times when I used glue (even before painting) I would have issues with it.

Just my 2 cents. Others may have had better luck than me with glue and can give some advice (which I would surely consider as well).
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Paul_OFarrell
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Re: Joining White Metal components.

Post by Paul_OFarrell »

Hi KB,

Purely from the idea that the suspension arm is going to be load bearing, I would approach the idea of repairing the arm differently.

Any lengthening of the required arm could inadvertently create a weak point where the two parts meet. Consider replacing the short arm with the correct length of suitable material - a piece of rectangular styrene rod shaped to the correct profile would work. Alternatively you could consider a piece of aluminium rod, however I would lean towards Evergreen sheet styrene as this material is the easiest to reshape.

A CA glued joint, resulting from two parts which are butt-joined together will be too weak to support any load. It may have a little torsion strength, but any sideways load is likely to result in breakage as CA glue will not tolerate any twisting or force, especially when you are mounting the hub into position or even mounting the wheel during final assembly.

Soldering may work but on an area this small, but getting a consistant distribution of heat on both surfaces will be tricky. I would consider replacing the entire arm instead.

Cheers, Paul
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PeteJ
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Re: Joining White Metal components.

Post by PeteJ »

Since this is going to be a load bearing part, strength of the joint is critical. A butt joint just won't hold up to any stress, even if it is soldered. You need to do a variation of a half lap joint from wood working. It give you much more gripping surface than a butt joint ever would.
Half lap.jpg
This may also be a good excuse to get a good resistance soldering unit. If you are not familiar with them it uses two probes to route high amperage/low voltage current through the piece to heat it and melt the solder. It has a rheostat to control the amount of current. You can take a scrap piece of white metal and find at what point it melts the piece and then dial it back. Any low temp solder would then work. However I prefer a little woods metal that you can get from a scientific supply store. It's melting point is just above boiling water and it is a hard metal when solid. This combined with a half lap joint should be as strong as the original part.

I also support Pauls suggestion of making a replacement arm, especially if you are going to go the plastic!
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KB78
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Re: Joining White Metal components.

Post by KB78 »

Hi all,

Thank you for the replies, this site is absolutely brilliant isn't it!? Always solutions that I hadn't even considered!

Your suggestions have also triggered another couple of idea's too. Brilliant!

I've also realised that the Kit (S27 Williams FW18) comes with both Photo etch & White Metal Barge Boards, I'm was always going with the PH ones, but now I've realised that I have two Barge Boards worth of white metal to experiment with.
I'm also going to give some thought to manufacturing both upper & lower sets out of Aluminium or Brass sheet & try have a play with the Woods metal (never even heard of it until today :-)

Thankyou SO! much for the advice. I'll have a play & post my experiments in my WIP Thread.

Many, many thanks,

KB.
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