The Budget Builder, part III - floral wire beads snaps and craft stuff

[Mik]

These ideas are so simple and inexpensive, yet elegant, that I really wish I could claim credit for them.

Floral wire comes in several gauges and materials and can be bare or plastic coated. It usually comes in rolls for a few dollars. Jewelry wire is usually made of soft brass and thinner yet.... between them there are a lot of good choices for inexpensive pipes, grabirons, handrails, stanchions, wires and supports.

Plastic beads come in lots of sizes shapes and colors. round ones can be made into valve bodies, clear ones can be lantern globes, tubes can become pipe fittings.

Buttons make pretty good cylinder heads.

Sew on snaps make dandy handwheels. They come in lots of sizes. #4 and #6 work well for most loco piping

Craft store wood turnings can become vents, chimney caps, lantern tanks, even crank discs.

Below are a few examples:

http://www.the-ashpit.com/P3170004....lbums/j371/AlleghenyValley/P3260001.jpg[/IMG]

 

[Madman]

Looks great MIK. I was itching to do some train stuff this past winter. Since I hate the cold weather with a passion, I decided that my village needed some flower pots, with flowers in them, imagine that. I went to the local craft store and low and behold found miniature, real clay, flower pots. I bought all they had on display. Then I went to the glass bead section and bought different colored beads of varying sizes. Also some green florist's wire. I sat at my kitchen table threading four or five beads on short pieces of the wire, night after night, until I couldn't see the holes in the beads. I know you don't have to see the hole to find it, but thats another subject we shouldn't go into here. If I remember, I'll post a photo of my Flower Transport Car.

 

[trammayo]

and welding rods - the long wire type for gas welding make super hand rails and the larger , thicker sticks make pipes (steam or rainwater). I also save the plastic tubes from trigger spray bottles and the springs from the triggers.