There's an odd pair of half-etched lines on the inside of the splashers. They confused me, and the instructions didn't really help much. Eventually, I worked out that the brass in the middle is at 45 degrees to the flat top, with the rest poking downward. Not seen this before, but as I've said before, this is an unusual design.
Forming these also foxed me for a while. It looks a bit like a job for some thin pliers, until I realised that my Hold'n'Fold was within reach. It has a tongue that is ideal to hold them while bending.
This is a useful tool, when it's useful. Most of the time I'm fine with some flat bladed, square ended pliers. They are less of a faff to use than the H&F where you have to position the part, screw the tongues down, and then do the bending. I mean, I've seen people using these things when demonstrating at shows, and think they use them all the time because they have spent the not incosiderable sum to buy the thing in the first place.
But, it IS a useful too. Perhaps the other benefit is that it slows you down and allows thinking time, which will lead to better modelling. Apparenlty. Or maybe it's just a badge that says, "I am a SERIOUS modeller"...
Small parts - pliers. Large folds - H&F.
ReplyDeleteI have two (does that make me a very serious modeller?), on 2" and one 5". Of the two the smaller has had the most use, although neither have seen the light of day for a year or two. Must bend more brass...
The thing I find most tricky when using the hold and fold, is checking that I've figured out the order for each bend on a part, as sometimes if you do them in the wrong order there is then no way of getting the half bent piece of brass clamped into the tool.
ReplyDeleteAs you say, if nothing else it makes you slow down and think through the build just a fraction more which often isn't a bad thing.
As Mark says, getting the order right is the tricky bit, but I really think the strength of the H&F and similar tools s when making box type structures, rather than single folds.
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