You could have just

driven down to the store and bought the proper blade.

In Canada....

...for some of us that store is 30 to 130 miles away. The phone call saves a lot of GAS and TIME. and occasionally the phone call saves frustration, but apparently not today!

...

Or worse, even if it's just a couple miles away, you get there and they don't sell them, they've been discontinued, or they're all sold out and there's an empty hook on the rack.

Driving to the store for something that may or may not be there is a complete waste of time...

Lots of things waste time,

Lots of things waste time, talking on the phone to an employee that spends most of the time texting or face booking or whatever else the fools that are always on the phone do any more is a waste of time. Most of the time they can not find the bathroom let alone what you are asking for. Same thing with internet searches sometimes gems are found other times it's like looking through a waste basket that has not been emptied in decades.

Instances just like this are the reason folks like myself maintain a stock of supplies that regularly get used up. Wheels, Couplers, Trucks, Blades, Glue, Paint, there are lots of other items that I maintain a stock of just so I have when I want it. Now if you live a short distance from a hobby shop that is well stocked with the items that you normally need you need not do this. My favorite hobby shop is about 120 miles away. The closest one that needs to order anything you want and needs to wait 6 months to amass enough for an order that needs cash up front is 45 miles away. I know I have a lot of money in supplies but when I need a screw or a coupler or grab irons or what ever there is a good chance it is in my tool box in a fairly easy to find spot. That lets me save the one thing that is the most important, my time.

I sympathize with anyone that is forced to deal with idiots, sad thing is there are so many of them and a lot of them become politicians.

Rob in Texas

Stockpiling

I stockpile supplies also.  Partly it's being in S scale, but even non scale stuff like RR paint is not stocked by hobby shops around me.  They are mostly into Lionel with a smattering of HO/N RTR on the side.

I know I have overbought on parts as well as kits, but I can enjoy this hobby for years even if all the hobby shops go away.  I have enough  S scale stuff that even if S scale dies, I won't need to change scales.

Enjoy

Paul

...

I stockpile too, it's the only way to have things when you need them.  The stores are almost guaranteed to never have anything when you need it, especially if it's anything with special uses like hobby blades.

I can find everything online and at great prices too!  I can get my online orders put together faster than what it would take me to walk around the store, and yes, it takes a couple days for the box to come in the mail, but I assure you I'm not sitting around waiting for the box, I'm working on other stuff!

I do have a stock pile of...

...a great number of things.  And, I do have the tools to make most required items needed.  However, the one thing you will need is always the thing you cannot find, when you need it.

We do have a hobby shop within driving distance (about  6 miles) of Fredericton, NB. (Canada)  Unfortunately, his prices are about 25% to 35% higher than a much better a model RR hobby shop 120 miles away in Moncton, NB.

The service from "Don's HO Service", in Moncton, is great.  Ian knows what he is talking about, is quick to reply to e-mail and can get (or has in stock) pretty well anything you ask for at much better prices, including shipping.

At least yesterday gave me the opportunity to come up with a useful idea that will not see me stuck the next time I need it.

Small blessings come when you least expect them.

G. T.

Stockpiling VS J-i-T

Dear MRHers,

Sounds remarkably like  https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/purchasing-strategy-stockpiling-vs-jit-12194848

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Nice Idea Ghost train

Very clever, And I'll bet that the Bosch blade is of much higher quality that the X-acto saws.

I'll have to steal this idea.   : )

Stockpiling VS J-i-T Tue,

I was thinking the same thing Professor as I remember a long and very strong discussion. Both schools of thought were very well covered, there might have been more than two schools of thought in that one.

Rob in Texas

On30guy.

Feel free to copy the idea.  After all, we're all members of this site to exchange ideas and support the MRR hobby.

The blade in the photos is 20 T.P.I. (teeth per inch)  which is too coarse for cutting 1/8 inch styrene.  Try a higher number if you want smooth cuts.

G.T.

Stockpiling vs J-I-P

Excellent idea in a pinch, like some of the others I think I'll steal this as well.

BTW, J-I-P is for some companies the only way to do things.  It stand for Just in Panic.

Thanks

Andy Hauser

Minooka, IL

While out railfaning, I

While out railfaning, I stopped in at a hobby shop that I has used to frequent previously when I lived about 30 miles away.  The owner had  died and his children had sold the business. The children had not kept the stock uo before selling and I knew from a previous visit that that the new owner had put in a small video game arcade, which I considered a sign that the store would not be around much longer, and also that the new owner did not have good "people skills".

I was looking for a particular MicroTrains product and had already been to two other shops that week (neither had it)  I asked the owner if he had the product.  His answer " Nobody makes those".  Just after he answered I spotted the item on a peg board behind him.  .I didn't tell him and left the store shortly after word.  Found and purchased it latter that day at another store. 

Less than 6 months latter the store was gone.

Remember, necessity is the

Remember, necessity is the Mother of invention, but, desperation is its' Father...

S

There is another that goes

There is another that goes ignorance is bliss, but I prefer ignorance is common. It is still amazing to me how people will not say they do not know when they clearly don't and offer to find out. It is sad that the folks that get involved in something do not try to better understand its operation.

Rob in Texas

What about modifying a collet?

Okay, it's not exactly a collet (or is it?), but whatever you call the piece which holds the blade, what about widening the slot to accept an unmodified saw blade?  That might make things simpler in the future, and if you only widen one of the two slots, perhaps you could use the same holder for either style?

Ken, great minds think alike.

Thanks for your input.

I had already tried what you suggested before grinding the tail end of the blade.  I thought, as well, it would work.

I opened the gap on the collet and pushed the end of the blade in as far as it would go and screwed the assembly together. The blade would not stay inline with the handle and moved out of alignment by about 10 - 12 degrees.

The tail end of the blade was held tight enough in the collet, no problem.  However, the collet, itself, could not be screwed in far enough to close it's full length.

Once I ground the tail end of the blade down the collet screwed in it's full length, nice and tight. Problem solved.

All I need to do now is modify a blade with finer teeth and it should work well on the 1/8" styrene. (and most other materials as well)

G. T.

My best time with a hobby shop

was when I owned one. I ran out of paint one Xmas Day so a quick drive down and I persuaded the owner to let me in! (Don't ask why I needed paint on that day or my wife might hear I am now retired but the joy of just being able to open my own shop when I wanted some knife blades, glue etc. is something I will treasure.

David

Stockpiling vs internet

Purchasing on line is a great thing that sometimes results in savings, but if you are only purchasing to replenish your stash,  then consider this.

Every time you make an Internet purchase you are putting another nail in the coffin of your LHS (local hobby shop). You're LHS relies on your business to stay in business, so if you don't need it right away, then order it from your LHS and help him/her to stay in business. Most brick & mortar shop keepers, 99%, will go out of their way to help you find what you're looking for,  even if it means sending you to some other store. 

The more we shop online, the sooner you're LHS will disappear and become a memory. This will also effect the manufacturing of hobby products as we know them today. 

Ralph (CN6401) 

...

Why use a middle man when I can get it myself from the same outlet he gets it from?

The LHS has to stay in business by offering what I can't get anywhere else.  The one item they can sell that the rest of the world has is great deals, so if they offer great stuff at great prices that I can't necessarily get online, I'll go to the LHS.

In other words, if they want to stay in business, they have to stay vigilant when it comes to buying estate lots and large collections.  This stuff is precisely what I can't buy from an online vendor.  The depreciation is by and large gone, so they can further price it at just about any price they want and make money.  The selection is unknown, so the thrill of the search is on.  And when something does come up, it's that rare or unusual item nobody has seen in a couple eons - something like an original American Scout cargo ship, the likes of which may cost $10 at an estate sale and pass for $250 on ebay.

Use the tool to compete better...

saw blades

Rule of thumb

However you need to keep your thumbs out of the way,  Is to have 3 teeth on the thickness of the material being cut. So ideally you should have at least a 24 tpi blade for 1/8 material  Bill in Idaho

To Ironrooster:

Hey now; don't go throwing Lionel's name around like a piece of trash!

Lionel makes S-Scale now you know.

In fact; American Flyer, (You know; the company that A.C. Gilbert founded? The one that BROUGHT S-SCALE TO AMERICA IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?!), is now OWNED entirely by Lionel!

Yep; A.C. Gilbert's American Flyer was bought out; and is now completely owned, lock; stock and barrel, by good ol' Lionel, LLC.

You want S-Scale items? Lionel is THE company for the job. Because now; and forevermore...

Lionel IS American Flyer.

So don't go bashing Lionel for being "the only thing your local hobby shop carries."

Because you never know... One day; Lionel might be the last place to get S-Scale trains and parts on the planet; and if that happens...

You're completely S.O.L..