Dog Bone Splint Joints For The Field Railway..

Recycled plastic railtrack sleepers / ties seem to work fine for the narrow gauge railway - but how do you join them?
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[@mischef18]

Now that is clever bro. Safe travels. Ken.

[@brendangilmore4297]

Future archaeologists are going to love your property....

[@AtlasReburdened]

They'll say it was a complex spiritual site to worship a sheep god or something. Just like they do with any site they don't understand.

[@nos9784]

I'd say even current ones would, if they have any taste or culture! :D though not for the archeology, I guess.

[@DrCruel]

@@AtlasReburdened It must have been an Armenian community, because of all the garlic.

[@datguymiller]

Or hate it....or both

[@datguymiller]

​@@AtlasReburdenedI know this is a joke but it still pisses me off, for archaeologists to say something was spiritual or religious they have to have a lot of evidence (usually writings about gods or whatever or depictions of already known gods) if they can't find a lot of evidence for it to be anything specific they usually say "...we have no fucking clue what this is" Source: miniminuteman an actual archeologist

[@laserhawk64]

The nice thing about thyme is, if you run out, a quick dash out to the village shops should net you plenty of options for replenishment :) (Sorry, just felt like being a bit smart today. Life's been kind of a bother lately, and I'm probably not the only one like that, so I thought I'd see if I could give us all a good laugh.)

[@mickys8065]

As I'm quite sure I've been here for all your rail videos, seeing you needing to unearth the rail was very strange.

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

It dawned on me in the last video that he hadn't ballasted and therefore this must be happening, so I'm not surprised myself!

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

I have put ballast down in a few places and it hasn't made any difference to the weed growth

[@0ldred]

One of your best vids so far, Love the nerding out.

[@TechGorilla1987]

@4:01 - My father in law has a plastic repair kit that uses squiggly wires and a gun that heats the wire to red hot for embedding in a plastic repair. It's a sound process.

[@jimurrata6785]

Much like the corrugated cleats used in cheap woodwork of days gone by. If Tim could find a stash of these I think they'd work quite well in combination with his forge.

[@Santafefrank]

Thanks Tim 😊

[@kasbakgaming]

Caution may be needed in the warmer months, as many plastics have considerably more thermal expansion than metal, which may throw off the gauge of your track. You might consider putting a coat of white paint on your sleepers to keep them cooler in the sun than this dark black color to try and stem some of that.

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

Thanks - interesting. We usually don't have high temperatures here - but of course everything's changing..

[@XxXaRvoxXx]

I would guess that @kasbakgaming is talking about the radiant heat, not the air temperature. Think of a black sheet of metal laying in the sun, even if the air temperature is cool, the black metal will still get quite hot, a phenomenon often used in solar ovens. :)​

[@Dom-zk1sg]

@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 Could also cover them in soil Or gravel to keep them out of direct sunlight

[@brianknow9142]

Or thatch assuming heat becomes a problem

[@mrMacGoover]

I could see you making this rail system for a small local mining operation.

[@RCAFpolarexpress]

Good Evening Sir, You are Truly An OUTSTANDING Genius Person Cheers 👌👌😇😇👍👍🍻🍻

[@IjonBerlin]

Looks like you need a lawn mower on rails :-D maybe two of those weed eater type things at the front, to just cut around the rails. that would be fun to do i think.

[@EveningStar92220]

Take care when making joists for those sleepers! Melting plastic can let off a lot of toxic fumes!

[@Chlorate299]

Will having a dig at your usage of roofing bolts was fun.

[@wurzlsepp2138]

Next you will see a video „lawnmower-wagon for the field railway“ …

[@stephenshipley1066]

I see the Makita drill lying on the ground. I note that it uses the old style batteries. I had one of these and, after long service, the batteries tend to need charging very often. I bought an adaptor from the internet and now you can use it with the new style batteries. Excellent - a "new" drill for less than £20.

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

Thanks Stephen - I'll look into those too

[@zingxiu6123]

he has done it again!

[@GARDENER42]

Hi Tim Problem with using DPC is it's non porous. What you really need is a weed control fabric such as Terram. 50mx2m is around £30, so cut in half it'll do for 100m of track.

[@ShaneGadsby]

3:47: I've heard it called "heat staking" by some folks.

[@silasdenny3267]

I have worked with fusing HDPE pipes. We heat the joint with an iron at 515F or 263C for 15 seconds, and then we press it together. With in 5 minutes we can pressure the pipe to 150 psi. If the joint catches on fire it gets contained and makes a weak bond.

[@MotoDeSoto]

Good idea.

[@TgWags69]

Melting plastic with a flame burns or oxidizes the plastic so it doesn't want to stick together. An analog you would be familiar with would be like trying to glue charred wood. Heat the plastic in an oven type environment to keep it from being exposed to the less amount of air as possible. If you really want it to fuse solid, a nitrogen shielding gas works well. Im not sure if CO2 would work, but worth a try. You could try feeding the shielding gas through a heat gun type setup for a small scale go at it.

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

Thanks - very interesting

[@DianeD862]

Wonderful best regards and love to you and Sandra.🐝🐝🐝💯💯💯💯💯🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏☮️☮️☮️☮️☮️

[@jameshelton8095]

I could see mounting a couple of propane weed burners to one of the bunks and running it down the track to precent the overgrowth (grin). Just needs to get the weed to wilt, not burn so no issues with the damaging the rails or anything. And it would look cool (grin). Thank you for sharing

[@optroncordian7863]

In my previous job we were using PE pipes for water utility companies. To connect two lengths they were butt-welded together. For the diffusion to work best, they were heated for several minutes and after connecting them, they were clamped together for even more minutes. The resulting weld was as strong as the pipes themselves. Cannot remember the times and the temperatures, but I am sure Google would know them...

[@bendordoy4815]

Cool I hope the weather stays good for you so you can continue to work on your field railway.

[@kameljoe21]

I was thinking that these could be tongue and grooved to join them with a bit of heat and then using clamp to press the dog bones in. One could also add in 2 tabs on the dog bone which could be bent with plyers so that way it presses in to the plastic which will create a lateral bond? Either way super cool!.

[@alanglen5902]

You should mount the Allen Scythe on a train waggon and give all that growth a short back and side

[@mobiousenigma]

romans used to pour lead to secure stone joints... this is the same process...it is called a keyed joint for your reference. im thinking a solvent based glue is what your needing for this material , thanks for the videos

[@dewexdewex]

If the beams he's using for sleepers are either PP or PE, neither of these polymers are affected by solvents or solvent based adhesives, and would have to be heat welded. PVC and ABS can be solvent welded, as you suggest, or heat welded.

[@mobiousenigma]

@@dewexdewex yes the correct adhesive for the material is required for best results. the mechanical bond he has here will not do well with a freeze thaw cycle in my opinion either way its built which is more than most can say.

[@jimurrata6785]

​@@mobiousenigmaPoint being there is no "correct adhesive" for polypropylene and polyethylene plastics. They both have very low surface energy, and are incredibly difficult to bond. That is why Tim is using heat to fuse pieces together.

[@mobiousenigma]

@@jimurrata6785 good to know some work with heat others solvent and some just dont play lol i consult google when i do need to know . thanks for the input

[@stevewilliams2498]

If you are joining anymore offcuts it might be worth trying some end prep. Like making the end pointed so that the middle of the plastic section is melted. Not just around the edges as you were doing. The quality control need to tighten up the parameters with your metal plates. Looking at the video, it was obvious that one end was dramatically and consistently cooler than the other and not sinking into the plastic.

[@odindimartino597]

"Thermo gluing" of plastic may work but the pastic need to be heated less and be flat. A good technic is to make large movement with the blowtorch to see when it start to smoke. When it do, join the two piece together by hand and lay it on a flat surface without removing pressure an another person clamp the piece together. I was doing this with polyurethane foam at my former work.

[@chrissmith7655]

Hi Tim and friends, really enjoy your videos with all your ideas so different from others I see on the Tube, many thanks from Nr Chester UK.

[@tomjohns8498]

Most enjoyable, thank you. The big question is why recycled ♻️ plastic junk is so expensive? I would love to use it! 😊

[@Kineth1]

Well, you see, it's "environmentally friendly" so that comes with a premium. On top of what the manufacturer is already paid to dispose of another company's waste plastic.

[@BuzbyWuzby]

Plastic sleeper joining solutions: 1) Lap-joints (with a bolt or two through the join, or even superglue / epoxy resin) 2) Bolt a third piece under the other two (two bolts each with some superglue / epoxy resin) and dig a deeper hole for the middle bit 3) Drill two holes for some 10mm+ screw-thread in the middle along each axis, screw them in and then screw them together

[@nos9784]

Also possible: "hot staples", i think mostly used for car plastic repair. Basically, you have a corrugated wire, heat it by letting elegtricity flow trough it, and push it in. Available as a product, but maybe not in the needed size. Also, you could forge and join the thermoplastik like you would steel- though colder, of course. Heat it, split one end, thin and stretch the other, tongue and grove, push together hot.

[@jo7hs2]

You may want to make sure the recycled plastic you are using isn’t one that can leach problematic chemicals before putting it in the garlic fields long term. Some plastics do if melted or damaged. If it is one that might, other (unfortunately more expensive) options could be rot resistant wood sleepers like cedar, or using steel or concrete sleepers just for that section. It’s probably fine for now, but just something to consider long term.

[@Alex_M_Creations]

That was my first thought when he said he planned on using plastic ties, cedar would be the ideal wood to use but it can definitely be a lot more expensive.

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

This is made from silage wrap (mostly), so 'non-toxic'. And cedar in this country is almost unobtainable : - (

[@MikClarke]

@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 Silage wrap is made from LLDPE, linear low density poyethylene. The structure of this polymer means it doesn't become easily entangled, so it doesn't stick very well in a melt weld, as you have found. When recycling, they often combine it with HDPE (high density polyethylene) which increases it's strength and decreases it's elasticity. Polyethylene is non-toxic, very stable, non-reactive and contains no leachable BPAs. Burning it, however, can produce some very toxic fumes, so be careful with that. The melting point is quite low (around 100 - 130 deg C), so gentle heat should do it. You could even use a heat gun (air), or stick your splints joints in the oven, to save firing up the forge.

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

@@MikClarke Thanks - interesting!

[@joshuadelisle]

Nice. But what type of plastic is it because you can get solvents pretty cheap that will melt it together better, at saves you on steel. I bet someone's already mentioned how toxic the smoke is lol. Well done though, I love your solutions. Cheers J

[@timspoor]

Lovely to see the progress on the railway!

[@KarlthefirstofAustria]

I came back to this channel after a couple of months because I forgot the name but the progress you made is just stunning. The plastic sleepers are a good idea, they last longer than wood and are easier to make (atleast I think they're easier to make). And a different thing I wanted to say is that you are inspiring me to make my own field railway : ) . I'd like to make a railway in my backyard because it is quite large and I'll probably make an engine like Tornado too. So I'd like to say thank you for the inspiration and keep up the marvelous work. : )

[@vanlampham2557]

I’m exited for the tornado update

[@petermarles7050]

Hi Tim, I too have used recycled plastic. One downside is that the heat created when driving in coach bolts melts the plastic, which of course then sets. The bolts will NOT then unscrew, they are set forever, to the extent that the heads will shear off when a long toggle bar is used.

[@nitroxinfinity]

With that much overgrow, a suspended monorail seems like a better idea.

[@QuadMochaMatti]

Enter Lyle Lanley and his mule with the spinning wheel.

[@MattBrownbill]

Brunel put the sleepers along the rails on the broad gauge GWR, rather than across between then. You almost have a hybrid system going on there.

[@Colin_Pole]

You are making better progress than HS2 with your railway! Always good to see an update with it.

[@nace888]

Hello, Tim! I'd love to see an updated railway map!! I know you asked for contributions to the railway fund too (I can't find the video) but would love to donate at some point if you have more information!! Please let me know! I think I asked in the past if you'd considered a hand crank style cart, but if you cannot afford a locomotive or engine (right now anyways) that might be an option! HOWEVER, if you think you can convert a driving lawnmower motor (or driving lawnmower period) that may be a good option as it only takes gasoline, you can control speeds, and I personally have made them pull a "wagon train" (was 3 wagons, 1 for dirt and 2 for trees) for yard work so they've got some good pulling power. PLUS, they have a seat! An interesting thought! Can't wait to see it all come together, it's really expanding well!

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

Thanks for the offer Brandon. Yes, please, any contributions gratefully received! rustyironpig@g mail.com is our paypal account.. As I understand the gearing in handcranked carts, they are only useful if you want to go faster than walking pace - otherwise you'd be much better off pushing or pulling them from the ground. You're right about the lawnmower though - I keep looking out for an old one.. !

[@clivelee4279]

Excellent solution, most ingenious, well done !

[@tonywatson987]

The joint is called a 'butterfly', Tim - usually they are triangular in shape, looking like butterfly wings,

[@danacampbell-vu2ut]

Love your ingenuity on your railroad. It's simple but it does the job. Keep up the good work!!!! 👍❤️📹😃🚂🚃🚃🚃

[@BuzbyWuzby]

"Once I built a railroad, I made it run Made it race against time Once I built a railroad, now it's done Brother, can you spare a dime?"

[@perrymattes4285]

Ive welded plastic conveyor belting. When you melt the ends it makes a liquid material if you squeze them together you quish out all the liquid. What you should do is melt it then just put them together maybe give it a little side to side to mix the plastic. But dont push it together

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

makes sense!

[@meirionevans5137]

In future years, you will be celebrated as the patron saint of plasma cutters.

[@TheHylianBatman]

Wow! Very impressive work!

[@TheKontrakontrakontr]

can´t wait on next update. trust me I am always happy to see new videos from you. Once I had an Idea coming to help you on farm, just to see everything IRL

[@nikidesignsolutionsandgami1518]

Have you considered Concrete sleepers? Those are becoming the standard and should be easy to make. Just need concrete and a mold.

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

I made a few - but they take a long time to cure and cost a lot

[@mooloolahmark9807]

Hi Tim and friends, great progress with the railway. When you joined the sleepers, then added the dogbones i thought any second now hes going to drill thru the holes for a rivet or bolt. Just to be sure

[@rjung_ch]

Onwards people, progress is happening 🙂 👍💪✌

[@heronimousbrapson863]

The "dog bone" shape is a great idea; if need be, you can always put a bolt through the holes at each end.

[@geoffburrill9850]

You could have drilled the sleepers and bolted the dog bone splints to sleepers for extra strength.

[@TheDeanOfYou]

I might call that joint a stitch

[@crazyfvck]

Excellent job Tim 😊

[@djhscorp]

Always a pleasure to watch you and your adventures.

[@tracybowling1156]

Maybe one day you could work out how to recycle plastic for your own projects. That would be exciting. If anyone could figure it out, it would be you,Tim!

[@Parksforfun]

Hey Tim I’ve been following you for a while now and I don’t think you’ve ever made a video of all your wagons and locomotive all hooked up. Would love to see it

[@pbrodie1065]

Reckon that would have used 3/8 all thread,small hole to locate them ,heat the all thread and the plastic and push the two ends together ,no rust plastic seals the all thread.IB

[@geraldinewillis5926]

Tim, you should have a go at making your own composite boards, it would make interesting viewing, I hope you and Sandra are well.. Gx

[@seabeepirate]

I think a rolling chicken tractor would be neat, or maybe other livestock could be tethered to a carriage.

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

I agree completely - just hope I have the time to make one

[@fivefootthreetothreefoot]

great video as always. cant wait to see update of the locomotive

[@timothymeyer3210]

I'm concerned about breathing in plastic fumes! I'm sure that can't be very good for you

[@k8zhd]

Wonderful progress indeed! And I can hardly wait to see what you have in mind for a loco - there are so many possibilities!

[@Odinnyb13]

he has already built a locomotive. i wounder if he is gonna work on that one, or make a new.

[@k8zhd]

@@Odinnyb13 You mean the air-powered experiment? I don't recall that it was tested hauling any load, a requirement, I'd think, for this railroad. Personally I don't think that air power is very practical. It's fun to fool with for sure.

[@praticle]

​@@k8zhdit was only air powered because he blew up his steam boiler. he mentions in one of the loco vids that by changing a few fittings he can easily go back to steam for more power

[@k8zhd]

@@praticle I seem to remember that the cylinders Tim used in his air engine were repurposed hydraulic cylinders. Probably not really suitable for the temperatures of steam operation. And as appealing as steam power is, the challenges and dangers of homebuilt steam boilers probably makes its use here just a fond dream. But Tim's resourcefulness seems to be unending!

[@praticle]

@@k8zhd yeah, i agree it's not the *best* idea... but safety definitely seems to be a secondary concern here so it doesn't seem entirely off the table 😅

[@drosselvonflugel4886]

Should some sort of dovetail cut help with combining those too short sleepers?

[@eckosters]

learned a few new words which I instantly forgot again. This completely a-technical person (currently spending 3 days to hang two paintings properly aligned) is obsessed with your videos and I wonder what a psychologist would make of that :)). Keep 'em coming!

[@nameless5413]

would some sort of dowel be helpfull in joining the two half sized plastic pieces or would that not hold the halves together well enough? perhaps in combination with a glue or liquid nails or whatever can weld plastics together (i've no clue i dont do handywork - both my hands are as dexterious as any right dominant person's left hand)

[@RCassinello]

Great video! Am I being thick, though - wouldn't using dovetail joints be a quicker and cheaper way of achieving these results? Particularly with the simple end-on join?

[@Chlorate299]

Probably not, that material is rather a lot tougher than wood and in order to achieve the sort of accuracy for a rigid joint you'd need a milling machine to cut the joints with.

[@timeflysintheshop]

You seem to have endless energy. Can you spare some??? 😁👍😉

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

I wish!

[@simong9067]

Can you not pen the sheep over the track a couple of times a season to keep the grass down? Or maybe you need a sheep wagon that can be moved slowly along while the sheep clear the track

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

The sheep just can't keep up with the growth in the summer

[@jimurrata6785]

Maybe you need to periodically pasture the sheep on the rail line to keep the growth down?

[@schwuzi]

cool

[@britishtechguru]

Plastic is OK but the steel and plastic will heat at different rates which could lead to loosening of the bonds. I would suggest that welding steel strips and brackets together that the rails can be bolted to would work best. If they were joined by the right length of steel strip, that could be screwed down to the plastic sleepers without having to mess about with trying to stick bits of sleeper together. Gluing random plastics is never successful.

[@craigpalmer9196]

bolts nuts and bolts

[@sjaakvaag]

Good bissy.

[@nicolaiitchenko7610]

Somewhere in South America, I think, maybe in old Persia, there is evidence of things like this holding stones together for ancient temple(?) constructions. As a fan of oddball history, I find your current experiment VERY fascinating. Looking forward to follow ups on this,

[@jimurrata6785]

Romans definitely used metal dogs to tie lintels together atop columns.

[@ralpha679]

Would a butterfly have the same strength?

[@RCassinello]

I don't think so - I think the genius here is that the holes in the dog bones give extra oozing space to lock them in place.

[@tropifiori]

How cool! Can any of the technology you are designing with the pedal electric car be applied to your locomotive considerations?

[@nickhbt]

Don't worry about running out of time. Time is an illusion. All be it a very persistent one.

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

ok, good!

[@havenview]

Steam powered grass overgrowth strimmer cutter machine truck required 👍

[@buildingbuddy1]

Brilliant fun :)

[@Chr.U.Cas1622]

Dear Inventor Tim. 👍👌👏 Well done again (video and work). Yeah, this is exactly how plastic welding in a smaller scale is often done = a metal bridge is put in to give it strength (sometimes even a paper clip is used). 2) Please kindly allow me to suggest something: Next time you try to melt respectively actually weld together plastic, simply use a heat gun instead of an open flame. The burning plastic creates a layer of soot and this hinders the plastic from melting together properly (molecules cannot combine with each other). You can also use a "Schweißspiegel" (welding mirror?). This is at least how black PE pipe is welded together properly. But I guess, a common electrical heat gun is just fine. 3) I'm very astounded by the mass of roots and grass that grew over the rails in just one year. I guess this is exactly why Ireland is called the green island!? I'm eagerly looking forward to watch the next video about the progress of the big garden railway project. Thanks a lot for making teaching explaining recording editing uploading and sharing. Best regards, luck and especially health to all involved people.

[@zanderkmd2020]

Wear masks when melting plastics if you're not already. Please be safe :D!

[@Everydayytber]

Yes your very correct

[@andrewlocke4609]

pity you dont prefab track sections roll out on the trucks then lift into place

[@bayernbahn1549]

Definitely a great progress again. Amazing how the stuff keeps! However, as a base for the rails, I would not take a foil but rather gravel or sand, because the water can then run and seep away better. The large railway does not use that for nothing. All the best for the future!

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

thanks, but the weeds would grow straight up through ballast - large railways use poison sprays

[@samleigh7817]

Could you not reinforce the joints further by putting bolts through the holes?

[@braxtonmathews6434]

Loving the progress Tim, I'd personally would prefer a petrol loco but as you mentioned sometime ago you dont want one, hence why you built a compressed air engine, keep up the great work!

[@everestyeti]

Something else you need to patent, those joiners are a great idea. Nice to see the railway coming along, looking forward to seeing you working on the engine. 👍

[@benholroyd5221]

Couldn't you cut some kind of wedged joint to hold them together?

[@alexkerpe930]

you should try design a wagon that you can switch between monorail and this one using both advantages of easy setup and disassembly in combination with the normal rail track. will save up a lot of time and material. why put a rail in a place that you not use daily its just a quirk and waste of time.

[@praticle]

monorail adds a whole host of other issues, especially with the loads he'll be moving

[@alexkerpe930]

@@praticle you read what i write? nevermind

[@ptonpc]

Ingenious. Are you going to protect the dog bones from rust or do you not see that as a major problem?

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

I probably should treat them - but I'll see how they last first

[@Patrick_RBX]

i have a feeling you may need to careful when melting plastic as it will release a ton of toxic chemicals. That is why it is probably not the best idea to place those in the field. So make sure to check if it has any dangerous chemicals.

[@martinworrall5888]

Did you try to break a unwelded piece to see if that snapped?

[@gestaltlabart]

what about drilling two holes and connecting the two parts with an "U" shaped piece of rebar, that you than even can hammer to an "O" and if that is not enough - weld it shut.

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

weld the rebar? that would melt a lot of the plastic, I think!

[@gestaltlabart]

@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 yes, but melting the plastic is what you are doing now too - but would be much quicker than heating in a forge 🙂

[@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299]

Weld temperatures are far higher than anything you see here - and the forge is very quick anyway..@@gestaltlabart

[@gestaltlabart]

@@wayoutwest-workshopstuff6299 I do weld myself ... a short tack-weld to close the Loop, would bring the right amout of heat to melt the plastic a little bit - but that depends on the weldingmachine if you hold a stickwelder on it for minutes you would incinerate the Plastic 🙂

[@Odinnyb13]

Lovely video, as always! I'm glad to see more of your work on the field railway. i hope you were wearing some protection from the toxic fumes off the melting/burning plastic. anyways. great work! cant wait to see what you come up with next!

[@yt650]

Isn’t there some kind of cutter that you had with an engine that could take care of that it was on a few wheels that fit the railroad?

[@tomtruesdale6901]

Great use of the off cuts for the sleepers. Railroad is looking very good.