# Padded Repair Cradle Project



## Nuttin But Flyer

Well let's see if I have any clue how to design and create a padded repair cradle to hold my engines while doing repairs. I'm starting with 3 pcs. of simple yellow pine boards all 22" long. The bottom board is 7-1/4" wide while the two side boards are 3-1/2" wide (1 X 4's). I have a 22" X 22" X 2" thick foam pad and some vinyl material from a fabric store. I plan to cut the padding to insert under the vinyl on each side board and the bottom board then screw the upright side pieces to the bottom board. Of course the material and padding will be stopped short of where the boards meet so there should be a tight fit. Hopefully whe it is all assembled, the padding will be thick enough to provide no voids between the sides and bottom to fully protect any engine I drop inside. It should also be a tight enough fit so that the engine cannot slide easily when inserted. The cradle being 22" long will be long enough even for the 4-8-4 Northerns to fit into it.

As with all my postings, I welcome comments and suggestions as well as good old fashioned boosts of morale.

Let's get started......


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## flyernut

cool.


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## The New Guy

Consider your morale boosted.


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## Nuttin But Flyer

Here is what we have so far....I cut the foam slightly smaller than the side boards and bottom board widths. Then I used Elmers to glue them in place to keep them from sliding for easier handling while I cover them.

I cut the vinyl material for the side pieces and using a staple gun, fastened them in place. Extra material has covered the board completely to give it a nicer appearance than bare wood.

I haven't added the vinyl to the bottom board yet. But I was curious how it would all fit together as well as supporting an engine. So using some bar clamps you can see how it should look assembled, sans the bottom vinyl covering.

I'll leave this as is for any comments from the peanut gallery before I move on to the final steps. Your comments are always appreciated as always.

I had first considered covering the bottom with felt so as to prevent marring on whatever surface it will set on while using it. Now I am considering some rubber feet on the bottom to prevent any slipping while in use.

Unless some suggestions are received that require changes to the design, I should finish it in the next day or so.


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## tjcruiser

I like the cradle idea. 

My only suggestion might be to line the inside (touching the train) with some soft micro-fiber toweling. The micro-fiber towels (like the 1'x1' kind you'd buy in a bundle in the auto section of a Walmart) are really gentle on any paint, small parts, etc.

Nice project on your end! Thanks for sharing,

TJ


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## flyernut

I haven't seen a picture of the engine in the cradle ON IT'S SIDE.Taking off side rods and such, it looks a little tight for a side ways dissection,lol..


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## Nuttin But Flyer

I resist using any cloth of any kind for fear that even the tiniest sharp or pointy object on an engine may get caught in the threads and pull it. I figured the vinyl would be best to resist that.

As far as laying the engine on its side....I had thought of this after I posted this step and vowed to turn the engine on its side to try it. I'll also post a photo so you can see how it fits.

The width as it is set in the photos allows the engine to just drop in with little foam compression and resistance, and yet just enough support so as to hold it upright without any chance to roll over. I figure when I drop it in sideways, there will be slightly more resistance as the foam will compress more due to the engine being higher than wider and should hold it firmly in place.

I had another thought as well. I own a Franklin 21088 0-4-0 engine. With that large smokestack it will be difficult to set it into the cradle for dissection unless it is set in near the edge with the smokestack downward outside of the cradle. My only remedy here would be to create a large cavity in the bottom foam so as to allow the smokestack to fit into it as the engine is lowered into the cradle. Any thoughts?

Meanwhile I'll gather a few of my other engines and take a couple of photos showing how they fit -- both upside down and sideways -- maybe do the same for some rolling stock too. Who says this cradle has to be used only for engine repair??


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## Nuttin But Flyer

After posting the last paragraphs, I thought of something more....If there is a chance that the paint could be damaged by dropping an item into this vinyl-lined cradle, I suppose I could just wrap a microfiber cloth around 3/4 of the object before slipping it in. Thus this would prevent any harm as suggested by TJ. It also might help to keep any dirt and grease from soiling my new vinyl cradle.


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## tjcruiser

Don,

For what it's worth, the thread "loops" on a micro-fiber towel are much, much smaller than what you'd find on a typical terri-cloth towel. I've used them on my trains for a while now, and have yet to have any part "catch" on the cloth.

Food for thought ...

TJ


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## Nuttin But Flyer

As I said in my last post, I can use a microfiber towel, as you suggest, to "wrap" an item about 3/4's the way around and slip it into the padded area for servicing/repair. That way it should be protected just as if the same material was over the padding.

BTW -- How did you move my photos directly into the postings? I've seen others do it, but I have enough trouble just getting mine into a post as an attachment.


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## tjcruiser

After you use the paper clip icon tool to upload your images, click the icon once again. (Pre-position your cursor in your post to the end of the post.) With the icon's pull-down menu, you'll see Insert All. Bingo.

Cheers,

TJ


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## Nuttin But Flyer

Test to directly post photo per TJ's instructions.....


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## Nuttin But Flyer

Didn't go quite as explained, but I got it anyway....Thanks TJ.


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## flyernut

ooo, let me try..where's this paperclip supposed to be??


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## The New Guy

Cute pup - good luck with that training.

Now if those pictures would only re-size properly - they are ginormous.


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## flyernut

She's one of my chihuahua puppies long gone to a good home.. And the problem is I don't know how the picture got to be that size. I didn't do anything different than when I normally post a picture.


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## tjcruiser

Re: paper-clip icon ...

You have to click "Go Advanced" down below ... that will open a more sophisticated editor tool, which has the paper-clip load image tool.

TJ


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## flyernut

tjcruiser said:


> Re: paper-clip icon ...
> 
> You have to click "Go Advanced" down below ... that will open a more sophisticated editor tool, which has the paper-clip load image tool.
> 
> TJ


AHA!!!!!!! "I see, said the blind man!"


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## Nuttin But Flyer

alright, let's try again...









I get the photo in place, but I see no paperclip icon other than the one in the header above the text box. And that one takes me to the "manage attachments" box again. I see nothing there that would edit the size....I'm stumped..


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## Nuttin But Flyer

Meanwhile....back to our hero working on his padded cradle.....

Here is the semi-finished product. While it is useable, I call it semi-finished as I was considering placing a covering over the bottom -- maybe some cardboard or felt -- and some rubber-like feet to prevent it from sliding on any work surface. But for now it does the job. 

The only regret is placing an engine in it sideways -- the foam is much too dense to compress enough to insert an engine in sideways.  I could probably force it in, but forcing many times leads to damage. So for the side work, I'll simply rest it at an angle as seen in the photo(s). That should suffice nicely. :thumbsup: I should have increased the width by about another inch. 

It is long enough to support my Northern which is the longest engine I own and it will also support my Franklin with its tall smoke stack resting outside the edge of the cradle. :thumbsup:


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## tjcruiser

Don,

Looks to me like the cradle will work quite nicely!

There's no tool here (paper clip icon, etc.) to resize / downsize images. You need to do that locally, on your PC, first, before you upload them here. Lots of photo edit software options for that.

Cheers,

TJ


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## Nuttin But Flyer

OK. I misunderstood thinking there was a resizing tool. Any idea what size works best to prevent the window from getting much too large? I normally use JPEG photos about 95% of the time.


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## gunrunnerjohn

I picked this up some time back for working on locomotives. It's 24" long, which has been sufficient for any of my current stuff.


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## Nuttin But Flyer

I saw one like that at a show some time back. But I was dismayed at the cost -- $35+. After seeing that, I figured I'll make my own.


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## gunrunnerjohn

This one was $25, but it looked so ideal that I pulled the trigger.


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## flyernut

gunrunnerjohn said:


> I picked this up some time back for working on locomotives. It's 24" long, which has been sufficient for any of my current stuff.


Looks very similar to the one I use, but mine was free. It was a left over piece of another project.


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## gunrunnerjohn

Well, I had one that I hacked together out of shipping foam, but this one works better. I don't have any proper foam "left over" to do another one.


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## Nuttin But Flyer

Free is always best...


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## flyernut

Nuttin But Flyer said:


> Free is always best...


Free isn't always the best, but if it works, then it is.Yours came out nice. The problem with mine is it will soak up a little oil here and there, but I can live with that.


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## Nuttin But Flyer

Never gave that a thought. Considering the amount of contact cleaner I use, I'd have the foam one so saturated, it would catch fire near a minor spark. Glad I used the vinyl covering. Hopefully I can keep wiping away the excesses.....and spilled beer.


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## flyernut

Nuttin But Flyer said:


> Never gave that a thought. Considering the amount of contact cleaner I use, I'd have the foam one so saturated, it would catch fire near a minor spark. Glad I used the vinyl covering. Hopefully I can keep wiping away the excesses.....and spilled beer.


No such thing as spilled beer!!! Gotta get one of these. They hold exactly 3 cans of beer, or at least that's what I've been told, (cough-cough).


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