Rail Drilling Guide for Flat Bar Rail (10×20mm & 12×30mm Rail) - Britannia

Rail Drilling Guide for Flat Bar Rail (10×20mm & 12×30mm Rail.)

The guide simply locates onto the rail section and allows holes to be drilled in the correct position using a standard drill bit. This ensures consistent hole placement across multiple rail lengths when producing track panels.

 

Construction: Steel

Weight: 2.6kg

 

Compatible Rail Sizes

• 10 × 20 mm flat bar rail (Medium Duty)

• 12 × 30 mm flat bar rail (Heavy Duty)

Used within the MRW Britannia track system & PNP Chairs.

 

The Britannia Flat Bar Rail Drilling Guide allows accurate drilling of flat bar rail when preparing track panels using MRW Britannia fishplates. Accurate hole positioning is essential for a good rail joint, making this drilling guide a useful tool for builders producing their own track.

 

Key Benefits

• Ensures accurate and repeatable rail drilling

• Speeds up production of track panels

• Reduces marking-out errors

• Compatible with MRW Britannia rail profiles

The guide uses 6.2 mm hardened drill bushes, ideally suited for a 6.2 mm drill bit. Drill bits are not supplied.

We recommend using a high-quality sharp drill bit, as the rail is drilled without a pilot hole. Using cutting oil or compound will improve cutting performance and extend tool life.

 

 

Reversible for left- and right-hand rails.

When drilling rails in a track panel it is often necessary to drill from both sides. The guide is therefore reversible and features a removable end stop secured with a wing nut, allowing it to be easily swapped when working along the railway.

 

Clamping the rail into place.

The critical measurement when using Britannia fishplates is that the distance from the bottom of the rail to the centre of the fishplate bolt hole is consistent from one panel to another. The rail is clamped in position using an M10 bolt, which requires a 17 mm spanner (not supplied).

 

Clearing out swarf.

As holes are drilled, swarf will build up and should be cleared regularly both during drilling and when changing rails. The guide incorporates large through-holes to allow easy access for clearing swarf around the end stops.

 

Monitoring your drilling guide

The product will need to be serviced and cared for if in regular use. As the product is made from mild steel it should not be stored in damp conditions. If it becomes wet it should be dried and lightly oiled (Duck Oil or similar).

 

The drill bushes have a long service life but if misused with poorly aligned drill bits they will wear out faster. These drill bushes are widely available but spares can be sourced directly from MRW if required. They are a “press fit” into the laser cut steel but occasionally a spot of weld might be needed when replacing the bushes to ensure they stay firmly in position. The drilling guide is made up of plates of steel which are simply bolted together. If you need to replace a drill bush guide, just disassemble the plates to make renewal easy.

 

Lastly

We use this drilling guide ourselves when building track in the MRW workshop and can attest to its reliability. If you have any questions about using the tool or building miniature railway track, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Making a purchase

This listing is for one item, select the number of items you require from the drop down menu.

 

Defective items will be repaired/replaced within one year from the date of sale, damage caused through improper use is not covered by this guarantee.

 

Please note if purchased with a long lead time item we will hold this item and dispatch it as one order unless otherwise agreed.

 

Orders

 

Please note there is approximately a 1 week lead time on this product from payment until dispatch unless otherwise noted. Please note; we aim to dispatch these items next day. If purchased with a long lead time item we will hold this item and dispatch as one order unless otherwise agreed.

 

Bulk-Buy Savings

Not really applicable… although if you need more than ten of these we’d be very interested to hear what you’re building!