Our diecast shipment came in. Unfortunately, the EC87 Shanks came with the same casting flaw that Sergent's last batch had. It is missing a side wall on the coupler head that is crutial to the assembly of the couplers. The diecaster has identified the underlying problem and is repairing the tooling. When repairs are complete they will rerun the shanks and I will let you all know as soon as those come in!
The good news is, the parts we need to start offering Hybrid Couplers came in. I assure you these parts look fantastic! We also have ENC87KD and SBEN87KD in stock now as we had diecast shanks for those already courtesy of Sergent Engineering. We were missing the bottom covers for them.
Now for a look into our future products. We are working hard on replicating the old Sergent HG87 height gauge. Expect to see this out very soon. We are also actively working on the BCL87 Brass etched cut lever linkage. The design has been made, we are just looking for a manufacturer of these tiny brass parts now. Our first manufacturer backed out on us and has gone radio silent. Last product on the horizon for now would be the Walthers Tailor-Made Type E Coupler Kits. We have these currently made in zinc, and are just trying to devise a way to replicate Sergents fastening method for them. We have identified that we will need a spring, metal tube spacer, screw and two washers per coupler, we are just waiting to see if what we ordered for them will work. If anyone has any original kits for these we would love to be able to take a look at the parts that came with it, please get in contact with us directly at prototypecouplers@gmail.com.
That will do it for this update. Thank you all for all the support! It means a lot.
The AFM040C Assembly Fixture is now available for purchase. This fixture is just like the AFC fixture but is used for the shorter M040 shanks. This fixture can be used with Type E, Bottom Shelf Type E, and Tightlock couplers such as the Type F and Type H.
We should have other shank size fixtures coming in the near future.
In other news the website now has a "Customer Images" tab. There you will find some customer submitted images. We also now have a customer submitted instructions area in our instructions page. You can find some great documents other customers have written to help other assemble and modify their couplers.
If you would like to contribute to either of those areas please send us a email at prototypecouplers@gmail.com.
We have also updated the style of the website slightly. For those that do not see this update we recommend you clear your browser cache for this site.
We are proud to reintroduce the RS2P87 Metal Pocket for pilot shanks. We are developing these a little bit different than Sergent Engineering did. These are still investment cast however, we print the pocket and pin as one part on our printers to ensure it is one solid part. After printing it is cast and tapped with a 0-80 tap like Sergent Engineering's offering. We worked with Frank during development to make sure that our process was correct.
We are also announcing two brand new products. First is the ET1P87K. This is a coupler designed as a pilot replacement for select Broadway Limited Imports steam locomotives. Fully functional and can swing out of the way like the dummy coupler that comes from the factory. This new pilot coupler can be found under our new "Tailor Made Couplers" category on the order page.
Our second new announcement is the DGB160. This is a resin draft gear box designed to allow you to run narrow shank couplers on your N-Scale cars. This part is designed to be a replacement for Micro Train Lines 1025/1029 Draft Gear Boxes. This part was commissioned by long time Sergent Engineering customer John Niemeyer, and is being offered for sale for anyone who wants to try them out. Initially these will be made to order until we have a good idea of how well they sell. Lead time is one business day for these.
All three of these new products are available to purchase starting today!
The MS uncoupling tool has received some updates. Frank sent me the tooling and his old parts to manufacture the MS tool. This means starting today all MS uncoupling tools will be made identically to Sergent Engineerings. Using 100% same parts, tooling, and techniques. The only difference is the label around the tool. The photo on the order page has been updated to reflect this change. Same Sergent quality with no price increase!
Finally, we have spent some time and revamped the website to add PayPal integration. You will notice a new "View Cart" button on the navigation bar now. You can use this to view what is currently in your cart, adjust item quantities, and checkout. On the order page every in stock product now has a "Add To Cart" button. You can use this to add any in stock product you want to your cart. The order form is still available in case there are issues with this new system, or you feel more comfortable sending the order form instead. You will notice this new system functions in a very similar manner to Sergent Engineering's order process. So previous customers will be right at home with this new system. If you have any problems with the new checkout please get in contact with me. My email is at the bottom of the webpage.
A note on shipping charges. With the new PayPal integration we have setup a new shipping price policy. We have split shipping into three cetagories. Customers east of the Mississippi River will be charged a flat $5.00 USD shipping charge to cover postage, and packing materials. Customers west of the Mississippi River will be charged a flat $7.50 USD for the increased postage cost, and packing materials. International order are a flat $35.00 USD. This should all be handled automatically during checkout.
We will ship to: United States of America, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Virgin Islands (British)
If your country is not on this list and you place an online order. That order will be refunded in full, but no shipment will be made. Thank you for understanding.
Frank from Sergent Engineering was kind enough to send us a shipment of some of his old stock. Most of this was die cast Sharon parts. We now have the parts needed to make RC87K, RNC87K, RNB87K, and RS1P87K. These couplers are unique in that, the only parts we would be able to investment cast are the shanks. Everything else is either much to small or is designed in a way that would not work well with our casting process. So, die casting is really the only option we have for Sharon's. In addition to the Sharon parts, Frank also sent us lots of springs for both Type E and Sharon weights. All couplers are now shipping with springs! Assembly fixtures for Sharons are also now available.
For right now I will not be offering bulk packs. This is mostly because I don't want to run out of die cast parts faster than I can get them in. I don't have any parts coming to replace what Frank sent me, so I want to make sure I can keep them stocked as long as possible. Bulk packs will come to die cast kits eventually.
Sharon kits have had a price revision in response to the parts we have received.
A huge thanks to Frank from Sergent Engineering. I can safely say without him none of us would be where we are now!
After countless attempts at making the AFC assembly fixture out of zinc. I decided to cut my losses and make them out of resin. Franks was made out of a two part tooling resin that was poured into a mold. Mine are simple 3d printer resin that has a low shrinkage rate. These jigs shouldnt change in dimention if kept away from UV light sources. Since they are 3d printed I can offer them at a much lower price to you. Fixtures are all $5.00 USD a piece. They fit standard shank lengths of Type E and Double Shelf. Tightlocks and Sharons wont work. More assembly fixtures are coming as I have time to design them. If you are putting a lot of couplers together why not pick one up and try it out?
Should have another post coming this week so stay tuned!