BAYKO Rods

BAYKO Rods certainly aren't the sexiest part of the BAYKO hobby - but just you try building anything without them!!!

Even parts as simple as Rods, or Wires as they were known in the early days, have evolved over the years...

...and so has the packaging in which they were supplied to retailers.

The correct gauge for BAYKO Rods is 75 thou [thousandths of an inch], 1.905 mm.

Rod sizes are always described in terms of the number of Bricks they can support - e.g. 5-Brick Rods will support 5 Bricks!!!

Sets in the early and mid 1930s had rods up to 10-brick long.

'New Series' sets and post-war Plimpton era sets contained rods up to 8-brick long.

½-Brick Rods were introduced immediately after the war - though they were not included on a postcard / price list postmarked July 1945.

There's another pointer to the timing of their introduction in the early post-war manuals...

MECCANO era sets had rods up to 7-brick long.

Longer MECCANO era Rods were generally supplied to retailers in flat boxes with a rectangular cross-section [right]...

...shorter MECCANO era Rods were generally supplied in sealed polythene bags [below left].

Rods up to 12-bricks long were available as standard from retailers, particularly in the 1930s and then again in the 1950s.

However, both Plimpton and MECCANO would produce longer Rods, of any length, to order, though I imagine this was a rather slow, sedate service.

Generally Rods were produced in mild steel so collections kept in damp sheds, cellars or attics often deteriorate - that's posh for rust!

Some later Rods seem to preserve their shine and so may be a cheap stainless, I really don't know - I'm no metallurgist.

However, post-war, materials were in short supply. Steel was scarce, but aluminium, no longer needed for aircraft manufacture, wasn't, and many sets were produced with aluminium Rods.

There were also experiments with rolled, hollow tubing, of the right gauge. I only have a small number of these but they are surprisingly strong. This happened in 1946 or 1947.

If you're going to build a large model, you will almost certainly need longer, replica Rods of the correct gauge.

Present day standard wire is available in 1.8 or 2.0 mm gauge.

1.8 mm fits the Bases easily enough, but provides a very slack fit and models built with these don't travel well!

2.0 mm provides a very tight fit for brickwork etc. but won't fit into the Bases...

...so each individual Rod has to be ground down by hand to make it fit!

I have now identified a source of correct gauge [1.905 mm] replica Rods.

They are available from me in 1 metre or 2 metre lengths at £1.75 per metre [£1.50 for BAYKO Club members] plus post and packing.

I have also now started a service to supply orders for Rods cut to size from my stock of replica Rods.

Hollow Rods

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