BAYKO Tie Bars

Dimensional inaccuracies of plastic BAYKO components, coupled with the use of comparatively flimsy Rods meant that sections of BAYKO buildings often benefited from additional support.

On a large scale this was provided by Floors...

...but localised issues were, initially at least, resolved using Tie Bars.

Arguably Binding Strips were Floors, however, as the clear intent was to secure short sections of wall, I think it is more logical to group them with the Tie Bars.

Binding Strips were included in sets from 1935 to 1938, initially in the #6 sets, then in the slightly restructured sets #1 to #5.

However, that's not quite the whole story as far as BAYKO Binding Strips are concerned.

One look at the image [left] will tell you that there are two different versions of the Binding Strips.

The standard, more familiar type is shown above, and has larger holes at each end, which I can only assume were used as part of the alignment process to enable accurate drilling of the rod holes.

The Binding Strip below comes from a #1 set with true red and white bricks but which has the rare dark cherry red Small Roof, intermediate between the early brown and true red roofs.

This dates them as being from 1937, but their comparative rarity strongly suggests that this was a short lived experiment.

Binding Strips were also available separately, probably until the war, but certainly no later.

The short-lived Curved Tie Bars [right] were introduced in 1938 in sets #20 to #23 to 'control' the new Curved Windows. They were not used elsewhere.

Their short shelf life indicates that, while they clearly worked, there were easier ways to achieve the same ends without manufacturing a specialist component.

The Curved Tie Bars were made from bare mild steel.

Straight Tie Bars were introduced in the same sets but survived for the rest of the life of the product...

...or so I thought...

...there is a growing body of evidence now emerging, that Straight Tie Bars were introduced into the range of standard BAYKO sets at sometime, almost certainly during 1938.

This was as a replacements for the much more cumbersome [and expensive?] Binding Strips.

Two pieces of evidence confirm that this occurred : -

► The image [above, left] shows the parts listed in a #2A conversion set, probably dated 1938 that clearly mentions Tie Bars but does not make any reference to Binding Strips.

► The image [right] is of a bag, typical of those in which the Floors were supplied in the sets of the day, which carries a label which reads : -

If you click on the image [right] you can see a larger, somewhat cleaned-up view of the label.

Thanks to Robin Throp for this image.

Initially, like the Curved Tie Bars, Straight Tie Bars too were in bare mild steel and I've a few from the early days made from copper, or with a thick copper coating.

There was a brief experiment with a thin version of the Floor material, and even some which appear to my untutored eye to have been lacquered, before standardising on cheap steel with a bright protective coating.

Straight Tie Bars survived through the rest of BAYKO's production life.

Straight Tie Bars could be used to support 2 columns of Bricks and Windows [e.g. above a Bay Window] as well as their primary alignment role.

Square Tie Bars [or Corner Ties] were introduced a few months later, in 1939, in the 'New Series' sets and survived for the rest of the product's life. They started out life manufactured in bare mild steel.

There was an experiment early post-war with painted metal (beige, on one side only) which, it has been suggested, may have been pressed from a job lot of cheap tin-plate - from MECCANO perhaps?

Another flirtation, this time with Floor-like material, Paxolin, can also be noted around this time having also have been tried pre-war, around 1940.

There were also periods, again around the same time, when material shortages lead to 2 circular discs, diagonally opposite each other being stamped out of the Square Tie Bars, presumably for recycling to reduce metal usage, and, again, there is a version which appears to have been lacquered.

The photo [right] includes two blanks, without holes, suggesting that manufacturing was a two stage process, the blanks having skipped part two! Photo courtesy of Robin Throp.

It's easy to refer to material shortages around the war as an assumed trigger for something which happened...

...here, at least, is documentary proof that Plimpton did have to adjust the product to take account of material shortages.

This label was stuck over page 3 of a 'New Series' set manual and clearly states that replacement Small and Medium Floors were included instead.

One point to note is that it was only the Straight Tie-Bars which were replaced by Floors, Corner Ties were still supplied as usual, though now often in paxolin.

BAYKO Rods

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