# Pick-up shoe bending tools



## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

The pliars are Mark Mcvittie's (sp?)early version pliars,he's got a better version now.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

*Home built Spring tester*


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

The pictures were a bit rushed this morning,but here's a couple homebuilt tools anybody can make,if i can make-em anybody can,lol:wave:


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Thanks go out to Todd for taking the pic's.
I even had to roust him outta bed for them this morning,i think he was actually enjoying a quite Saturday morning for a change,till i got there,sorry Todd,lol:thumbsup:

Thanks Todd
Rick


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

First sleep-in in five years!


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Hey Rick, why so little duct tape?


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

LOL,after changing jobs a few years back,i don't have access to free duct tape anymore,so i gotta conserve a bit,:thumbsup:


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

If you want to pick-up some performance on your high end Wizz cars,that's what you want you're pick-up shoes to look like when you're done.
The curl makes it impossible for the shoe to lose contact with the barrel,and also gives you "2" power point contacts between the shoe and barrel.
The shoe always has 2 spots conducting electricity,compared to a stock shoe that only has one contact point at any given time,and is prone to losing that one contact point with the barrel especially if your on a rough track.
The stock shoe will leave burn marks and traces of carbon on the barrel,where it loses contact,and then tries to arc weld itself back onto the barrel when it gets close enough for electricity to jump between the two,with a full contact curl style shoe that physically clips onto the barrel,there is no arc welding as the shoe can never lose contact with the barrel,which contributes to a better flow of electricity.
Laws of nature dictate that the shoe is always forced reward as soon as the car moves,which makes your electrical pick-up points between the rounded shoe and round barrel are enhanced,as the shoe makes contact at the tip of the circle,and also along the inside face of the shoe arm
And contary to theories floating around they don't upset the handling.:thumbsup:

Just for the record i butted heads with a manufacture'r over this idea years ago,with him even going so far as to draw pictures explaining why it wouldn't work,so if you guys want to try the idea out great,but i ain't really interested in theories telling me it won't work,i learned along time ago,to throw theories out the window in this hobby,lol
Rick


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

I'll go into a little depth on why that style shoe,doesn't upset the handling as much as alot of guys think it should.

The reason is shock loads and the angled bend to the shoe.

An angled bar is a very poor transmitter of up and down shock loads,it distributes and absorbs a high percentage of the instanteous up/down shock load,which is what a shoe is trying to transmit when it hits a bump in the track.
A straight up and down bar is another story,it transmits vertical shock loads very well,but put that bar on an angle and it's not as effective.
And the other reason it doesn't effect the handling as much as you'd think it should,is the shoe has the ability to bounce when it's on an angle,which absorbs some of the shock loads.

The whole nature of the beast is to absorb and spread shock loads out,i know it's a poor picture,but if you study the angled bend in the shoe,you'll see what i'm talking about:thumbsup: 

Not trying to blow holes in anybodies theories,but i hope that explanation helps:wave:
Rick


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

More for you guys to digest on the handling end,lol.

If you're really on top of your tune-up,you'll also be able to run lighter shoe tension,with a rounded hanger.

It's hard to fathom,but by tieing the one end of the shoe to a pivot point,you've effectively lightened the shoe.

Instead of having the whole weight of the shoe to control by spring pressure,the weight behind the springs contact point on the shoe is now minimized by the pivot point at the end of the hanger bar.
The weight of the curl,now rests souly on the barrel,and is effectively taken off the shoe's total weight.

And if you factor in the lever principle that you get at the pivot point,the spring itself becomes more effective,consequently letting you lighten up the shoe tension itself.

I got more time then i want to admit into figuring out why the clip-on shoe works,but that's my observations:wave:


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## 41-willys (Jan 7, 2000)

Hornet 
does he have a web site for the plyers?


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

41,he does somewhere,but i'm having a hard time finding it.
Hey Todd,my computor guru,you find everything,:wave:,do you know where Marks site is.:thumbsup:


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Great tools. Where's the track?


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

41-willys said:


> Hornet
> does he have a web site for the pliers?





Hornet said:


> 41,he does somewhere,but i'm having a hard time finding it.
> Hey Todd,my computor guru,you find everything,:wave:,do you know where Mark's site is.:thumbsup:


Yup, it's MRT Products About half way down the page.

Cheers eh,

Todd


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## 41-willys (Jan 7, 2000)

Thanks for the site Todd:wave: Which plyers do you think are best guys? the new style or the old style?


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Thanks Todd,once again i owe you one, put it on my tab,lol

The new style are a little better,if you don't want to go as far as i do,but if you're going to add more curl to the hook like i do,then the older version work just as well:thumbsup:.

I've used both styles,and they both do an acceptable job.

Rick


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