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Parts 12a/b: Angle brackets 1''


12a	Angle bracket 1''x1''	1918	-	12	12	8	N°5
12b	Angle bracket 1''x½''	1922	-	8	16	8	N°8

The 1''x½'' and 1''x1'' angle brackets
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The parts

Longer versions of part 12, the angle bracket. Note that the original part, the 1''x1'' angle bracket, has normal holes on both sides. A few years later, in 1922, the 1''x½'' version was introduced (at the same time the outfits changed to the 0-7 series). The smaller one has an elongated hole, but in the longer end not the short end.

This pair date from the mid-50's, but the parts didn't change from their introduction until around 1973, as shown below.

Normal 'radiused' end 12b and later 'truncated' 12b
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Chronological variations

Part 12b, the 1''x½'' angle bracket, had a fully radiused end very close to the elongated hole from the very beginning of the part. Compare this with the crank, part number 62, which initially had a much longer end that was later trimmed down to help with fitting the part in tight spaces.

Radiused and truncated ends
Radiused (left) and truncated (right) ends of Meccano strips.

At the very end of UK production the end changes slightly, being truncated or 'cut off' instead of stamped out fully rounded. The bracket to the left shows the older design, from a very early Highway multikit (1972-73ish), and the one on the right shows the later design. All of the 12b's changed their design like this in around 1973.

Variations and oddities

None known

Parts 12a and 12b spare parts packs in light green.
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Please do not download or copy it for any purpose. It has been
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William Irwin

Dealer spare parts boxes

The photo shows packs of both types of large angle bracket, with a light green label identifying the parts as being light green (1958-64).

Individual part numbers

Part numbers for the parts on this page are as follows: Unique part numbers
For identification, each variation has been given a suffix to the main Meccano part number. These suffixes consist of a two-character code for the colour, and if there are many variations, a further number and sometimes letter code to identify each variation. See the bottom of the 'Parts' page for further details.

You don't need to worry what the codes are, just click on any one for a photograph.

The button above turns on and off the display of DMS numbers (where they are known). The DMS (Development of the Meccano System, Hauton and Hindemarsh) published in 1972 and added to in 75 and 82, suggested part numbers for every variation of every Meccano part. These numbers aren't perfect, but they are recognised and also referenced in the EMP (Encyclopedia of Meccano Parts, Don Blakeborough).

Description	from	12a	12b
Nickel plated	18	.ni	.ni
Dark green	27	.dg	.dg
Medium green (pre-war)	33	.mg1	.mg1
Gold	34	.go	.go
Medium green	45	.mg	.mg
Light green	58	.lg	.lg
Nickel plated	62	.ni1	.ni1
Zinc plated	66	.zn	.zn
Zinc, truncated ends	73		.zn1
Matt brass, radiused ends	72	.mb	.mb
Matt brass, truncated ends	78		.mb1
Iridescent	79	.ir	.ir
		ALL	ALL

Please send us pictures of missing parts! Hints and tips for pictures
Take a picture of the part in very good light, preferably on a plain yellow background, without a flash but with a tripod.
Ideally, trim the picture to about 150 pixels per inch of the Meccano part (unless the part is particularly big or small), save it as a reasonably good quality jpg file with a filename of exactly the part number, for example 19b.ni1.jpg, and email it to us by clicking on 'Contact us' at the top of the page. Thanks!

A greyed-out box shows that no part exists for that colour combination.
Part number codes with a green background have an attached picture of the part, just click once on the code to show a photograph of that part in a separate window.
Parts marked "†" were temporary or economy parts, or existed only within specific themed outfits. The previous part continued throughout or afterwards.

Further information

Nigel McBurney (at 8:58am, Thu 28th Apr, 22)

Hello ref the variation in radius at the end of bracket, a press tool designer once told me that if a part is blanked from a wide strip of steel the full radius ends help keep tooling costs down,on the other hand if part is made from a narrow strip of steel the same width as the finished part and only the rad on the end is cropped a larger rad giving a truncated rad is used to increase the life of the press tool.

Nick Smith (at 8:07pm, Tue 11th Mar, 14)

12b is numbered 307 Matt Brass in the Highway & Crane Multikits, so should have a dagger †. Those in an 8X are still zinc. 12a isn't used in the Multikits, and is zinc in 5X, 7X (both 1974 (c) Manual) & 8X (1977 (c) Manual), so I suspect it didn't go matt brass until 1978 (and doesn't need a dagger †)
Having a Super Highway and a crane, I have 5 matt brass radiused end 307, as well as 2 zinc 12b radiused end, I think I should have a pair of brass 12b from an Extension set S, but I don't. I have 8 zinc 12a radiused end from the X sets (plus 2 spare parts). One of the zinc 12b is unstamped, all the others MMIE.

Norbert Klimmek (at 12:42pm, Sun 14th Oct, 07)

Wasn't the Zinc plated version (.zn) introduced in the year 1966 as all the other zinced parts?

My compliment for your tedious work to complete this rich source of informations.

Best wishes from the counterside of the globe (Germany) to down-under.

Norbert

Reply: Yes, you are correct, thank you for pointing that out. DMS/EMP incorrectly states 1970 as the start of zinc-plated parts and I've overlooked correcting it for this part.

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