Charles, Good advice if you don’t have a table saw and a helper. There are lots of advantages to using plywood (the good stuff!) for framing: the main one is that you can avoid pilot holes since the plywood doesn’t split. Even the cheap stuff that I bought is much more stable than the dimensional lumber that I used on previous layouts.
My benchwork is mostly a modified “L girder” system. There are very few legs for visitors to kick, and I can scoot around underneath to do wiring, etc. It’s strong enough that I can walk (or crawl) on top as well. Everything stored underneath is in plastic tubs to keep it clean and dry if there’s a flood. Roger Nulton From: Charles Weston Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 6:03 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Re: "S"hrinking Wood I should add, smaller cabinet shops (like mine) should be happy to rip plywood for a reasonable charge. Charles Weston --- On Tue, 1/29/13, Roger Nulton <[email protected]> wrote: From: Roger Nulton <[email protected]> Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Re: "S"hrinking Wood To: [email protected] Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2013, 7:05 PM Charles, “Chinese birch” HA! Thanks for that info. When I was starting my current layout, Home Depot had a “Special Purchase” of some nice looking 11 ply birch veneered plywood for less than 20 bucks a sheet. Being the clever soul that I am, I scarfed up 40 sheets of the stuff and ripped it into dimensional lumber for the all the girders and joists, and also used it for all the yard surfaces. Bullet proof framing to combat the humidity swings in my Northwest basement. Right. My track has 1/8” gaps in several areas in the winter that disappear in the summer when the furnace seldom runs. Fortunately, I only soldered rail joiners on curves or where I had short sections of track, so the problems are only cosmetic. And a new heat pump helped, but I am still researching humidifiers. Never had these issues in San Diego. Roger Nulton From: Charles Weston Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2013 1:31 PM To: wlmailhtml:/mc/[email protected] Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Re: "S"hrinking Wood At my cabinet shop we sometimes use a multilayer product called "Chinese birch." But we only use it for nailers and toe boards because it goes every which way when it comes off the saw--not very stable at all. For things we want to stay nice and straight, such as layout frames, we use a paint grade maple or birch veneer on a domestic (USA) core (usually fir), 3/4 inch thick. It's around $40 a sheet here, and the big box stores don't have it. Places that sell to cabinet shops do; it will be called D3 domestic maple, or something similar. Also some places carry a South American pine plywood called Arauco or somesuch, which a little better than the Chinese, but not nearly as nice as the maple. I would steer clear of US southern yellow pine, however. Charles Weston --- On Sun, 1/27/13, Alan Lambert <[email protected]> wrote: From: Alan Lambert <[email protected]> Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Re: "S"hrinking Wood To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Date: Sunday, January 27, 2013, 10:46 PM From: Alan Lambert Fort Worth, Texas John, Makes me want to use plywood as a sub base and then use the 1 inch card board liners as my track base. Then I'll use Plaster cloth for all of my scenery areas. I'm talking about the card board that you see in furniture boxes used as side protection. That is all I have set under my track now. I have had to shim under the track in some areas but it is holding up for my 4X 6 small layout. Alan Lambert ---------------------------------------------------------------- From: John <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 10:33 PM Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Re: "S"hrinking Wood This wood discussion really shows how many modelers need a "shrink". John Armstrong ----- Original Message ----- From: Pieter Roos To: wlmailhtml:/mc/[email protected] Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 10:02 PM Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Re: "S"hrinking Wood FWIW, A friend working in HO had a similar problem a week or so ago. Much of the wood in his layout had been used in prior layout construction. I suspect that the fairly rapid change from mild to very cold winter weather and increased use of heat are causing greater problems than when the change is more gradual. Pieter E. Roos --- On Sun, 1/27/13, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: From: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: {S-Scale List} Re: "S"hrinking Wood To: [email protected] Date: Sunday, January 27, 2013, 8:59 PM Or course, gas heat sucks the moisture out of the air in the winter, and everything gets bone-dry. So, we have to deal with humidity as high as 80% and as low as 30% indoors, depending upon the season. the price of living in the Sunny Southland... Fred Tolhurst Maryville, TN -----Original Message----- From: gsc3 <[email protected]> To: S-Scale <[email protected]> Sent: Sun, Jan 27, 2013 8:48 pm Subject: {S-Scale List} Re: "S"hrinking Wood As Fred Tolhurst and Jim Schall and Larry Morton will attest, east TN and western NC are among the most humid areas in the nation. At least we don't have salt air! George Courtney --- In [email protected], "Ed" wrote: > > Good point, Martin. I never thought of that. California is a very dry desert-like climate compared to other areas. Thanks....Ed Loizez
