Baseboard help, 9mm plywood

[Tomsontour]

Afternoon everyone

 

Looking to start a fresh layout, N gauge based on a section of the Reading to Redhill line, dubbed the Surrey Hills. Anyways as we all know the baseboard is vital for a solid base and the foundations of a good start.

 

I've been thinking though, the boards will be 3 foot by 2 foot, and a few of them! Doing some thinking, could I make the whole baseboard out of 9mm ply, would this be strong enough, as I know it would be very lightweight. I will be bracing around every foot, glued and nailed, as I'm not sure 9mm ply would take screws for the framework.

 

So basically if anyone has done this before and is in a position up offer any advice this would be fantastic

 

Many thanks in advance

Matt

[Guest]

Good quality 9mm ply is fine as long as it is batterned correct and glued and screwed,not nails. Strong and lightweight. Some people will prefer thicker, matter of choice but I have used 9mm ply on many layouts over the years with no problems. Just remember, screw's not nails.

[Tomsontour]

Many thanks for the reply what size screws do you use as I thought screws might end up splitting the plywood?

[sp1]

Many thanks for the reply what size screws do you use as I thought screws might end up splitting the plywood?

Why would they? - you need to drill pilot holes (slightly smaller than the screw size) and countersink to fit the screw heads.

[tractor_37260]

Many thanks for the reply what size screws do you use as I thought screws might end up splitting the plywood?

 

A pilot hole will help avoid that, you can get special drill bits that drill a pilot hole for the screw size used, and countersink the hole at the same time.  Another option is "tight grip" nails as used in flooring, basically a screw thread with a nail head, different sizes are available. Screw sizes perhaps 6 or maybe 8's of a suitable length, depending on the size of the framework wood. 

[2mmMark]

I'd recommend birch ply, the type with even laminations. Most timber merchants should be able to supply this and possible even cut it for you. I've used a mix of 6, 9 & 12mm birch ply on one of my layouts.  The boards have proved strong but but not particularly lightweight.

 

Try to arrange diagonal bracing if you can. I didn't and needed to add some in retrospectively.

 

When using screws, always drill a pilot hole first. This will avoid splitting the wood. I got a set of combined pilot & countersink drill bits from Lidl, these are very handy.

 

Be careful using a power screwdriver, these can drive the screw in too far and easily split the wood if the torque setting is wrong.

[Danemouth]

The boards for Danemouth built by \peter (Trains12)are 9 mm ply (including frames) and have been in the garage for almost nine years without warping. Have a look at the link in my sig to see them

 

Dave

[Harlequin]

You might like to have a look at my blog - lots of entries about making open frame baseboards almost entirely from run-of-the-mill 9mm ply with just a few bits of PSE where extra depth and strength are needed.

 

Starting here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/blog/2216/entry-20643-test-track-lightweight-baseboard-construction/

And the subsequent entries follow progress through to locos running on the layout.

 

Edit: I avoided screwing into the edge of ply as much as possible. I glued and pinned and even then the pins caused some splitting so latterly I relied on glue alone, which works fine for very clean cut edges.

Edited September 19, 2018 by Harlequin

[ISW]

I used 12mm plywood. Refer to the following posting:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/133913-burton-on-trent-south-some-progress/?p=3304999

 

I also used the offcuts for the internal / cross bracing, attaching with screws. It's not a problem so long as you:

• mark the top / bottom of the board with the alignment of the bracing accurately. There is not much room for lateral error.
• drill pilot holes. This is when you find out if you did the alignment properly ...
• use suitable length / sized screws

For the screws in the cross-bracing I used 4mmx30 (No.8x1¼").

 

For the bracing around the edges I used 44x18mm stripwood and 4mmx50 (No.8x2") screws. The meant the screws were ~9mm from the edge of the plywood, and I didn't experience any of the problems alluded to by Phil in his Edit (above).

[Tomsontour]

Gentleman thank you so much for all your advice, I'm going to make a start tomorrow, seeing all your efforts and reading your posts have given me the confidence to give it a go, will take my time and see how I get on

 

I'll report back tomorrow hopefully with some progress

All the best

Matt

[Guest]

good luck and enjoy. take your time and dont rush it ,worth it in the end.

[ISW]

Gentleman thank you so much for all your advice, I'm going to make a start tomorrow, seeing all your efforts and reading your posts have given me the confidence to give it a go, will take my time and see how I get on

 

I'll report back tomorrow hopefully with some progress

All the best

Matt

As others have said, make sure you enjoy it.

 

It will make it easier if you get it all drawn up beforehand. Saves a lot of mistakes ...

[GrassInTheSky]

I used birch 9mm ply (bought from a wood yard, not a DIY shop) with 80mm ply bracing.  No screws or pins, just wood glue.

[boxbrownie]

I know too late now for your project but when I wanted to build a Japanese layout in N (I worked in Japan a lot and the stuff there is dirt cheap compared to here, well it was 15 years ago!) I just went out and bought a plain Sapele internal door, it is strong as you could ever need and the layout has been in a shed for 11 years and now on end stored in the playroom when we moved and it is still as straight as a die, no warping at all.

[boxbrownie]

This is the underneath (no surprise there I guess ) ......it was secured in the shed by some BIG hinges so it could swing up along one side and be out of the way, when we moved I screwed some kitchen cabinet legs (the sort that go under the built in cabinets as they are short and have levelling feet) on and as you might see I have fitted a kitchen draw under the board, this pulls out with all the controls for points and DCC control, worked really well.......the other side is all Kato track and points, stations etc etc, brilliant stuff and so smooth and reliable running.

Please ignore the pine boards/planks at the edges, they were fitted just to protect the layout while moving house.

Edited October 18, 2019 by boxbrownie