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Fixing Cork to Baseboard


Metr0Land
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In my (limited) experience, the addition of glued ballast is what negates the use of any sound deadening base. I have tried with a cork base, with a rubberised base (the type of lining used as underlay for mock wood flooring), and without any, on chipboard, ply and sundeala. No discernable difference after ballasting. But, as others have done, I am back to using cork to raise the track, primarily to allow grooves for wiring for point motors (all mine will be surface mounted) and all other wiring. This negates the problem of drilling through PVA, although I did find that drilling undertaken after a couple of weeks, significantly reduced the problems of drill entanglement with the glue.

 

Here in France, thick cork rolls (as well as tiles) are sold for flooring, much cheaper than that sold for model railway usage in the UK. If you ever come here for visits, check out your nearest BricoMarche.....

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I'm keen to experiment with a sandwich method of baseboard top: ordinary ply top, then a good surface of cork followed by a veneer of thin ply. The reasoning being the cork should absorb the vibration whilst the ply top will give a much flatter surface for the track. Anybody tried this in the past?

 

Another option was having a top and bottom to the board, with the air space in between completely filled in with polystyrene blocks or some other insulation type material, Basically to stop the assembly from acting like an acoustic guitar. There would obviously be issues around wiring the last method. 

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On a slightly related matter, but does anyone have any tips for cutting the cork to form the shoulder of ballast either side of the track? 

 

Am thinking about the angle of the shoulder (45 degrees I guess) and the distance from the ends of the sleepers?

 

Thanks

Steve

I'm using a dafa mat cutter I think it's called. Straight runs are easy as you clip in onto the matching ruler, curves I havent tried yet but I guess I'll just have to freehand it. I usually set it so it just marks the surface then do a good few passes slowly lowering the blade each time. If you just go for it full depth it snags and starts chewing up the cork. If anything I probably have too perfect a 45 degree angle.
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I'm using a dafa mat cutter I think it's called. Straight runs are easy as you clip in onto the matching ruler, curves I havent tried yet but I guess I'll just have to freehand it. I usually set it so it just marks the surface then do a good few passes slowly lowering the blade each time. If you just go for it full depth it snags and starts chewing up the cork. If anything I probably have too perfect a 45 degree angle.

Thanks Norm! Will look out for one in local DIY outlet.

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Thanks Norm! Will look out for one in local DIY outlet.

Mine came from somewhere online, they're usually used to cut the mount board that goes round pictures so an art/craft place is probably a better bet.

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I've used wicked tiles with hobby craft pVA for ages with no problems.

I wonder how much longer diy stores will stock cork tiles though as a/ can't be popular anymore b/ some places won't stock them as an environmental issue ( B&Q told me this as they didn't have any )

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The one problem with PVA is that it locks up the cork into a solid mass which sadly increases any noise. I have used latex for ages as a contact adhesive, firstly with cork then closed cell foam, also used it for ballasting as it can be diluted with water like PVA

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  • 2 years later...

Hi All. Just getting back to modelling after many many years. So lots of questions. Was seeing this thread. Am usuing OO. My q is, when I cut out underlay for the track - how much wider than the track shall I cut ob each side. Intebd to ballast afterwards. Thanks Adrian

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This question has been asked before:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/109116-track-underlay-how-wide/

 

(On this occasion I knew about the thread, because it was me that asked the question.  But a Google search of 'cork underlay width rmweb' would have turned it up as the fifth hit.)

Hi, many thanks. Found it. Still learning best way to go about this message board. A

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  • 10 months later...

Took the weights off this afternoon and it doesn't look too bad, one seam is raised slightly but sandpaper on a block will flatten that off.

 

Hi I’m completely new to this and was wondering what side of tile you fixed to base board (sealed/ non sealed)?

 

I have all the tiles out ready but really don’t know what side to glue to board.

 

Any help would be really appreciated.

 

Thanks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi I’m completely new to this and was wondering what side of tile you fixed to base board (sealed/ non sealed)?

I have all the tiles out ready but really don’t know what side to glue to board.

Any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks.

I have had the opposite experience to most. I used Wickes cork tiles glued sealed side up. I used quite a lot of glue and it was a nightmare to get up when I wanted to change part of the track plan. When relaying the track, I held the tiles in position with track pins as a temporary measure so I could get them up easily if I wasn't satisfied but on testing everything worked so well I left it like it, only this time I put the sealed side down, as the non sealed side is easier to sand and there will inevitably be tiny blips in the cork that can affect very slow running if not sanded down.

 

If I was starting again, I might seriously think about laying direct on onto the ply, but I can't be bothered to rip it all up now. What I have found however is that lightly pinned track on the pinned cork gives much better and smoother slow running than track glued onto cork that is also glued. I would say try to experiment with a few temporary arrangements and see what works best for you. It will pay off in the long run.

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we recently covered  28 metres of ply baseboard in 6mm Cork , supplied in 1m x 10 m rolls, previously my experience was with 3mm .  Im now a fan of the 6mm, its tougher and the PVC does not soak through like the thiner material . It also doesnt seem to " squeeze " out under weights when being held after glueing 

 

We used PVA in a thin layer   Track is then Pined until glued and ballasted and the pins are removed 

 

I will say that a friend of mine conducted sounds experiments  with a 1 foot length of 00 track , on bare ply , on 3mm Cork and on 3m foam, The foam was slightly better with unballasted track . After ballasting , it was impossible to determine whether the form or the cork was better and the sound deafening was only marginally better then on the plain ply that was then ballasted 

 

Im not sure underlay is much use in reality , the p4 boys have largely stopped using it 

Edited by Junctionmad
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Charles Cantrill produces good rolls of cork, as has been said, and the service is very fast.  I am grateful to the Parishioner who put me onto them.

 

Then it's stuck down with neat PVA/wood glue and weighted down with the wife's cookery books for 24 hours.

 

I tend to stick the track down with pva too.  Again, weighted down for 24 hours.  It is relatively easy to re-position (prior to ballasting).

 

Never really understood the need for pins.  Presumably they are necessary for anyone lacking a suitable pile of books and the patience to wait 24 hours.  Otherwise, I'm not sure why you'd need them.

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Never really understood the need for pins

my (with the club O Guage)  experience is that its very difficult to lay track perfectly  aligned in one go, glueing it  commits you immediately , we pin , check alignment , redo where we are not happy ( small kinks etc ) , with pins we have that flexibility , we then glue and remove pins . If you want very accurate alignment in track, committing to initial glue down means you better be perfect first time !!

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my (with the club O Guage)  experience is that its very difficult to lay track perfectly  aligned in one go, glueing it  commits you immediately , we pin , check alignment , redo where we are not happy ( small kinks etc ) , with pins we have that flexibility , we then glue and remove pins . If you want very accurate alignment in track, committing to initial glue down means you better be perfect first time !!

 

I must admit, I don't seem to have encountered these problems, but then, it's only pva, so, if I do need a slight adjustment, I simply slip a scalpel blade under the sleepers, move, introduce more pva and weight down with books.  It seems less of a faff than pinning and unpinning, I must say, but much in this hobby is, I find, doing what works for you. 

 

So long as it's right before I ballast .... !

 

Mind you, the sort of line I'm building probably requires "small kinks" as a prototypical feature!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I gave up using pins as hitting them accurately is something that happens to other people.  Also, its a pretty noisy process!

 

PVA, Cork, PVA, Track, Ballast, Dilute PVA is a pretty good workflow.

 

And yes, weighing the track down for 24 hours after the application of the PVA is a Good Thing.  Rather than books (I might suddenly want to read one), I use a piece of plywood to spread the load, topped off by old kitchen weights.

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I gave up using pins as hitting them accurately is something that happens to other people.  Also, its a pretty noisy process!

 

PVA, Cork, PVA, Track, Ballast, Dilute PVA is a pretty good workflow.

 

And yes, weighing the track down for 24 hours after the application of the PVA is a Good Thing.  Rather than books (I might suddenly want to read one), I use a piece of plywood to spread the load, topped off by old kitchen weights.

 

Old weights are best, I have found. None of those kilogram thingies......

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Hi, I’m 7mm, I’ve been using two layers of cork to get the height with contact adhesive so the ballast glue doesn’t soak into the cork and that is not too bad. I think if you want sound deadening you should look to the underside of the baseboard and attach foam or cork, the same way as when you have an empty room and one that has carpet and curtains. Where you have bits to attach you can glue a piece of ply. Hope this helps.

 

It would be nice to hear from anyone else who has tried attaching sound deadening to the underside of the baseboard and their results.

 

Phillip

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  • 6 months later...

happy I found this thread.

Just started my layout and was wondering what thickness of cork to use. I have had some pre packed given to me that is 3mm thick, but was thinking of 6mm flooring tiles. I’m guessing that 6mm is the way to go for OO

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happy I found this thread.

Just started my layout and was wondering what thickness of cork to use. I have had some pre packed given to me that is 3mm thick, but was thinking of 6mm flooring tiles. I’m guessing that 6mm is the way to go for OO

Nothing to stop you doubling up on the cork to make it 6mm if you want though.
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