The Sayersbridge and Penmouth Railway

I always use masking tape on straight (or near straight) cuts to reduce splintering when cutting plywood - really sharp cutters are essential.  For hand sawing straight lines, for items where I don't want any splintering at all, I scribe a line both sides of the material with a marking knife cleaning up with a plane. For holes, I prefer a router and have a collection of shapes available to form anything larger than can be achieved with a Forstner bit - the lightening holes in the frame in the photo are an example of router formed cut-outs.  Splintering in plywood is the down side of what is, in every other way, an excellent material for these kinds of projects, particularly the more "free form" applications.

 

Apart from splintering (which I can't see in your photos), the base/frame looks really good - getting those shapes is no easy task!

Yes tape has always worked for me on straight cuts, also let the cutter do the work ie lots of revs and very little pressure.

 

Kevin

I screwed up the next board (numbered 8, the mirror or 5) slightly. Though I changed the way I drilled the holes so there were fewer splinters, I didn't see a slight gap on one side between top and frame where the screwing to the stanchion was slightly out. It's not serious, and I don't think it will affect running. But it's a lesson learned for the construction of the remaining boards.