bike2steam

Hi Paul,

I'm in the process of building my first layout in something like 40 years, and happened across a post by you on another forum where you mentioned using thinned water based woodstain as your preferred ballast glue (plus a drop of IPA to combat surface tension).

I've just given this a go on my ballasting testbed, as it seemed a novel approach worth exploring as an alternative to the usual PVA/water/washing up liquid palaver.

Initial results look good, but do you have a recommended dilution (50/50, 90/10...) ? I've used 50/50 but after 12 hours the ballast is still a bit soft and I'm wondering if I should decrease the amount of water in the mix to get a good bond.

Appreciate any insights you have on this.

Cheers

Simon