Baseboard join

[ddoherty958]

Which way is the best way to join two baseboards so they are easy to transport but strong during operation?

[Ian Morgan]

Lots of options. Using metal dowels, carefully fitted, help to ensure good alignment, and bolts with wing nuts, or clasps hold the boards together. Strengthen and fix the position of rail ends by soldering to copper clad or small brass screws. Add temporary board ends to further protect track in transit.

 

For best alignment, it is best to drill holes for dowels and bolts with the two end boards clamped together and using a pillar drill to assure they are perpendicular. This really needs to be done before assembling the boards.

 

Nowadays, laser cutting is producing really good results.

[Mike140]

A challenge I am currently facing for the first time.

 

I'm going with good old simple bolts - Clamping the frames together, drilling a hole through both ends, passing bolts through the holes and using nuts and washers to fix it. Hopefully it'll work!

 

Barrel bolts on the sides would be the simplest/easiest I'd imagine.

[ddoherty958]

Right. I’ve decided what to do.

 

I’m going to screw another board into the bottom of one side and use recessed bolts to hold it all together and filler to stop them turning if you know what I mean.

 

Check my blog for more details on my layout!

[Karhedron]

I use carpenters alignment dowels like the ones below to ensure accurate alignment. I model in N gauge so simple bolts are not accurate enough for me. The good news is that even though I am a bit of a duffer at woodwork, I still managed to get these fitted correctly.

 

 

Clamps or bolts can be used to hold the boards firmly together.

[AGR Model Store]

https://www.agrmodelrailwaystore.co.uk/dcc-concepts-dcb-bdkit-2-pairs-of-baseboard-dowels-with-drills?search=BASEBOARD

 

Buy said kit here