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Hardboard Baseboard?


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Hi, I have recently dismantled (and reused the parts of) a couple of flat pack wardrobes, and I now have the back-panelling of one of them left. Has anyone used this material successfully as a baseboard?

 

I'm thinking of a narrow shelf layout reinforced with batten. The board itself is largely intact, approximately 4mm thick with a wood effect laminate on one side, and there is much more than I need for the area of my planned layout so I could easily double, or even triple layer it and bond it with PVA.

 

I am mainly concerned about:

 

1) Track pins (probably won't go in!)

 

2) Warping/bowing (if any water creeps in - especially during ballasting and scenic work.)

 

3) Sagging over time (aren't we all?)

 

4) Noise (a single layer of hardboard would be more of an issue I think?)

 

Thanks for reading, all help is greatly appreciated. :-)

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Using hardboard for baseboards was a mistake frequently made by well-meaning Dad’s in the 1960s.

 

It is a bad idea, for all the reasons you list. Which isn’t to say that it can’t be made to work, but that there are a lot of better materials.

 

One half-decent method would be to use thin battens (c25x10mm) and to skin both sides with hardboard. This would give a rigid structure (it’s not far off how cheap ‘floating’ shelves are made), but you’d still need to pilot-drill before pinning to it.

Edited by Nearholmer
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One word answer; don't.  My dad was one of those mentioned by Nearholmer.  Hardboard is worse than useless as a load bearing material to support your layout, even as a narrow and braced shelf.  It will not accept pins on the shiny side and pins will rip it to shreds on the rough side.  I will sag and warp even before you introduce factors such as damp and temperature changes, and it will rip even more readily than some cardboards.  I describe it as worse than useless because of it's ability to fool the likes of my dad, and to persuade you, to waste time thinking about it; a decent honest rubbish material is obviously not worth the bother!

 

Layering will not help because whatever bonding agent you use to achieve your 'plyboard' effect will soak into the stuff and warp it.  It isn't even much use as back sheeting for cheap wardrobes if you ask me...

 

Your baseboard is a vital part of your layout, and needs to be flat, rigid, and solid to give your track any chance of providing you with good running; hardboard is none of these things.  If the layout needs to be transported anywhere with any frequency it also needs to be light while retaining strength, and you are into proper wood based engineering!  My advice FWIW would be to build the best baseboards your pocket and carpentry will allow, and if that isn't going to cut the mustard think about having them built for you.  You'll reap the benefit in good running and long lasting construction.

Edited by The Johnster
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Cheers johnster, most of my fears confirmed there!

 

I would normally use 12mm ply braced with batten, but as I had this stuff going begging...

 

Anyway, it seems I'll have to think again. Like most of us, I really HATE to throw stuff away! :-(

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Hardboard is even a nuisance when you throw it away, being awkward to break up and put in rubbish bags without ripping them.  You may be getting the impression that I don't like hardboard, and you'd be pretty close to the mark; useless stuff!  If you try to burn it, it throws hot pieces everywhere and tries to set fire to everything.

 

I cannot think of any use for it that could be satisfied better by another material.  You'll be fine with your 12mm ply and bracing.

Edited by The Johnster
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Keep it as disposable floor cover.   Put it on the floor in front of your layout when you are doing wet works like ballasting or scenery. When it has been dribbled on by pva / paint / plaster etc throw it away. 

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Out of idle interest, I thought I'd check the density of hardboard (HDF) in comparison with MDF, so I looked at Wikipedia, which has the following to say about hardboard:

 

"Unlike particle board, it will not split or crack.[citation needed]"

 

I have seldom read a bigger fib in my life! 

 

My guess would be that an agent of the world hardboard makers federation has been editing the Wikipedia entry.

 

Also, if your flatpack wardrobes were not all that old, your "hardboard" might actually be MDF, which is widely used for back-panels these days, and is pretty much as evil as hardboard when it comes to making baseboards, but wears out quicker if you use it as flooring.

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Hi, I have recently dismantled (and reused the parts of) a couple of flat pack wardrobes, and I now have the back-panelling of one of them left. Has anyone used this material successfully as a baseboard?

 

I'm thinking of a narrow shelf layout reinforced with batten. The board itself is largely intact, approximately 4mm thick with a wood effect laminate on one side, and there is much more than I need for the area of my planned layout so I could easily double, or even triple layer it and bond it with PVA.

 

I am mainly concerned about:

 

1) Track pins (probably won't go in!)

 

2) Warping/bowing (if any water creeps in - especially during ballasting and scenic work.)

 

3) Sagging over time (aren't we all?)

 

4) Noise (a single layer of hardboard would be more of an issue I think?)

 

Thanks for reading, all help is greatly appreciated. :-)

 

I can definitely identify with point 3 'Sagging' but its normal for someone my age!

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I cannot think of any use for it that could be satisfied better by another material...

The rough side is a great railhead cleaner. Got the idea from Pendon, and if its good enough for Pendon... If like myself you have lots of it stripped out of old fitted  furniture in the home you purchased, there's a free lifetime supply too.

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It's not the old "chequerboard" patterned sort, the reverse side is completely smooth and looks to be treated. I don't think it's MDF though - as it goes a bit ragged when sawn. Overall it's a nice finish, but I have my doubts about its structural integrity...

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I generally use that on my workbench as a surface for soldering on so I don't burn my wooden worktop or melt my cutting mat.

It's also a more rigid surface for cutting brass frets without distortion than my cutting mat.

 

Useful in the workshop, but probably not so useful as a layout base.

 

I did, however, use some to make some platforms for the Brio trains for the kids that SWMBO looks after (she's their nanny).

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Hi, I have recently dismantled (and reused the parts of) a couple of flat pack wardrobes, and I now have the back-panelling of one of them left. Has anyone used this material successfully as a baseboard?

 

I'm thinking of a narrow shelf layout reinforced with batten. The board itself is largely intact, approximately 4mm thick with a wood effect laminate on one side, and there is much more than I need for the area of my planned layout so I could easily double, or even triple layer it and bond it with PVA.

 

I am mainly concerned about:

 

1) Track pins (probably won't go in!)

 

2) Warping/bowing (if any water creeps in - especially during ballasting and scenic work.)

 

3) Sagging over time (aren't we all?)

 

4) Noise (a single layer of hardboard would be more of an issue I think?)

 

Thanks for reading, all help is greatly appreciated. :-)

 

Hi,

 

I wouldn't use it for baseboards for the all the points you mention. I don't think its like DIY store timber which has got less good over the decades its been for sale - hardboard is consistent - I think consistently bad for baseboards.

 

I don't know of cheap alternatives but I haven't looked recently. If you have the money and you want the layout to last ten years or so then plywood may suit  - may be able to use 5.5mm ply - 5 ply providing the ply is supported by ply uprights but I don't have any more detailed info.

 

 

I used hardboard to make the  platforms for the last club layout I was involved in - called SE28 - the platforms were about 4 inches wide and reinforced by hardboard zig-zag strips and PVA and lasted at least 10 years and of course weren't providing structural properties.

 

 

Regards

 

Nick

Edited by NIK
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Hardboard is great stuff. You can saw it with a Hacksaw, drill and tap it for small bolts, sand the edges nicely,  use it for nicely curved fascias and retaining walls. It makes half decent cobblestones for 00 used rough side up.  Makes half decent control panels and mimic panels, and best of all males ideal surfaces for the bottom of a baseboard to keep the wires from straggling.   Can be used as a honeycomb for baseboard supports at a pinch.  Makes half decent rivers and lakes. Very versatile but pretty much useless as baseboard surface where tracks are to be placed

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My dad also built my first baseboard using hardboard.and one inch square pine, the pine went round the edges of the board, with just two pieces across at two foot intervals.Once all the tracks were in place, peanut brain(me!) decided to build a hill with a tunnel through it made of chicken wire and wait for it............PAPER MACHE!!!, the result reflected the pictures in the earlier post, dad wasn't happy and trains never ran properly again. :nono:  :nono:

 

Mike

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That reminds me of my first layout (a hand-me-down from a cousin) a double oval with sidings and a huge hill with a tunnel that covered the whole of one end of the oval. It looked great to me (back then) and there was a siding that went right to the top of the hill - at about 40°!

 

However, there was "something" in that tunnel. And it would periodically de-rail trains, there was never any rhyme or reason to it - you could go through it several times quite happily, but every now and then would be heard a muffled: BANG! SCRRRRAPE! CLATTER! BONK. Followed by several minutes of painful stretching into the very centre of the tunnel to retrieve "Smokey Joe" and assorted wagons.

 

I never did find out what was in that "Haunted Tunnel" - perhaps a mouse with a grudge against the railway...?

 

I digress. Off to the DIY shop today to rummage through the offcuts bin! :-)

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Out of idle interest, I thought I'd check the density of hardboard (HDF) in comparison with MDF, so I looked at Wikipedia, which has the following to say about hardboard:

 

"Unlike particle board, it will not split or crack.[citation needed]"

 

I have seldom read a bigger fib in my life! 

 

My guess would be that an agent of the world hardboard makers federation has been editing the Wikipedia entry.

 

Also, if your flatpack wardrobes were not all that old, your "hardboard" might actually be MDF, which is widely used for back-panels these days, and is pretty much as evil as hardboard when it comes to making baseboards, but wears out quicker if you use it as flooring.

 

Surely HDF is not Hardboard.

 

Dave.

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