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Wood for baseboard


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  • RMweb Gold

The late Bob Barlow was involved in a family furniture business for a few years and was of the opinion that certain brands of high quality chipboard were more than suitable for baseboards. These tended to be of quite a densely packed nature.  I can remember using various chipboards in the 1970s & 80s which were of this type. 

 

Modern chipboards are not a patch on the older stuff. They are far too open and weak. 

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On 25/10/2019 at 15:17, bart2day said:

 I found a company that sells 9mm Birch Plywood cut to size at £31 per square metre. Is that a good material/price?

 

 

 

That looks a bit pricey- the timber merchant I used (Fulham Timber) sell 2440x1220 (3 square metres) sheets of 9mm birch ply for £50. They will cut it for a price based on the number of cuts you want.

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  • RMweb Gold

Use whatever wood you can get your hands on and free was my motto! I dismantled on old wardrobe and used the sides and doors, topped with the 3mm hardboard back to match the height of the spare loft boards i used.  I also found some old ply pieces taken off of some pallets and some spare MDF. All fixed to 2" x 2", and 2" x 1" softwood frame around the room.

 

6 years later and everything is absolutely fine with the layout. It doesn't move anywhere and will be destroyed if I have to move house, but I can live with that. 

 

MDF and Chipboard are a nightmare to fix track pins into, but no other issues as far as I could tell.However, In my opinion, ply is the best material.

 

Photo's were taken when I first built the layout and starting laying track. Looks a bit different now!

 

 

 

1791634907_KingsLynnandWestNorfolk-20130715-00341.jpg.fcd7f4508517c4b5b644e7506c902163.jpg2099481577_KingsLynnandWestNorfolk-20130715-00339.jpg.8de80a0d782be28a2b3665aef688a63c.jpg

 

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Edited by ianLMS
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Another vote for reclaimed timber. I used new 2X1 from B&Q and Wickes for my bedroom layout 25-30 years ago and some of it warped horribly.  The next one used 100% reclaimed timber much of it from vans from my local scrapyard and the ones which were straight stayed straight. Just avoid vans with organic matter in and check carefully for woodworm. Builders vans are generally best.     Spend your money on a circular saw and or saw bench with circular saw that way you save hours of exercise with a hand saw and having one arm noticeably more muscular than the other.

Edit.  Chipboard is horrible stuff, my loft is floored with it and it has sagged in one place where it got wet. The ragged edges can cut you open and leave splinters.  No way will I use it, not even the Melamine plastic coated stuff.

Edited by DavidCBroad
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12 hours ago, ianLMS said:

Use whatever wood you can get your hands on and free was my motto! I dismantled on old wardrobe and used the sides and doors, topped with the 3mm hardboard back to match the height of the spare loft boards i used.  I also found some old ply pieces taken off of some pallets and some spare MDF. All fixed to 2" x 2", and 2" x 1" softwood frame around the room.

 

6 years later and everything is absolutely fine with the layout. It doesn't move anywhere and will be destroyed if I have to move house, but I can live with that. 

 

MDF and Chipboard are a nightmare to fix track pins into, but no other issues as far as I could tell.However, In my opinion, ply is the best material.

 

Photo's were taken when I first built the layout and starting laying track. Looks a bit different now!

 

 

 

1791634907_KingsLynnandWestNorfolk-20130715-00341.jpg.fcd7f4508517c4b5b644e7506c902163.jpg2099481577_KingsLynnandWestNorfolk-20130715-00339.jpg.8de80a0d782be28a2b3665aef688a63c.jpg

 

20190923_070441_resized.jpg.4d90b4c5f7b577a8d210bb10d6934680.jpg

 

20190923_070656_resized.jpg.012d5793ed7b53ecc6f1e48038803cb3.jpg

 

Thanks for the advice. That looks like an awesome layout.

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  • RMweb Gold
1 hour ago, Graham1960 said:

That's what I remember about the old chipboards from the 70's. I'm certain you could get a green paint that was used to coat the board that gave it a good protective surface to work on. All you can get these days is water based rubbish, which is more expensive and can't even be used outside. Mind you that was in the days when there was a local small woodshop/DIY store on the local shopping district. And there would about five of these establishments in a five mile radius! They were cheap as chips too. Not like the B&Q places that have replaced them. They would cut a piece of timber to size for you too. The look these days if you say to a modern DIY superstore "can you cut this piece down so I can get it on the bus!"

   

 

Spirit-based paints and primers are still easily available.

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On 25/10/2019 at 15:17, bart2day said:

Thanks for all your replies. Looks like Plywood is the best option then. I would be buying it pre cut. I found a company that sells 9mm Birch Plywood cut to size at £31 per square metre. Is that a good material/price?

 

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Very expensive.  £45 for an 8x4 sheet (2.88sq m) is about the correct price for 6mm genuine birch plywood. For that price expect it cut to size.

Iam a long term Wickes customer but usually get ply from B&Q because of their cutting service.

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