Plywood Timbers

[animotion]

I am in the middle of planning a EM gauge layout and using either .8mm or 1.5mm birch ply for the track work. At first I thought .8mm would be a good option as the sleepers are the same thickness as the ready to lay EM gauge track and so no packing would be needed if I was to combine the laser cut point timbering with the ready to lay track. I am now having second thoughts and looking towards using the 1.5mm ply as it will look more realistic for the thickness of the sleeper and will facilitate the tie bars and point roding more efficiently. I plan to have half etched tabs between the sleepers to keep the timbers in place which will be covered by ballest and for this purpose 1.5mm will be better suited. My only concern with using ply is the consistency of the thickness that some suppliers can’t guarantee. One company in particular, SLEC Manufacturing, states on their website that their 1.5mm birch ply has a tolerance for the thickness of being +/-10%. This means a 1.5mm plywood sheet could be between 1.35 and 1.65 in thickness. The C&L ply sleepers are the same thickness but have not stated on their website the discrepancies  that might be encountered with the thickness. Have any modellers encountered problems of this nature when using ply timbering?

Edited March 28, 2021 by animotion

[Stephen Freeman]

No, but then I get my 4mm scale pointwork plywood timber strip from Tim Horn.

[ikcdab]

I've never had this problem. I use 0.8mm ply because once I add the c&l functional chairs, the height matches my SMP scaleway exactly.

As for depth, once it's ballasted you can't tell the difference and you need far less ballast. I use "moving sleeper" tie bars by which I mean a piece of 3mm copperclad. It is just the right clearance to be a good fit under the rails. Personally I would stick with the 0.8mm. And of course, any percentage tolerance would be less.

I just buy 300 X 300mm sheets, paint and stain the sheet then cut it into 4mm wide strips for point timbering. It's a very quick process and I see no need to have the sleepers laser cut. I bought the ply from Howes. It was only £3 or £4 for a sheet. Two sheets did my whole layout point timbering.

[trustytrev]

Hello,

       It would be nice to see how you cut the timbers from sheet ply. Do you have a link for Howes please?

trustytrev.

[ikcdab]

20 minutes ago, trustytrev said:

Hello,

       It would be nice to see how you cut the timbers from sheet ply. Do you have a link for Howes please?

trustytrev.

Here's the Howes link 

https://howesmodels.co.uk/product/0-8-1-32in-300-x-300-ply/

 

As for cutting it, I use a decent steel straightedge and a sharp Stanley knife.

I set the straightedge by using Vernier calipers. Then two or three light cuts does it.

I'll grab a pic in the morning.

 

 

 

[ikcdab]

So this is how I set the straight edge with the Vernier. I usually set it to 4.1mm to allow for thickness of cut. Do it both ends, double check it, hold the straight edge firmly then just two or three lightish cuts with a sharp Stanley knife and you're done. Note that I paint/stain the ply as a complete sheet first. The sheet cost £3.50 (plus postage) and gives you approx 20m of point timbering. If you're cutting 3.3mm for standard sleepers then even more.

Edited March 29, 2021 by ikcdab