plywood terminology confusion

[Hippo]

Just use plenty of bracing, and it should be fine. Try and keep it in a constant temperature as well, getting cold and damp and then warming up and drying out are sure fire ways to get warped ply.

 

Owen

[fareaster]

Just use plenty of bracing, and it should be fine. Try and keep it in a constant temperature as well, getting cold and damp and then warming up and drying out are sure fire ways to get warped ply.

 

Owen

Thanks, I am having a 8' x 4' base board made at the moment, 9mm ply, lots of bracing and 6 legs, will cost about £100, don't know how that compares with uk costs. Here the temperature goes from warm and damp to cold and dry, with the aircon on, but I guess the effect is the same!

[AndrewC]

Thanks, I am having a 8' x 4' base board made at the moment, 9mm ply, lots of bracing and 6 legs, will cost about £100, don't know how that compares with uk costs. Here the temperature goes from warm and damp to cold and dry, with the aircon on, but I guess the effect is the same!

If you haven't purchased the wood yet I'd recommend going to 12mm if possible. Once cut, leave it for a couple of days then seal all the bits with pva glue before assembly. That is what we used to do in Canada with boards/modules that would be subject to 70c temp variations and humidity wandering from 100% down to under 20%.

[28XX]

Every time this comes up, I put in my two pennyworth.

 

OSB is a tightly controlled product. It is used extensively in the building industry and has a sensible, simple, standardised grading system. 11mm OSB2 is adequate for most home layouts with bracing at around 400mm spacing. True it's surface isn't as smooth as ply or MDF, so underlay should be 2mm minimum.

[Buhar]

I've been thinking about OSB as well, probably not for the trackbed but certainly for the sides/frames.  It's strong, durable stuff, and very resistant to temperature and humidity changes.  I suppose you could face the trackbed with 4mm ply or something, but that would seem to be a false economy.  If you wanted exhibition quality sides on view you might have to coat it with fablon or something, but for home use a slap of emulsion and it'll do. It's  made in Scotland too, which is a bonus.  

[Hippo]

I've been thinking about OSB as well, probably not for the trackbed but certainly for the sides/frames.  It's strong, durable stuff, and very resistant to temperature and humidity changes.  I suppose you could face the trackbed with 4mm ply or something, but that would seem to be a false economy.  If you wanted exhibition quality sides on view you might have to coat it with fablon or something, but for home use a slap of emulsion and it'll do. It's  made in Scotland too, which is a bonus.  

 

Not all OSB is made in Scotland :-).

 

However its cheaper than ply, even if you go for the better OSB3. You should be able to get an 8x4 sheet for around about 12quid (plus Vat). More than that and some one is making too much out of you.

 

I wouldn't fancy doing a show layout with 11mm OSB though, its not light.

[jetmorgan]

Whilst I've no experience of all the different sorts of ply's about I can make one suggestion. Go through the yellow pages (other directories are of course available) and find local cabinet makers as they may be able to advise you on good qualities of ply. We had one cabinet maker next door to us and they used to throw sheets of play in their skip...granted it sometimes was cut down to various sizes and had been used as a spray painting surface but with a bit of cleaning will be usable and is the sort of stuff they use for building high quality fitted kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms, added to that they also had sheets of MDF (various thickness from 12mm to 4mm) with veneers of good quality hard woods so you can make the edge of your baseboards look really nice without having to paint them or have exposed unfinished MDF or Ply, again they would chuck all the off cuts...some 2ft wide and 8ft long into their skip. Just go along and ask to rummage through their skip...and they may even be willing to trim to width or length if you bung them a tenner or a bag with some booze or sweets in it. 

[Junctionmad]

Whilst I've no experience of all the different sorts of ply's about I can make one suggestion. Go through the yellow pages (other directories are of course available) and find local cabinet makers as they may be able to advise you on good qualities of ply. We had one cabinet maker next door to us and they used to throw sheets of play in their skip...granted it sometimes was cut down to various sizes and had been used as a spray painting surface but with a bit of cleaning will be usable and is the sort of stuff they use for building high quality fitted kitchens, bedrooms and living rooms, added to that they also had sheets of MDF (various thickness from 12mm to 4mm) with veneers of good quality hard woods so you can make the edge of your baseboards look really nice without having to paint them or have exposed unfinished MDF or Ply, again they would chuck all the off cuts...some 2ft wide and 8ft long into their skip. Just go along and ask to rummage through their skip...and they may even be willing to trim to width or length if you bung them a tenner or a bag with some booze or sweets in it.

 

My own experiences are that cabinet and kitchen companies are not the best sources as they often have specialised particular knowledge and materials , rather then good general knowledge.

 

I have found that a search exclusively in the trade sections , tends to bring up plywood importers , these are the best places to start as they know their products. Typically they can direct you to specialists in your chosen sheet material if they themselves , don't carry what you need. In my experience , they are also considerably cheaper then high street diy chains, especially if you are buying in any quantity.

[melmerby]

 

I wouldn't fancy doing a show layout with 11mm OSB though, its not light.

Wouldn't be any heavier than 12mm ply though. That's pretty heavy as well.

 

A builder we use always puts OSB on the drive before the skip is dropped on to it!

(Not much use afterwards though)

 

Keith