cruiseaholic Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 Building a new baseboard and am confused by differing opinions on constructing a lightweight baseboard. base board size 2.44M x 70cm in two halves. Looking at building framework using ply sandwich method ie thin lengths of ply with softwood spacers. Any comments greatfuly accepted. Regards Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stuartp Posted March 8, 2011 Share Posted March 8, 2011 I used foamboard for this, it's 900mm x 600mm at the wide end: The outside edges and the top surface have been laminated double thickness, the rest is single. I added ply to the ends to take the dowels and clips to join it to the adjacent boards, and subsequently added more ply to the sides. Pro - it's very lightweight, and construction took a couple of hours with no sawing, drilling or noise apart from the ply ends, and the materials were free. Con - I used No-Nails for the joints, it is great sticking flat surfaces but any butt joints need reinforcing to give more area for the glue to grab. The sides were easily deformed and I finished up adding 4mm ply down the sides just to stop them getting bashed about, although in hindsight this was probably overkill and 2mm would have done. It gets moved about a lot (this particular board is in the way of a door when set up so has to be set up and taken down every session) and I have to be careful picking it up by the ply ends to avoid ripping them off the foamboard. Also, the stuff goes banana-shaped very quickly if left anywhere near a radiator. It was a lot easier to work with than plywood though, you just have to be aware of its limitations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted March 12, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 12, 2011 I used the ply sandwich method on an exhibition layout and it worked well. Particularly effective for a curved front as you can make a curved beam. However You need some diagonal bracing to avoid twist. I have since found it quicker to use a 6mm ply top with 33mmx18mm softwood framing but use two diagonals making an X which make a strong thin board. See my thread in layout topics for an X frame base. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted March 12, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted March 12, 2011 I tried it for a small diorama and found that the amount of bracing needed to ensure that it stayed straight was surprising. The other thing that I found was that if you are going to paint it make sure you do both sides to prevent warping as the paint shrinks the paper surface. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseaholic Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 Thank you one and all, plenty of food for thought. Regards Chris Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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