C and O - And so it begins!
C and O - And so it begins!
Well after a bit of a ****-up posting the first attempt at this topic I'll try again!
The C and O baseboards have begun their construction but the first thing I must mention is the new toy - a Compound Mitre Saw. How on earth I haven't invested in one of these beauties years ago I'll never know! So much time saved cutting timbers and knowing they'll have a true edge it is a totally invaluable piece of hardware imho.....well worth the investment
Anyways on with the build. I'd purchased the boards and the timbers some time ago but due to other factors nothing had happened so now a bit of normality has descended I intend to get on and get the boards done asap.
The layout is going to be four boards - two central boards of 5' x 2' each (which will be hinged along a long side so they fold down together) with two 4' x 2'6" boards at either end which will give me a 10' x 4' layout. It seems large I know but as I'm modelling an actual place I need 6' in the centre with the other 2' at each end to accommodate the return curves to the rear fiddle yard. I was originally looking at OO scale but 20' x 8' was a tad on the large size
I started with the centre boards. Using the new toy I cut the long sides and the cross pieces. I then laid them on the boards to ensure everything was ok.
To fix the timbers to the board I first pinned one end of a long side square to the board and then pinned the other end before drilling and screwing into place. I then pinned at regular intervals to ensure all was flush with the edge of the board before final drilling and screwing took place. Once the two boards were done like that I turned my attention to the cross pieces.
Knowing where the track would be I only needed holes for wires on one side so using a spade bit I drilled three holes at regular intervals. The cross pieces had all been cut a mm or two longer than needed so that a good fit could be achieved between the long battens by trimming and thus minimise any twisting that may occur when screwed in place. The picture below shows the two boards with the three central cross pieces now fixed in place. I'm leaving the end pieces for now as I want to marry them up with the side of the end board to ensure a good connection between boards but I've not quite decided on the best approach
So that's where I'm up to so far....I'm now off to apply the piano hinges
The C and O baseboards have begun their construction but the first thing I must mention is the new toy - a Compound Mitre Saw. How on earth I haven't invested in one of these beauties years ago I'll never know! So much time saved cutting timbers and knowing they'll have a true edge it is a totally invaluable piece of hardware imho.....well worth the investment
Anyways on with the build. I'd purchased the boards and the timbers some time ago but due to other factors nothing had happened so now a bit of normality has descended I intend to get on and get the boards done asap.
The layout is going to be four boards - two central boards of 5' x 2' each (which will be hinged along a long side so they fold down together) with two 4' x 2'6" boards at either end which will give me a 10' x 4' layout. It seems large I know but as I'm modelling an actual place I need 6' in the centre with the other 2' at each end to accommodate the return curves to the rear fiddle yard. I was originally looking at OO scale but 20' x 8' was a tad on the large size
I started with the centre boards. Using the new toy I cut the long sides and the cross pieces. I then laid them on the boards to ensure everything was ok.
To fix the timbers to the board I first pinned one end of a long side square to the board and then pinned the other end before drilling and screwing into place. I then pinned at regular intervals to ensure all was flush with the edge of the board before final drilling and screwing took place. Once the two boards were done like that I turned my attention to the cross pieces.
Knowing where the track would be I only needed holes for wires on one side so using a spade bit I drilled three holes at regular intervals. The cross pieces had all been cut a mm or two longer than needed so that a good fit could be achieved between the long battens by trimming and thus minimise any twisting that may occur when screwed in place. The picture below shows the two boards with the three central cross pieces now fixed in place. I'm leaving the end pieces for now as I want to marry them up with the side of the end board to ensure a good connection between boards but I've not quite decided on the best approach
So that's where I'm up to so far....I'm now off to apply the piano hinges
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
A Mitre Saw is an absolute must - mine was fantastic when building my baseboards and gave me a much better finish
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
i have been fitting the hinges to the central boards tonight
Using the router I made two shallow grooves along the joint....
......to ensure the hinges would sit slightly below the surface....
The moment of truth was when both boards were opened up!
There is a very slight mismatch at the bottom edge but as this bit is under water on the layout I'm going to leave it as is!
Using the router I made two shallow grooves along the joint....
......to ensure the hinges would sit slightly below the surface....
The moment of truth was when both boards were opened up!
There is a very slight mismatch at the bottom edge but as this bit is under water on the layout I'm going to leave it as is!
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
Really nice finish on that, the only thought would be both sides will now have track / bits on? So will it be harder to store?
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
Hi Alex, the plan is to have drop down sides to create a box.....thus protecting the contents.
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
Have been tremendously busy of late so progress has been slow but I'm getting there! The baseboards are all but completed, just a bit of support bracing to sort, so I've been concentrating on the legs.
I did quite a bit of thinking - and sometimes overthinking (tri-folding legs anyone?) - before deciding on the final option which was also probably one of the cheapest!
Staircase spindles!
The idea was to make all the legs identical so it doesn't matter where they go thus making the assembly of the layout much easier. I had decided on a dozen legs so all I needed to do was ensure they all sat square. Clamping half a dozen together I used the router to cut out the step........and repeated the operation on the second batch whilst the router was set.
Now the intention is to affix the bolts permanently in position on the baseboards so the legs just slide on to be secured with wingnuts. In order to achieve this I used my day job as an engineer to manufacture a drilling jig.....
....which is placed on the cutout to ensure all the holes in the legs are drilled in the same place and alignment as follows....
I'll then clamp the jig in the relevant positions on the sides of the baseboards to ensure all the bolts will be exactly the same.
So that's where I'm up to with the CandO baseboard construction.
Hopefully the next lot of pics will be of the legs in position and hopefully a pic of the whole baseboard
I did quite a bit of thinking - and sometimes overthinking (tri-folding legs anyone?) - before deciding on the final option which was also probably one of the cheapest!
Staircase spindles!
The idea was to make all the legs identical so it doesn't matter where they go thus making the assembly of the layout much easier. I had decided on a dozen legs so all I needed to do was ensure they all sat square. Clamping half a dozen together I used the router to cut out the step........and repeated the operation on the second batch whilst the router was set.
Now the intention is to affix the bolts permanently in position on the baseboards so the legs just slide on to be secured with wingnuts. In order to achieve this I used my day job as an engineer to manufacture a drilling jig.....
....which is placed on the cutout to ensure all the holes in the legs are drilled in the same place and alignment as follows....
I'll then clamp the jig in the relevant positions on the sides of the baseboards to ensure all the bolts will be exactly the same.
So that's where I'm up to with the CandO baseboard construction.
Hopefully the next lot of pics will be of the legs in position and hopefully a pic of the whole baseboard
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
Well I feel a bit of a milestone has been reached
After my last post I had a bit of a fun time fitting the legs! The basic idea was to make the legs interchangeable so when the layout is dismantled it doesn't matter which legs go where upon reassembly. As my joinery skills are just about passable I decided to get some adjustable feet to aid with the levelling of the layout. These were fitted in the standard way....
I also added a small nut and loktited (is that a word?? ) it in place to aid with any alteration....
To fix the legs to the baseboard I used the small jig I used to drill the holes in the leg to drill matching holes through which bolts were placed and hammered into position so that they held themselves in place. The legs were then affixed to the bolts from the back with wingnuts.....
It all ended up with a fully assembled baseboard - all 10' by 4' of it!
If there's one thing I'm a little concerned about atm it is the fact that there is a slight wobble effect so I now intend to maybe experiment with different leg locations to improve stability BUT it assembles ok so I'm happy
After my last post I had a bit of a fun time fitting the legs! The basic idea was to make the legs interchangeable so when the layout is dismantled it doesn't matter which legs go where upon reassembly. As my joinery skills are just about passable I decided to get some adjustable feet to aid with the levelling of the layout. These were fitted in the standard way....
I also added a small nut and loktited (is that a word?? ) it in place to aid with any alteration....
To fix the legs to the baseboard I used the small jig I used to drill the holes in the leg to drill matching holes through which bolts were placed and hammered into position so that they held themselves in place. The legs were then affixed to the bolts from the back with wingnuts.....
It all ended up with a fully assembled baseboard - all 10' by 4' of it!
If there's one thing I'm a little concerned about atm it is the fact that there is a slight wobble effect so I now intend to maybe experiment with different leg locations to improve stability BUT it assembles ok so I'm happy
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
The answer is triangles.CandO wrote:
If there's one thing I'm a little concerned about atm it is the fact that there is a slight wobble effect so I now intend to maybe experiment with different leg locations to improve stability BUT it assembles ok so I'm happy
The legs, or at least a selection of them, need diagonal bracing of some sort
https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&s ... al+bracing
Chris.
"It's his madness that keeps him sane."
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
Major decision made today. After assembling the layout baseboards earlier in the week I was very excited about it but, as the week has worn on, I've had a real rethink and have decided to reduce the size from 10' x 4'. One of the main reasons was it was a little tighter than I thought in the dining room as the gap between the boards and the surrounding items of furniture was quite a squeeze to get through and would certainly be difficult to work with. In hindsight I should of been more aware of this
Its not a complete 'scrappage' though as I'm using the two end pieces turned 90 degrees to make a more sedate 8' x 2'6". An extra 8' x 1' wide removable strip will be added for the fiddle yard. The back scene will now be attached to the two baseboards permanently and will double as part of the casing structure as well as being the means of attaching the fiddle yard, which in turn will form the casing opposite the back scene.
So, photo attached of the new baseboards (minus fiddle yard boards atm) and some track laid out (not the actual layout as such )
Its not a complete 'scrappage' though as I'm using the two end pieces turned 90 degrees to make a more sedate 8' x 2'6". An extra 8' x 1' wide removable strip will be added for the fiddle yard. The back scene will now be attached to the two baseboards permanently and will double as part of the casing structure as well as being the means of attaching the fiddle yard, which in turn will form the casing opposite the back scene.
So, photo attached of the new baseboards (minus fiddle yard boards atm) and some track laid out (not the actual layout as such )
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
Still around chaps Have been ironing out a few kinks in the board construction - making sure things line up correctly, constructing the back scene boards etc. Hopefully get some more pics up soon so you can see the progress which, although slow, is progress!!
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
Finally got around to the pics!
So, as I said in my last major post I made a decision to reduce the board size and I'm quite pleased with how its turned out.
I decided to go with a fold-up Fiddleyard at the back so as to reduce the size when the whole thing is collapsed thus making it easier to handle and transport and store. This first photograph shows the first half as its being assembled and fixed in position. The next photo then shows the second half being fixed in position using the first half as a template to ensure both halves were level with each other (hence the left hand side still needing to be trimmed off)
The next couple of photo's show both sides trimmed off and then in the folded up position. I haven't fixed on any catches yet to keep them up which is why there's a G clamp there!
(continued in next post)
So, as I said in my last major post I made a decision to reduce the board size and I'm quite pleased with how its turned out.
I decided to go with a fold-up Fiddleyard at the back so as to reduce the size when the whole thing is collapsed thus making it easier to handle and transport and store. This first photograph shows the first half as its being assembled and fixed in position. The next photo then shows the second half being fixed in position using the first half as a template to ensure both halves were level with each other (hence the left hand side still needing to be trimmed off)
The next couple of photo's show both sides trimmed off and then in the folded up position. I haven't fixed on any catches yet to keep them up which is why there's a G clamp there!
(continued in next post)
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
Finally there's an end view showing the main part of the baseboard and the fiddleyard in situ and then a pic showing the holes cut in the backscene board for the track....
The next job is to assemble the raised trackbed so I feel like I've reached a milestone
The next job is to assemble the raised trackbed so I feel like I've reached a milestone
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
Just a brief update. Started the raised track today, just the left hand side curve but a start nonetheless
So here you are, a couple of pics
Comments gratefully accepted
So here you are, a couple of pics
Comments gratefully accepted
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
Nice start ! Maybe more pics and updates
Re: C and O - And so it begins!
Rolling Now !!
I like the scenic opportunities offered by having your track raised above
board datum. Just make certain it has enough supports to prevent sag
as & when you add moisture for scenic work.
(Edit Comment)
Should we not now move this to Layouts Under Construction ?
Geoff T.
I like the scenic opportunities offered by having your track raised above
board datum. Just make certain it has enough supports to prevent sag
as & when you add moisture for scenic work.
(Edit Comment)
Should we not now move this to Layouts Under Construction ?
Geoff T.
Remember ... I know nothing about railways.
http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Fo ... 22&t=32187 and Another on http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Fo ... &sk=t&sd=a
http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Fo ... 22&t=32187 and Another on http://www.newrailwaymodellers.co.uk/Fo ... &sk=t&sd=a