Plywood thickness for layout ?

On 25/09/2005 18:47, snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com wrote,

I use 6mm for my boards, which if built correctly gives you all the strength and rigidity you need.

Hi

My exhibition layout uses 6mm ply for lightness although if you are building a permanent layout 9mm would also be suitable.

Nick

I've used 6mm MDF for the baseboards on the layout (N scale) I'm building for my son. Seems to be cheaper than ply, gives a more even smooth finish, and (to some extent) is quieter than ply IMO

Malcolm

Nick Gurney wrote:

As others suggest, 6mm is fine. But why use 2x1 for the frame? Much better to use the ply cut in strips about 10cm wide, with diagonal pieces in the corners to make a rigid, light, structure. The merchant will saw some strips off the board for very little cost, and they wont warp. You can build "pockets" with it under the board to take support legs.

Ken.

6mm suitably braced is more than enough, our portable layout is a tension box faced both sides with 6mm, when the fixed one is finished the portable will become a gluing up table in my woodworking shop its still, after 5 years, totally flat.

"Paul Boyd

3/4 inch. But then, like all North Americans, I build my model railway like the preverbal brick outhouse. :-)

-- Cheers Roger T.

Home of the Great Eastern Railway

In message , Roger T. writes

I wish I had followed that advice. My layout is tinplate O (you know - Marx, Lionel etc.), and the board is standard British 6mm ply, well braced. My American friends all said that it should be thicker, and there would come a time when it would need to take my weight. Americans build their layouts to be walked on. I didn't, and regret it.

Ken Parkes said the following on 25/09/2005 21:57:

Absolutely. I hadn't spotted the using 2x1 bit. Don't do that because you boards will warp. The *whole* board should be made from thin ply, not just the top surface. Make sure the top surface is well supported by cross-members. You might want to use 9mm for the top, but there is no need for that on the sides. The other advantage of using ply for the side members is that you can make the boards deep. This gives clearance for Tortoise point motors etc,, gives you room to drop the ground level below rail level, and most importantly gives more rigidity.

An alternative to using diagonal corner pieces is to use glass fibre bandage used for car body repairs, although I haven't tried this myself. It should be lighter still, but how light does it need to be?

And talking of ply, you are much better off buying it from a timber merchants, where 6mm ply should be 5-ply (or more!). The typical DIY shops tend to offer what is effectively ply outer faces with a centre "ply" of mush. This stuff is bloody awful to use!

A good reference is to have a look at Barry Norman's or Iain Rice's books about small layout design, from Wild Swan.

For plans of how to design a baseboard built like this yourself visit

I admit the design is a couple of generations behind the type we now use but the idea is the same.

Elliott

snipped-for-privacy@nospam.ntlworld.com

In a way, following on from Elliot's geodetic design, is Dick Gandertons ply and glass fibre tape design which I applied on these boards.

The next step was to get away from the use of glass fibre tape and resin - it's a bit expensive and needs a fair bit of care in handling.

So the next idea was to use bandage and glue, or a glue like No More Nails to replace the glass fibre tape and resin and two small boards were made.

the No More Nails did work OK, but took several days to harden up, whereas the bandage and glue board was solid within 24 hours.

The opportunity was also taken to get away from the Flat Earth appearance of the traditional baseboard and the two boards featured above were used to provide an open top base for a small 7mm layout

The method is fairly cheap and easy. It required very basic carpentry skills since the tape and glue method can cover a multitude of sins yet still give a satisfactory product.

The lywood used was the typical cheap and nasty stuff from B&Q, etc. and it has worked OK. The larger boards made with the glass fibre and resing were made several years ago and they are still as good as the day they were made.

As for whether we want light baseboards or not, I did notice the ease with which I could, single handed, stand large lightweight boards on their side to do wiring or point mechanics installations, something I might want to avoid with more tradtional heavier methods of construction. And moving a lightweight layout around usually results in less damage to the layout since the mass is more controllable.

Jim.

Jim.

Not just Americans! Here in Australia I built mine (900mm x 1500mm) with 12mm ply braced with two longitudenal dexion girders about 300mm apart. Sides are 80mm deep 12mm ply. This is fairly light in weight. It was put through its paces a few years ago where the layout was stored in a garage for 1 year during a house move. The temperature ranged from 0 degrees c at night to 56 degrees c by day. The boards were not affected at all, but then they were kept dry.

Graham Plowman

Thanks to all for the useful advice, that I will study carefully. What a great group !

Cheers.