I wish to raise one oval of my sons layout on some kind of pier arrangement and was thinking about cutting out two pieces of 6 mm MDF board to the shape of the track and supporting it with dowels. My concern is will the MDF be flexible enough to allow the slope / curve ?
Unable to get the flexible 'grove cut' MDF in this area so any ideas. The Hornby raised piers are a waste of time in my honest opinion !
It would be except ... If you screw it to the dowels it will bend, but the other end of the surface the dowels are attached to had better be rigid enough to withstand the force applied! ;-) Better to go for 3mm or 4mm maximum.
Lay the track on the MDF, mark the edges and cut with a jigsaw. You can make the trackbed in sections so that you don't use an entire sheet but remember that if you want a vertical curve you'll need the MDF trackbed in one peice for at least a sectional track length either way past.
I had to face a similar problem in order to have any continuous track. I used 10mm chipboard as it was easier to cut the many curved sections and if necessary extend the width using underside beams glued into place. I initially posed the track on slices of 6cm x 8mm timber in order to get the correct inclines and to await the inevitable settling / sagging. After the adjustments it was just a case of drilling through the new trackbed and glueing in 6mm wood rodding to act as permenent pillars. This has been successful for almost 12 months. As the pillars are free standing it allows under packing to compensate for further settlement ( my old place is 450 years old and wanders about from time to time!).
The transistions are handled with fill made from glue and sawdust or plaster. Negative transitions lend themselves to planing and sanding sometimes using the short section approach (the angle involved for a
1:35 is only 1.7°).I had to face the realities of warping when my base (19mm marinised chipboard) showed such tendencies when supported over 3 ft spans laterally but with longitudinal support throughout. The 10mm has no scenery to support and I have no need to crawl over it ( as I do with the main base), so it is much happier.
Regards
Peter A
I have posted a few pics to show my ideas. It may be a short while before fotopic publish them.
Peter A
Thanks for the suggestions !
My original idea was to cut two pieces only, one for each curved ramp, which would then attach to a viaduct I made earlier this year. I may glue a piece of timber under the raised track bed to form a 'T' to strengthen the bed.
To allow for settlement how about using large nuts glued to the underside and using cut threaded bar as the supports ?
Thoroughly enjoyed the slide show, Peter. Given me something to think about !
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