club

Our club used Masonite. .It did not take white glue well. Some also use Luan or pine strips.It is supported vertically about every 18".We used Homosote for roadbed.

been a while....but...

loved the first phase roadbed on my layout.    My blog has a couple pics of this method.   It is simple and very efficient with materials and how it forms both vertical and horizontal easements.

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/18913

don't have a lot of time to talk about it right now, but will try to check in later if you have some questions.

I am using masonite.  1/4

I am using masonite.  1/4 inch thick 1" tall pieces.  My minimum radius is 30"  I had some issues with the pieces snapping if bent too sharply.  If you have tighter radii you can try the 3/16 thick.  It does take some practice to get right.  Buy lots of cheap clamps from harbor freight.  USE WATERPROOF GLUE. 

I was given a whole stack of 2'X4' panels 1/4" thick.  I tape 3 pieces together and rip to 1" strips on a table saw.  OUTSIDE.  lots of dust.  Wear dust mask.

So far I like the results but you really need to have a good track plan.  You can't just move the track around like on plywood or foam base.

Steve

How many 1/4" layers?

@Steve aka choops: I love the flowing look! Please tell how you lay these up. 

1. Do you wet the strips first?

2. Are risers placed before or after the spline is layed out?

3. What scale are you building and how many layers are used? (Had you considered spacers)?

Thanks!

Neil

I did not wet the strips

I did not wet the strips first.   They do bend pretty well.  I can try tonight to see if they bend better.

I built the splines directly on the benchwork and I will go back and add the risers later.

Ho scale.  there are 5 full height splines glued together and the a chamfered spline on each side to make the roadbed.  so 7 total pieces.  I was going to use spacers but I could not get the spline to hold its shape well  and I would have to put roadbed on top or the ballast would fall to the floor.  The material is cheap and I think is easier to just make it solid.

Steve

Here is a link to my facebook

Here is a link to my facebook railroad page.

https://www.facebook.com/steve.krass/media_set?set=a.10204608198199226.1073741830.1662755162&type=3

Steve

I uses a bit different

I uses a bit different system.

I use two strips of masonite with a 3/4" wood spacer the two more strips of masonite.  My risers are cut down to fit between the massonite at the top.  I then put a layer of homasote flat on top of the assembly.

I screw down into the 3/4" spacer blocks (the blocks are 3/4 x 3/4 x 1" tall, spaced about 8" on center)  I glue the homasote to the masonite and once the glue is dry I pull out the screws.

This is strong enough that it will hold my weight and I am 250 lbs.

It is simpler to build, saves masonite, gives a good connection to the risers and gives me a homasote top that I can spike into.

-Doug

I used Masonite

I applied yellow woodworkers glue liberally.  It was a bit messy with glue squeezing out but the splines all adhered very well to each other.

This was my first time using spline roadbed and I like it a lot.

Tempered vs Untempered

I'm just starting a new layout after 30 years away. I used to use untempered because it took glue very well. I can't find untempered anywhere. What are you fellows using and where are you getting it? I can't find any 1/4 " either. I really wonder about how well yellow glue will adhere to the smooth side. Blayne

What I used...

My spline was actually cut from and old sheet of good one side, wet process hardboard, (screen pattern on the back side) that had been painted on the smooth side.  I used a wire brush to scuff the smooth side before gluing.  I used liberal amounts of glue and have seen no issues with adhesion to date.

Based on the information here, I would expect the tempered will laminate just fine.  I would rough up the surfaces and use plenty of glue.

Regards,

Masonite

You guys using masonite: are you gluing flex track on top of the roadbed? Masonite would be pretty hard if you're spiking track.

At our club we use strips of clear pine to make spline. Easy to cut on a table saw into strips (outside the layout room; obviously any form of power tool for cutting or sanding should be used outside the layout environment) and the pine is soft enough to take spikes easily.

I used 1/4" MDF, six ply.

I found the six plies to be about right, but I could have gone with only five.  MDF doesn't take track nails easily, so I would use cork or homasote roadbed glued to the splines.  With cork, you don't have to mill your spline edges because cork roadbed comes with that handy feature already.

Spline roadbed does a truly excellent job of your easements, both vertical and horizontal.  Its a bit of work, but it does quite quickly when all your MDF/masonite strips are 6-8; long!  Be careful placing your risers.  Don't screw them into place against the supports and joists until you have your grades figured out and your curves just right.  Clamp them instead.  Once you see your sub-roadbed spline path looking right, then you can do the screw insertions here and there.  Once any three splines are glued and dried, though, you are hooped if you need to make an adjustment on the risers.  So, keep your eyes roving and get down to eye level often to view along the spline path.  Your instincts should tell you when you are going astray and not meeting your design specs.  Figure it out quickly and then let the splines dry.  Screw risers down later, although they can be adjusted slightly up and down if needs be.

Also, consider imparting your super-elevation along your curves by clamping the still-wet splines to each other, and also clamping them to a sturdy screw driven into an appropriate place on your risers.  If you wish to super-elevate, simply tilt the riser's bottom end one way or the other a few degrees.  Easy!.  Super-elevation is too often overdone, so just a couple of degrees or three.  Don't put a lot of strain on the screw driven into the riser top, or onto the glue that wants to set.

I have been using atlas track

I have been using atlas track nails.  The splines are on edge and take the nails really well.

Steve

What spacing do you make the

What spacing do you make the risers? Is 24 inch spacing on the risers ok for both masonite and homasote?

-Mike

24" centers seems a little

24" centers seems a little too far apart to me.  16" centers has always worked well on my builds.

Steve

Here's a re-post from 2012: I

Here's a re-post from 2012:

I used 1/8"  masonite spline.  I ripped whole sheets in a radial arm saw, so the thickness was very uniform. 

I supported the spline about every 12 inches, because I was doing curves, so I had no trouble with height variation.  Where it was straight, I spanned up to 2 feet, but had some 1x to push each piece against when I applied it, to keep the tops even.  

I wiped the glue off the top when wet, then hit it with a plane.  Then it was smooth enough for cork roadbed. 

Look out on curves.  The splines being applied at curves flick glue around wherever you haven't covered or protected.

Regarding the layout frame members close together, I have acquired a 12v Ryobi cordless screw gun with a low profile battery, that lets me drive screws in 9-10" space.  My larger gun requires frame members at 16 inches on center.

As you can see in the photo below, I used spline on the flowing S curve on a grade, but plywood for multiple track straight areas, and you can just see in the back at the corner, I precut, cookie-cutter fashion, some 90 degree plywood sections for corners of the room.

And you do need a good supply of clamps.

Another past post with some info

I finally found it:  I had posted questions in 2011.  It's here:  https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/spline-clamps-12187687

If you look carefully at the first photo, you see how I started.  At each riser I set a nail on the centerline (under the black clamp).  Then glued the first two splines, one on each side of the nail.  After that, I just kept adding one to each side.

The post has a lot of info from a variety of "spliners" on clamping and other binding methods.  Enjoy speading, splattering, and flinging glue.  

What I did

I used 3/16" tempered hardboard (the kind from Home Depot that's rough on one side), assembled with yellow wood glue.  After getting teh top more even with a belt sander, I added cork roadbed.  The location pictured has an industry spur installed to the side of the spline.  I only made the spline roadbed roughly as wide as the cork.

A nod for Homasote...

I'm part of the crew that helped construct (and now operate) Gerry Alber's Deepwater District of the Virginian Railway. He chose to use homasote splined roadbed for his layout. I can't begin to tell you how many 4x8 sheets of homasote gave their life during the build phase. We used a table saw to cut the strips and yes this is a very messy process. Do yourself a favor and make sure you do this step outside....

I can't remember if the homasote was 1/2", 5/8" or 3/4" thick, but we use 3 strips in the middle and each of the two side pieces were cut with a 45 (?) degree sloping face to help form the taper of the ballast.

Originally I had my doubts about homasote, but no more.... It glues up easily and accepts track nails with ease. We found that we had to let the homasote go through one heating and one cooling season to become dimensionally stable - even after we sealed it with latex paint.

The homasote was largely installed 2003 - 2007, or thereabouts, and now the track-work is bullet-proof. No movement, no kinks, no derailments, nothing! It also does a good job with sound-deadening.

Here is a link to the Deepwater District homepage. Click on the "construction" link at the top and you can see quite a few photos over the years that show the homasote splined roadbed and how it was installed on risers screwed to L-girders.

http://www.deepwaterdistrict.com/

Enjoy,

Paul Mac

Spline roadbed

About 6 years ago I did a spline roadbed following JF's suggested method in his video. Except, I just used 5 layers of 1/4"x7/8" without the 45 degree ballast profile edges. (just lazy, I guess, (wink). It worked great! I used yellow carpenter's glue, surform planed the top after it was all dry, and grey latex caulk for the flex track. The natural free-form easements and grade transitions were beautiful to watch trains on. I recommend it for main lines and indeed for all track work except yards. John Colley, Sonoma, CA

Using Pine lattice with spacer blocks

      I tried tempered hardboard (masonite), but the glue mess was just too much in gluing the 7 layers to get a wide enough roadbed in HO.

    Prior to trying the hardboard, I used 3/16 inch plywood which I cut to about 1 inch strips; then used 3 strips separated by 3/4 inch thick blocks of pine about 1-1/2 inch long which works well for for gentle curves and straights. The blocks were placed about every 4 inches which gave a sturdy sub roadbed about 2-1/4 inches wide. Spans of 24 inches to thirty inches long were well supported with little deflection. I mounted 1/2 inch homasote about 2-1/2 wide on top of the spline roadbed and then shaped roadbed from homasote  (Homabed) on top of the 1/2 inch homasote.

   Now I simplified my spline method by using pine lattice a nominal 1/4 inch thick, 1-3/16 inch wide and 10 or more feet long that I get from Home Depot. It is in their wood trim section of the store. For standard gauge I again use 3 splines separated this time by 1/2 inch thick plywood blocks 1 inch wide by by 1-1/2 inches long separated along the splines by perhaps only 1 inch this time  (thus more blocks used). The separator blocks are flush with the top of the splines. This gives me a sub-roadbed about 1-9/16 inches wide. I then lay directly on top of the splines (and separator blocks) the Homabed roadbed.

   For narrow gauge I use just 2 of the lattice splines separated by 3/4 inch pine blocks about 1 inch wide and 1-1/2 inches long mounted flush with the top of the spines. This gives a subroadbed about 1-1/8 inches wide. Instead of the messy homasote, I am laying 5 mm thick O scale cork sheets sliced into 1-1/2 inch strips directly on top of the spline and then upon that I will lay N scale cork roadbed for the HOn3 flex track.

   All the spline components  are glued with yellow carpenters glue (Titebond red label) but  I often use construction glue (the long tubes of glue used with a glue gun) to attach the splines to the vertical supports particularly for curves. I cut slots into the supports wide enough for the finished spline to fit into, and glue 1 spline into each vertical support. Next I glue a layer of separator blocks against that first spline, and then the next spline and so forth. The homasote or cork material including Homabed or cork roadbed are glued using adhesive latex caulk. Flex track is also glued with adhesive latex caulk.

  The great thing about splines is that it allows you to design track curves with natural easements. I can get down to 24 inch radius curves with the pine lattice splines which are really only about 3/16 inch thick as long as I carefully bend the spline slowly so it slips into the slots of the vertical supports.

   Yards and the like use 1/2 ich or 3/4 inch plywood or 1 inch pink or blue foam upon tempered 1/4 inch hardboard for the subroadbed. The I will lay cork or Homabed on top of the plywood or foam.

John

Masonite spline

When we bought our house, about 2/3 of the basement was panelled with an ugly dark printed 1/4" Masonite paneling. One of my first projects to ready the basement for trains was to replace that with 1/2" drywall. Since i was brought up to not waste anything that could be re-used, with the help of a couple friends, I cut the panelling into 3/4" strips.

Those strips have been used on 3 people's layouts now. One of them had a helix (another of which I am also constructing as we speak). I use yellow construction glue between the rough backsides & adhesive caulk between the smoother frontsides.

I use Homasote roadbed in the open areas (I do spike track) but use cork in the hidden areas where the prefab track is glueddown.

All of us that have used this have been completely happy with it.

Dave Beidle

St Louis

Homasote splines

For those of you considering Homasote splines, I'd suggest saving yourself a mess and just using drywall screws to laminate the splines pieces to one another.  No pilot holes are necessary - just use a cordless screwdriver.  

Besides being a neater method (and downright therapeutic to build, in my experience), this allows your splines to be completely reusable.  I had a UP-based layout that was underway in the late 1990s, and the splines were finished.  I switched to modeling the IAIS in 2000 on the same benchwork, and reused every inch of spline material in the new configuration, even though the track schematic was completely different.

Homasote spline

I second Joe's comments about just using drywall screws.  I have helped build 3 or 4 layouts with homasote splines and all were just screwed together no glue.  It is particularly good method if you are going to handlay your track, you can just spike right into the splines.