Benchwork Construction

Freshly cut Baltic birch plywood ready for processing. Drills ready for pocket holes

Pocket holes cut

Assembling the first benchwork table

Thanks for stopping by!

Yannis

Nice clean cuts. How did you

Nice clean cuts. How did you make those angled holes for the screws?

My comment...too much scenery

My comment...too much scenery is the right side is too wide; way too much urban scenery for the size room. If you narrowed it down a "street," there would be no real loss of the urban feel.

Kreg

Angled “pocket” screws look like Kreg joinery.

Looking real good Yannis

If you are a scenery guy like me you’ve got a lot of fun ahead of you. I think the dimensions of the room have been obscured by the boundary lines. What are the dimensions?

I took a closer look, Rick

I took a closer look, Rick and they are 17 x 18.5.

Thanks Dee

That’s really a good size. Big enough to get lots done and not so big as to be overwhelming. This old boy can only dream of space like that. Go get’m Yannis!

Rick, that's the size of a

Rick, that's the size of a micro condo/suite.  I'd love to have that space and create a branch line like Trevor's S scale layout but with more vast areas.

Thank you all!

Deemiorgos, thanks! Following Dave's correct observation, I got a couple of pocket hole jigs (Kreg and Wolfcraft) in order to make these pocket holes. They do drain cordless batteries fast!

Mark, you are right, the urban right side area could be narrower but I have already compressed the distance from Colorado boulevard to the tracks on the back by a few blocks already, and more importantly, all of these modules are going to be a part of a much bigger picture in which the urban part will be more proportionate to the rest of the rural layout.

Rick many thanks for the motivating feedback! Like you, I really like scenery indeed and photos of your great work are an inspiration to me. Room dimensions are indeed as Dee pointed out 18.5'~19' X 17'.

Kraig Pocket Hole Tool

Yannis,

First off thanks for posting the photos of the benchwork wood.  I have been debating on the Birch Ply or going with the "good ol 1x4 pine".  However I didn't like the fact of putting the screws into the face of the plywood due to low structural integrity.  But seeing that you are using something like the Kraig Pocket Hole system, which I have, that makes perfect sense and would make a very strong glue & screw joint.

Jeremy Brown

Don't leave us in suspense

Don't leave us in suspense dear Yannis; can't wait to see pics of your progress.

Hey Jeremy and Deemiorgos,

Hey Jeremy and Deemiorgos, sorry for being late in replying back to you. Just posted a new update on the blog.

Jeremy thank you very much for the reply. Indeed the pocket-hole / plywood combination results in a VERY stock framework in comparison to pine.

Looking good

Looking good. I like the concept. 

Thanks Redp!

Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words.

For an update on the benchwork progress, see the next blog entry:

mrhmagcom/node/32185

Pocket holes

How is the pocket hole and screw system superior to just ordinary joints through the fascia? Looks like just a lot of extra trouble. 

Kreg joinery

I was wondering the same thing initially dmikee but after thinking about it a bit, the joint is probably tighter and more secure because it is biting into the cross grain of the wood rather than in to the end grain of the plywood. 

Kreg joinery

While the pocket screws catch all face grain, the screws themselves can only penetrate the plywood a little way (or they come through).  With a simple butt joint, a longer screw can be used, overcoming the advantage of all face grain.  And bear in mind that the plywood is not all end grain because of the different directions of the grain in the plywood itself.  Then there is the problem on the material shifting that typically occurs when the pocket screws are driven in.

As far as material, plywood is preferable to 1 x 4 lumber because plywood is more stable. While not everyone has access to a table saw there are cabinet shops that would be willing to rip plywood to desired width. It costs a little more and it's not readily available in home centers, but a paint grade birch or maple with a domestic core is the best way to go. The imports like Chinese birch are not worth using. They warp and bow all over the place when cut into strips.  Check with commercial plywood distributors and ask for D3 or E4 domestic maple or birch. The maple or birch are just the face veneers; it is the core that makes the difference.  Again, cabinet shops can help source this material if necessary.

Remember this route well

While living with my Grandparents and Aunt in Monrovia in the late '40s my aunt was taking a trip to Jackson, Michigan, to visit relatives (via El Capitan). We drove to the station in Pasadena for her to board. The route comes up from the L.A. station and passes through Pasadena and goes on into Arcadia via Colorado Blvd. Last I looked the rails were still there. In Monrovia the house was on the north side of Huntington Dr. - in passing through Arcadia, the rails cross over Huntington Dr., then runs parallel to Huntington Dr. for a few miles. Shortly after crossing Huntington Dr., it runs about 1000-1500 ft. south of Huntington Dr. - as a youth this was always a thrill for me as the rumbling of the train would shake the house. The Santa Fe depot at Arcadia has been relocated to the Rail Giants museum at the Fairplex in Pomona - until recently, the home of the UP 4014 Big Boy.

There was a great amount of light industry near the Pasadena depot, so it would be a challenge to compress.

Thank you Bill for your

Thank you Bill for your reply

....and the very interesting info from past! Monrovia has a great looking depot still standing (but not operational).

I tried to replicate the industrial clustering south of the depot by concentrating more than half of my layout's industries (4/6) in that area. I ll also include 1 or 2 non rail served industries to complete the picture there.

I also need to update the trackplan picture with a new one in which i have made some refinements on the sidings.

I prefer biscuits

And not just for breakfast!

While not everyone has a plate joiner and a finish nail air gun, I used both on my 30x20 double deck layout with open grid plywood frame.  No predrilling holes for the screws and won't come apart once the glue dries.  Once you get a system for marking the ends and cross pieces, the plate joiner makes quick work of the biscuit slots.  Insert biscuit, glue and shoot a couple 2 1/2" finishing nails in and you've got a solid joint.

Mike

Glued Framework

My preferred method of building a frame is eggbox construction fixed by fillets of resin. The resin can be epoxy or polyester, as used for boatbuilding with sawdust filler to create a thick filler.  This is as for boatbuilding and I have used it to build a few.  The result is enormously strong and a poor fitting joint is almost an advantage as allowing the resin into the joint more readily.  

The ply can be very thin.  I use 4mm.  As it is then reinforced with flanges.  A yard can use a complete sheet for the top surface but the lower flange can be 1" wide strips and the same can be used for the top flanges for a skeleton framework.  Obviously the strips can be continuous in only one direction.  I'm a Scot and would never sheet it out and then cut holes through as I have seen in some articles.  The solution is either to make the webs deeper in one direction that the other so that the flanges can cross over each other or to add diamond shaped pieces to provide through strength.

The method of construction is to mix a small amount, start off with say half filling a flat container as used for dips and splashing it on quickly to wet the wood following it by quickly stirring in wood filler which is spread along as a fillet using a wooden spatula.  Use flat containers to encourage the heat loss and thus slow the reaction and start off with small quantities because you look a right fool if you mix a small bucket which heats up almost before it's fully stirred and gets so hot that smoke is rising and the bucket melts.

Archie

Plywood Construction

I am currently constructing a stand-alone two level layout using plywood.  Mainly using PVA glue and 18g brad nails.  Also using pocket screws in some areas.

Santa Fe bridge over Huntington Dr.

This is looking east on Huntington Dr. (historic Route 66) toward 2nd Avenue. This bridge would have been crossed by rail traffic coming off of Colorado Blvd. a few miles from Pasadena. In the picture to the left a few hundred yards would have been the 1st Ave. Santa Fe Depot. This bridge still stands. (My grandparents house would have been short of one mile further east.) You might also note the classical style street lamp to the left of the bridge abutment. Arcadia is one of the older communities in Southern California. Looking to the west behind the camera short of a mile is the famous Santa Anita Race Track.

[attach:fileid=337006_28_qvWX+qH+6P61QH//2QA=]

Cucamonga, is such a great

Cucamonga, is such a great place name there is no way for this not to be a success!