Good job

Nice!

Clean & Sharp A+Workmanship

Very nice Job George! Great for walk around control of turnouts.

Laminate controls

I also use laminated drawings.

To save drilling the laminate I print off another copy of the drawing, with the holes marked on, stick it to the wood backing (tape will do), drill a small hole through the centre of each marked hole (it doesn't rip the paper). I then follow with the correct size drill. After cleaning up the holes I put the laminate in place, a light behind the holes will shine through the holes and laminate to aid positioning. Then I cut the laminate holes with a small knife, the holes in the wood guide it.

Mike Ruby

Crossover is the Main

Good observation.  Normally the crossover should be a red button in my scheme of things.

However, in this case, the crossover is the Main. The upper track to the left of the crossover and the lower track to the right of the crossover are "continuous run" connections that are not used during operating sessions. 

Originally, the crossover was a single switch coming off the upper track.  An astute reviewer of the track plan noted that adding the lower right track would create a continuous run from Windsor to Loveland for the normally point-to-pont Great Western. It was a great idea (thanks Jon) so now I can have two trains (C&S and GW) running continuously for open houses and layout tours.  

Wow, what an outstanding idea..........

......that falls into one of those "why didn't I think of that" categories!! 

For years we had a place called Cadillac Plastics nearby and they sold all kinds of sheet plastic, acrylic and Lexan which were pretty expensive large sheets.  However, lucky us, they had a box with scrap pieces we could get for a song.  My favorite was opaque white acrylic which I used to drill and stripe with automobile pin striping tape (another item that joined the do-do bird and slide rule).  Alas, Cadillac is out of business, too.  Made pretty nice panels. 

On my current layout I was going to use clear acrylic (which one can get anywhere) over the top of the track diagrams printed on paper.  Your idea is much better as you can apply it on curved sections and don't have to take all that care drilling the acrylic or Lexan to avoid chipping or crazing-slow-slow-very light pressure!

Pelle Soeborg uses painted aluminum but I'm not super comfortable with a conductive panel as I generally soldered every connection and if using a whole bunch jumper wires, used non insulated wire.

I love this forum and the sharing of great ideas.  I'm working on sharing my headlight reflector/lens idea as well as a cheap and nasty turntable drive.

Thanks,

Peter

Like'em

Nice panels George. Large, easy to read, easy to understand, easy to manufacture. Well done.

Thanks

for all the nice compliments. As a former electrical engineer, I try to continue my goal (usually looked down upon by former bosses) of KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). 

Fascia Control Panels

Local sign shops are good source for materials for a variety of applications. They often use a lot of sheet aluminum which is lightweight, thin and easy to work with. Cut it on your table/radial saw with a carbide blade. The also have sheet plastic and sometimes Gator board scraps. My favorite is a material that is plastic honeycomb material sandwiched between two sheets of aluminum. Strong, lightweight, rigid and easy to work with. It is only about 1/8" thick but very rigid. 

Gives a new meaning to dumpster diving when you can 'recycle' it to the layout.

Also, check with sign company suppliers like Midwest. http://www.midwestsign.com/ I bought a 4x8' sheet of black gator board with a couple of small dings in it for under $40. It is enough for several layouts. In fact, I am laying my whole yard on a 2x8' section of it. Then I can cut out the base for the roundhouse, coal tower, etc, build them on my bench and drop them back in their original whole. This sits on a 3/4"x3" plywood frame and 2" EPS foam base. Very rigid and no expected movement with humidity - not like we have that in Colorado anyhow.

Very nice George!

Too much work

Hi Mike,

Drilling the laminate is no big deal and I think the file would do a better job than the sharp knife. 

Prior to using a file to enlarge the slightly undersize holes, I would drill the correct sized hole then use an exacto knife to clean it up. The masonite didn't drill cleanly and the laminate had slightly ragged edges.  Plus the drill tended to pull both the masonite and laminate so the edges of the holes were a little thicker. It was hard to clean up with the knife blade. 

Using a file really cleans up the hole nicely and is much quicker than digging around with a knife, IMHO. And it's a one step thing. 

Easy Clean way to cut the Finished Laminate No Slips or Tares

When you drill or cut with a knife you can rip the holes open or the knife can slip.

To fix it and cut those holes in a fool proof method you need to make a simple tool.

 Your standard hole punch normally will cut holes that are too small or too far into the laminate for a standard hole punch to reach.

Next time your at your favorite Hobby shop and or hardware store they all have a tubing rack with small 1/64 up to 3/4 inch rigid brass, steel, and aluminum tubing. Pick the diameter just as close to the size of the threaded end of your switch and just slightly bigger and buy a couple 12 inch long lengths. Take them home and using a razor saw cut them into 4 sections 3 inches long. If you use a tube cutter it will roll the ends into a smaller diameter.

After you have the 8 sections of tubing sharpen one end of each tube along the outside edge until it's close to razor sharp. I find 240 grit and 340 grit emery cloth works best. Once sharpened lay the laminated on a piece of wood and using a small hammer just lay the sharp end of the tube over the spot you want the hole and tap it a few times lightly so you don't distort the laminate and it will cut a clean perfect sized hole for you switch to fit through.  The reason for having all 8 tubes sharpened is so you don't need to keep running back to the sand paper and eliminate the need to resharpen just one every few minutes. it's easier to resharpen all of them at one time once they all are dull.

I have used this little tool many times with a number of different shapes like square, oval, star, and round with expensive wood laminates and plastics as thick as 1/8 inch thick and it works every time as long as you use them when sharp.

When punching the 3/8 round holes for those push button momentary switches you should be able to get 8 or 10 punched before needing to switch to the next sharp punch.

Dan

My Lovely Holes

OK, so we’re having a contest about how to make the best holes in a laminated control panel.  

I’m not a big fan of knifing them and I’ve tried using a punch (store bought, not homemade).  I’ve had difficulty getting a punch properly centered (my problem, I’m sure) and the punch didn’t seem to punch very well (probably a lack of a suitable backing surface and not a big enough hammer).  

I offer Exhibit A for my method of drilling and filing. The hole on the right was drilled with a 15/64 drill (just undersize).  Note the ragged, raised area of the laminate.  The hole next to it was quickly filed with the file in the picture.  It took all of 30 seconds to make the hole the right size. Note the clean edges. .  Filing also allows me to slightly adjust the position of the hole if my drilling was not perfect even though I center punch and use a smaller drill to start the hole.    

Now that's a sweet hole!

Great Idea!

George,

I recently finished the yard panel for my west end staging yard and I was looking for an alternative to the dry transfer lettering that I have used in the past. I searched the MRH forum and found this post, and in short order I realized I had found the solution. The photo below shows the completed panel.

I printed the descriptions in Word on two pages and took them to Staples for lamination. I then cut them to size and glued them to the panel. Cost of the lamination, paper and ink- about $3.00. Having a nice looking panel that was super easy to put together- priceless!

Thanks for the idea, George- it's this type of information and sharing that makes the MRH forum such a great place.

Tom Patterson