i do not know about using

i do not know about using sheets for general track. but it does work great for the yards. or most any place where many tracks are close and no “drainage” is required.

math ok

ncut                  457
cost/sq in roadbed  1.78 cents
cost/sq in sheet    0.43 cents
cost / strip  0.27 cents

Cutting for under track

I previously made two jigs - one that cut it full width so ~ 1.75" and one that cut half widths for curves.  So you ended up with basically the same thing you buy from the store except the shoulder was not angled.  You could make a jig to cut it with the angle; I just used a rasp to knock off the corners once glued down.

Cork road bed

To All,

Being in Nscale, have found something for the roadbed issue.....

IKEA sells cork placemat sets under the name of AVSKILD, sold under article number 402 818 54 and are  Usd 5.80 per pack of 4 sheets.

A sheet measures a 16.5 x 13 inches and are a 1/8 inch thick.

My roadbed is a 20 mm wide some 3/4 inch I guess....so from one sheet I cut 16 widths , which I split in the middle, just one light stroke with a Stanly or Orfa knife, the separating cut all the way through.

Like that I can make curved roadbed, by tearing the halves apart, the shoulder slope will be formed after the glue down, using a sander blok along the sides.....

A set of sheets produces 4 x 16 x 16.5 inch gives a 88 linear feet......devide that into the 5.80 usd/package......

Now for the costs per linear foot, it comes down to a  6 dollar cent......have not figures out the HO scale version of this one, albeit the thickness of the bed may require a double layer of cork to reach a 1/4 inch thickness....

Anyway, it works for me, the price is right and if there is a oops moment, the palet knife is your buddy, statrt cutting some more sheets....

Have a nice day,

Dredgeboater

Better to be roughly right, than to be exactly wrong......

4 foot by 50 foot roll

That would make a lot of HO roadbed. If you figure 2 inches wide per strip that would be 6 strips per foot times 50 =300 strips  times 4 feet =1200 feet of track. Depending on the layout size a 25 foot roll might be enough? I used cork for my S scale layout, I bought shorter rolls from ebay and needed four or five IIRC to finish the job, spreading the cost of the 4 or 5 rolls over a couple years . A nice side benefit of using sheet cork instead of pre cut cork roadbed is you can cut out one piece cork bases for your turnouts instead patching together bases from roadbed strips....DaveB

Cork road bed

To All,

Being in Nscale, have found something for the roadbed issue.....

IKEA sells cork placemat sets under the name of AVSKILD, sold under article number 402 818 54 and are  Usd 5.80 per pack of 4 sheets.

A sheet measures a 16.5 x 13 inches and are a 1/8 inch thick.

My roadbed is a 20 mm wide some 3/4 inch I guess....so from one sheet I cut 16 widths , which I split in the middle, just one light stroke with a Stanly or Orfa knife, the separating cut all the way through.

Like that I can make curved roadbed, by tearing the halves apart, the shoulder slope will be formed after the glue down, using a sander blok along the sides.....

Now for the costs per linear foot, it comes down to a 12 dollar cent......have not figures out the HO scale version of this one, albeit the thickness of the bed may require a double layer of cork to reach a 1/4 inch thickness....

Anyway, it works for me, the price is right and if there is a oops moment, the palet knife is your buddy, statrt cutting some more sheets....

Have a nice day,

Dredgeboater

Better to be roughly right, than to be exactly wrong......

@ctxmf74 - 50' roll?

Menards does not have 50' rolls and what I've found on ebay is way more expensive.  $123 isn't too bad if it is one time purchase that should last the entire layout.

I used 1/8 inch sheet, for

I used 1/8 inch sheet, for yards, and spur tracks, in industries. My mains use standard cork roadbed, and I lay it on top of the yard, so as to give me a higher track for it. Hope that helps.

Taz....

Sheet cork roadbed

I've been using sheet cork roadbed for over 30 years and have always been happy with the results. I use 3mm (equivalent to 1/8"), cut the sheets into 1" wide strips and use carpet or cork tile adhesive to glue it down to my plywood road bed. For HO, I glue the two strips side-by-side following my track centre line. Once I am satisfied everything is running OK and just before I ballast, I then run along the end of the ties with a single-sided razor blade cutting the cork at roughly a 45 degree angle to give the roadbed a prototype like profile. Especially here in Australia, it works out heaps cheaper than the commercial pre-cut product.

Where do you get 1/8" - 3mm sheet cork?

@ Daylight484 and @BNSF-FAN - where doyou get 3mm sheet cork?   Daylight484 i see you are in Australia so unless you are ordering on line I probably don't have the same sources you do.  It would be good to have 6mm and 3mm for mainline/sidings or just for options.  I can get 3mm on ebay but again it is a bit pricey there.

Cork suppliers

Hi Steve,

Here in Australia some of the hobby shops and craft shops carry it. But, I normally get it from the Portugal Cork Company in the Sydney area. As a sign of the times, their website shows 3mm "out of stock", but other thicknesses are currently available. Unfortunately, for you, the costs to ship from Australia are ridiculous.

https://www.portugalcork.com.au/cork-sheet

I just did a quick Google and found a North American supplier

http://www.corkstore.com/Products/Cork-Sheets-CR117/CR117-Cork-Sheet-3mm

They have a toll free number, so it may be an idea to give them a call to check their stock & shipping costs to Indiana.

Don't overlook auto supply stores for cork sheet of various

thicknesses.  Long before we started using cork for roadbed in model railroading, cork was one of the go to materials for making gaskets.  A professional mechanic will still need cork on occasion to make a gasket that is not available for some reason.  I was a refrigeration mechanic in the trucking industry for 40+ years and every shop that I worked in had rolls of cork gasket material in case we needed a gasket that we could not get pre cut.  I have a small ball peen hammer in my tool box that was bought and used exclusively for gasket making.

Cork rolls on Amazon

I got my 4'x50' roll of 1/4" cork underlayment from Amazon with free shipping. Was $108 a few years ago when I bought it, now $125. I needed some for installing laminate in my basement. The remainder is in storage for my future Free-mo modules roadbed.

https://www.amazon.com/QEP-72000Q-Natural-Cork-Underlayment/dp/B0026SRGQK/?tag=mrhmag-20

This seller also has 1/8" thickness and 25' rolls.

Thanks @Yaron

Thanks for that link- there are so many sellers on Amazon that was helpful.

Works great...

I used 1/8" and 1/4" cork rolls for my layout. Amazon Prime, free shipping. Works perfectly. 

Randy