It could be snowing

The worst part is that white glue doesn't work when its that cold.

Its always good to make progress.

Brrr! That is -1C. You are a

Brrr! That is -1C. You are a tough guy.

Been There!

Living up here in Minnesota, and having recently put my table saw out in the garage to avoid getting so much dust in the house, I know what you are going through in building the benchwork outside in the cold. 

I'm glad to hear you're doing that though.  I won't be the only one in railroad land that the neighbor's look out of their warm houses and wonder what that crazy nut is doing! 

Nice looking benchwork.  Locomotive storage is always a challenge for us modelers.  Will be eager to see new developments on your layout as they unfold.

Is there anything better ?

maybe some hot chocolate or hot toddy? .....DaveB

and why didn't you just assemble it inside the nice warm house piece by piece? 

It was cold, no doubt.

Thanks, everyone. 

It was cold and all I could think about is why I hadn't been more motivated when it was in the 60s -70s or even just the 50s? Oh well, the girl scout fireplace. You know the one where you flip the switch and the gas logs turn on, sure felt nice and helped thaw me out. 

My buddy wanted to take the saw downstairs and I was like... "you're crazy ! I don't want sawdust on everything". 

I feel like this is going to be an awesome return loop. I'll update this post as I get more done.  First, I will need to weld the steel for the support. Once that is done, I can get the benchwork in and start laying spline. I am using masonite spline and laminating all that spline takes time. 

. . .

Having the wood on hand and not having to go out and purchase it  

What !,,,  You did not have 3' if snow to contend with. No reason to complain

Marc

Masonite Dust

Cutting all that Masonite can create a lot of dust as well !!   (I know very well as i cut my roadbed in my helix out of masonite)

In So Cal a cold day is in the 50's,

But I think you should have brought the wood inside after it was cut.  Let it sit in the layout room to aclimatize before putting it together.  It may change shape or warp when it warms up.

You ought to try the "other" 30 degrees

Hi kirkifer, all

You ought to try building in the driveway when it tops the "other" 30 degrees in the shade (Celsius not Fahrenheit)

You need something like this 

 or you turn into a sunburned grease-spot on the driveway very quickly. If it's only 30 in the shade, then its a whole lot hotter without the shade...   (where did I leave my pitchfork??)

You'd also be surprised at how quick and how far everything can expand in direct summer sunlight.    Hence the need for the gazebo. 

Good Stories . . .

Come from bad experiences. 

Or, as you noted: "It was cold and all I could think about is why I hadn't been more motivated when it was in the 60s -70s or even just the 50s?"

"Good judgment comes from experience; experience comes from bad judgment."

But, you moved the project along. Looking forward to this. 

A native Texan, here...

Guys, 

I am a native Texan who got moved north... By a girl...

I miss my home, but it is nice here in Indiana. One thing I absolutely do not miss is that terrible heat most of the year. 

Interesting thought on the temp. changes with the wood. I have no interest in bringing sawdust in or the chance of spilling PVA glue on my really nice carpet. Believe me, there are enough scares and close calls with the Gorilla Polyurethane glue I use for the scenery foam board and the PVA used for gluing the masonite spline to last an entire lifetime. 

There are a WHOLE lotta drawbacks from using masonite. Glue spillage as I am gluing spline together is a real pain, not to mention getting nasty looking quick clamps. Then there is the uneveness no matter how careful I am which means I have to cut it into sections and carry it outside for the belt sander. 

BEFORE SANDING

AFTER SANDING

The absolut biggest drawback is all the sanding and cutting dust. Goodness that stuff is everywhere. Wear your N-95 for sure. There is no telling what is in this stuff. 

So, why do I use it? I have laid about 50' of subroadbed and I still have only used about 1/2 of a 4'x8' sheet. The last time I went to buy plywood (I use Oak or Birch to make dimensional boards for benchwork) it was about $50.00 per sheet. I couldn't believe how insane the prices have gotten. 

If you want to get some crazy

If you want to get some crazy looks, try cutting down foamboard to fit in the car, in the home depot parking lot in a nor'easter.

Is there anything better?

Dear MRHers, 

When using Foamcore indoors, 
(zero mess, smell, noise, or powertools reqd)

You can build benchwork during any outside air temp...

...and yes, there's nothing better...

Happy Modelling,
Aiming to build layouts, not worry about weather,
(or noise, dust, mess, smell, or "outdoor/workshop grade" tooling),
Prof Klyzlr

Now that would be interesting to see...

Someone building a basement size layout using foam core instead of wood - that would be an interesting sight. Especially the first op session where two people try to squeeze past each other in a narrow aisle...

Belt sander - add a shop vac

Hi,

the bench-work is looking nice!

As for using the belt-sander (or any motorized sander) - I've found that I get better sanding action when I attach the shop vac.

The belt sander is good in getting the dust away from the work surface, but without the shop vac it will get a lot of the dust "once around and back in"... With other sanders, e.g. the random orbital one, I find they clog up quickly.

Adding the shop vac to the dust extraction port will get *a lot* of dust out. To the point that there is very little airborne dust (even indoors). That is with a small shop vac.

The household vacuum will do the trick, but I find the larger dust bags of the shop vac more convenient. Especially with the "robotic" feature of my small shop vac (it turns on only when I turn the machine on that is plugged into the shop vac).

Fun fact: Since I bought the shop vac a few years ago, it has become the second-most used power tool I own. After the cordless drill/screwdriver thingy.

Have fun and stay healthy!

Since you asked the question ...

Yes, there is something better; cutting wood wood and building when it is in the 60's or 70's.  I'm a big wimp when it comes to extreme cold.  No thank you!  And yes, I lived in Indiana for a few years and it got so cold I had trouble starting my VW Rabbit!  Too darn cold in that part of the country!

I've been trying to get most of my wood cut and benchwork up during warmer weather.  I try to avoid as much as possible doing any of that kind of work out in the cold, probably because I grew up on California and cold has never agreed with me much!  

Past few months I've been cutting subroadbed for the mainline and part of the branchline which will run under part of the penninsula at a lower level.