That’s what I was thinking. I wouldn’t want to mess with that for benchwork. And it is more expensive anyhow.
I use 3/4" oak veneer plywood for my benchwork. I cut it into 3" wide strips, which gives me 15 strips, or 120 linear feet of lumber. Even though the plywood is expensive, it’s a lot cheaper than 120’ of halfway decent 1X4 pine.
I’m helping build a new layout and we are using 40mm x 20mm (= ex 2"x1") batten material (=furring strips) for all construction. Legs are two pieces to form an L girder. The actual L girders might be a bit light, not sure yet how far to span them, but if need be we can easily add another strip to make an L girder equivalent to 80mm x 20mm web plus a 40mm x 20mm flange.
Reason for using the battens is that they are inexpensive here, and straight.
Bagal
I built a 4x6 layout using L-girders made from totally from 1x2s. I turned the L-girder flange to the bottom instead of on top, then used 1x2s as the joists between the L-griders. Then cookie cutter plywood on top.
The L-grider is very good at preventing the 1x2 from warping.
Fred W
…modeling foggy coastal Oregon in HO and HOn3, where it’s always 1900…
My 1x3 benchwork is completed. I coated it with a polyethylene stain, two coats. The other thing I had done was to let it acclimate to my cellar for about 6 months,
laying it down on 2x4s with weights. It is all straight and true lumber, nice and dry. It’s topped with 1 and 1/2 inch solid foam insulation. The legs are 2x2 with two cross braces and are set back about 6 inches so you won’t hit them with your feet. The stringers (16" oc) are blocked to help prevent future warping, and add strength as a centerbeam. It is quite strong, though I would not want to walk on it!
The cat loves walking on the benchwork! And sleeping on it! I think she likes the pink solid foam color. She sllpes between the tracks. I still wouldn’t want to walk on it myself.
For years I’ve been buying the best 3/4 Oak plywood I could find and ripping it into the widths I desired for various projects. Not only is it less expense it is also diminsionally stable and stronger than a 1x4. The Kreg tracksaw is my friend,…
-Mike in NC,
Years ago I used to build a lot of things using 1x4s since they were cheap. One spec that stuck in my mind was two 1x4’s laminated together are more than twice as strong as a 2x4 for the same weight. For one special 5x40 table project (with 10 ft spans) I even searched out warped 1x4’s to use as one part of the laminated support. Once glued and squared the table was assembled with two stringers. The table was solid and in the twenty plus years it was in use it was solid and never sagged.
-Mike in NC,
Not sure if the link will work but I created this modular staging layout to run trains just for fun while I continue to build a much larger layout for a permanent space.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/194659410@N08/52985382150/in/dateposted-public/
It’s two 4’x6’ 3/4 inch panels framed with 1x3’s and stiffened with cross bracing. The use of 1x3’s was intentional because they are lightweight for moving these panels around the basement into storage.
Though they could self support, it would be sketchy supporting weight or leaning on it, hence cork and trackwork are installed with it on the floor. When I’m running trains this will be set on top of my 40" X 12’ long work bench.