Do I have to paint my benchwork with primer/paint in order to preserve the wood over time? It’s indoors, dry, and with little temperature/humidity change over the seasons.
I build my L-girder benchwork from 1x2 and 1x3 pine (not sure if that was smart: it’s light and soft and easy to work with, but might warp over time – but using plywood seemed expensive and ripping it would’ve been hard to do myself)
No. Your wood will harden and turn darker over time, just as it does naturally everywhere when it is exposed to oxygen and otherwise left untreated and protected from insects, excess humidity, excess heat, etc. I have never treated the surfaces of my benchwork, and it looks great six or seven years on. Fifty years from now, as I said, a bit browner or yellower, but that’s about it.
Crandell
x2
The dry conditions with little change in temp mean there’s no need to worry. If you had large swings in humidity, then it might be something to consider.
On the other hand, when building things, if you do have supporting benchwork that needs to look good, it’s easier to paint it when not under the layout than to get underneath later. That’s simply a matter of convenience, however.
You only need to paint to protect your layout from changes in humidity, which makes the wood expand and contract. Plays the devil with your track!
If you don’t have humidity issues, there is no need to paint unless you just want to.
I agree. For outdoor stuff, paint is a necessity. Indoors, in a temperature and humidity controlled environment, paint is cosmetic.
On the other hand, I really think it makes the benchwork look a lot better.
My layout is in a quite stable temperature basement, but it is not controlled… so I sealed the benchwork.
Gidday, as the others have quite rightly pointed out in your case painting to preserve is not required, it pays for me to do so, the bonus for me being that the white primed underneath of the layout is a lot friendlier to my aging eyes when carrying out beneath the layout work like wiring etc.
Cheers,The Bear.
Much of the wood in my benchwork has been recycled from earlier layouts that are 15+ years old and some of it is over 30 years old and never painted. As others have noted, if it’s inside in climate control you should be good.
Enjoy
Paul
In a reasonably stable environment the only thing I might do is, if your surface is plywood, put a sealer on it so that the moisture from scenery work doesn’t effect it. If you put a layer of paint on then sprinkle on the first layer of ground foam, that should suffice.
Good luck,
Richard
As a woodworker and furniture maker for the last 30 years, I have found that all wood moves with temperature and humidity changes in a normal house. How much movement is dependent on several things.
wood species
how the wood is sawn relative to the grain
how the wood was cured
the dimensions of the individual piece.
the temperature and humidity changes
Given all of that, and the different methods of layout construction, the problem of movement may or may not be an issue. My last layout was built on the L girder framing and cookie cutter plywood sub base. The L girder framing was sealed with a sealer coat of paint. and the plywood was unsealed. I didn’t perceive any problems with the layout and it was in a finished basement with no humidity control in the house. The next layout will be done as torsion box (five sided plywood) sections with plywood joists inside and a homasote sheet on top of 1/2" plywood. Given that the sections will be on wall mounted shelf supports, the entire box section will be sealed and painted to match the wall color of the bedroom that it will be in. I was taught by a master finish carpenter many years ago to seal all sides of a wood project to minimize movement and warping over the years, even plywood. I will seal the layout sections with thinned shellac. It is inexpensive and very water resistant. Latex paint is not, but with the shellac primer, it won’t matter. If you are building a large layout, this may become a burdensome process, but it is your choice.
My layout has been in the garage for 10 years now and I’ve never noticed any problems with humidity or tempurature, so its really a question of cosmetics, whether you like the bare wood look, I have added some paint the the top fascia peice, but that was mostly to cover pencil marks, patched holes etc.
My layout has been growing by fits and starts in its present home for seven years now. The forest products incorporated are unpainted (but some are partially coated with latex caulk.) Of course, the forest products only account for something under 25% of the total structure, confined to subroadbed directly under track.
The other 75% is steel, which is also unpainted. It IS galvanized, and the dessicated desert seldom has humidity measured in more than one digit. Even the oldest pieces aren’t showing any sign of rust.
That being the situation, I see no reason to paint for any reason other than imparting color (to fascias and scenic elements.) It ain’t broke. I see no reason to fix it.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I painted my previous layout, because the previous owners of the house left a gallon of black (!) paint behind, the black helped hide the legs and stuff, it wasn’t to do anythign about humidity, since it was latex paint and that doesn’t ‘seal’ anything. That basement DID have wide humidty swings, but I never had a problem - the wood only supported the extruded foam that the track was laid on, and the foam doesn’t move.
This time I didn’t bother, the only thing painted is the top surface, all painted an earth brown so no pink will show through if the are any sparse areas of ground cover.
–Randy
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