For a cleaner job on the boring, don’t forget to clamp a scrap block to the joist before drilling w/ that forstener bit. It will split out the back for sure.
Cory, I know you are well past this stage, I mention this to hopefully help others
Always a good idea to assemble on horses or some other form of flat bench. When working in a position on the concrete garage floor, you may assume that the concrete is flat. Before screwing the plywood top, you have the ability to check the frame for straight and that it is not wracked. Once deck is attached it can be very difficult to remove any twisting or wrack of the frame. Any shimming of the frame can easily be done and is more obvious on a bench or horses. Believe me, I had built a few cabinets on what I “Assumed” to be perfectly flat–Not…
Edit: There is some good benchwork ideas in the Oct 11 MR for the wall bracing. Pg 42 of “Going High Tech” shows how the arched 3/4 ply braces are used. Really quite the layout…
Thanks Bob, yes i seen the article. I would use a back up block when using any larger drill bit as break out is pretty evident. Yes I did not build on the garage floor i assembled on a pair of HCD doors i use as an assembly bench when wood working and then assembled it primarily with pocket hole screws. It was a series of leveling and shimming as i installed it.
Finally have a track plan to post of the layout. It is hand drawn, I don’t have time to learn one of those software programs. The camera bent the image a little but it is square
The left side is the phase 1 section and is 10 foot by 2 foot , the center section is phase 2 and is 15 foot long and the right hand side is phase 3 and is 9 foot long and is yet to be built along with a portion of phase 2 bench work. The layout is HO scale and using the Power Cab from NCE.
The layout will feature fall scenery as i love the time of year and you can use lots of color and will feature the terrain of Council Bluffs… which has many wooded bluffs. Council Bluffs get’s it’s name from the bluffs where the many Indian tribes would gather in the bluffs and hold large council meetings. The back side of the center section will feature a large bluff with a mainline section running through it to connect one side of the layout to another and offer some good scenery for photography. Anyway, a little look at what i am planning.
I wholeheartedly agree that garage floors are not flat. Something to remember though is saw horses can sometimes amplify any inconsistencies in the floor. Given the size, or weird shapes that some of our benchwork is. That can make it hard to build on a proper workbench and the floor or sawhorses is the only alternative.
I had to build mine on the floor. Though it is not portable, it was built to be movable, and thus built to my specs.
One way to make sure all corners are square and everything is level is to use corner clamps. I also have “T” clamps I used them on everything.
My largest bench is 18’ x 6’ and was built on the garage floor. Everything was perfectly level and square before gluing and screwing, but only because I used these clamps.
Well this weekend I big plans on laying the cork and getting the wiring done and working on a locomotive but as it turns out, I am slow! I got the cork done and that was about it. Wiring is next. Here are a few pics with the cork in place. I used N scale 3 x 30 pieces to keep it on a low profile.
Thanks for looking as always. And you can follow along with my blog at: http://www.rrincb.com
