Ductwork usages

After finishing my basement, I had some leftover ductwork and this weekend I put it to use.

I was constructing a helix and cut out curved sections of wood to go 1/4 of the way around the circle. To join the pieces together, some advocate putting a piece of wood over the joints. However, this greatly adds to the thickness.

The solution I came up with is to cut strips of ductwork (using straight, left & right hand snips) and wrapping the joint with this; then running machine screws in to hold it in place. If you do this, ensure you round the edges of the metal as you can get a nasty gash (I still have scars from high school shop).

Other usages I found for the ductwork is repair patches for tinplate structures on my 3-rail layout. I use rivets.

Has anyone else used ductwork for purposes other than ductwork?

Dave Vergun

In my new railroad, I’ll be using circular ducts (like for clothes dryers) sawed in half as the East River tunnels leading up to my Penn Station.