Ok il admit it, im a sucky carpenter. Every kind of benchwork i have ever tryed to make has failed me by being unevan or lopsided. the onely kind of benchwork i know how to make is the 1x4 frame with a plywood top on it, its never been easy or reliable to put together and move when needed to. What would be a easy type of moduler benchwork?
The layout i am going to build will need to be able to be taken down and move if needed. I was thinking of going out and buying small colapsable wood top tables about 2x4 feet and screwing a larger plywood top of it at least for the main body of the layout, but then i have never seen a table over 36 inches high so that wonk work. I need the layout to be at least 48 inches high minimum as it will be for a N scale layout.
How about a hollow core door? They come in 28 to 42 inch widths I think. Most are a little over 6 foot long. Lay a piece of one inch foam on top if you want the scenery to go below track level some.
Or build a frame out of 1x2’s and cover it with 1/4 inch Luan plywood and then put a piece of one inch foam on it.
I agree with Elmer’s idea of a hollow-core door. You can usually get seconds at lumberyards and places like Home Depot. You don’t necessarily have to cover it with foam if you feel comfortable using the Woodland Scenics foam system or something like that. Anyway, then all you have to do is cut the legs and some gussets. Just put a good sized adjustable bolt in the bottom of each leg so that you can level the thing. Indeed, you but these doors together like dominos as your layout progresses.
I’m basically doing what was suggested, not the door but the modular. I live in an apartment in NYC and don’t have room to keep a layout set up. So I decided on a modular layout. It’s n scale 42"x82" total broken into 4 equal parts. Building the 4 table frames with 1x2’s as a simple box with a joist (correct term?) down the middle (short length) topped off with 1/4 inch plywood. That will be topped with 1" foam for extra strength and as was mentioned to get some scenery below track level. The frames will be bolted together in several sections. The only thing I am worried about is sagging in the middle. I will probably add a fifth leg for better support that bolts into all 4 sections. All legs will have adjustable bolts for making sure the table will be level.
Bought all the wood over the weekend and I’m going to start building this weekend.
Hmm thats a good idea useing doors but can you still use things like under the table swich machines and motorized turntables? How would you attach legs to it as well?
What I did is buy a set of folding table legs from a home center, and a few pieces of 1x4 lumber. I cut the 1x4s to the width of the door, and then figured out where the folding legs would be attached. Then I screwed the 1x4s to the door. (Note that with a hollow-core interior door, the only places screws will hold is around the edges, and maybe across the middle of the door.) After this, I gave the door and the 1x4s a coat of latex paint. Finally I attached the folding legs.
If you wish to extend the height of the legs, conduit, pipe, or wooden rods of appropriate size can be inserted into the folding legs.
When I build modular sections, I try to arrange the framing so the “open” sections are no larger that 18 inches square. So as an example, for a 2x4 section, I would frame up the perimeter, then add three cross braces. One in the center, and the other two dividing the remaing end sections. Then put one stringer down the middle. I notch out the pieces as necessary so they all fit flat and inter-lock with each other. And I glue it all together with liquid nails. I know that is a lot of work, but it is strong after it dries and won’t sag. Even our water based scenery methods won’t affect it. For longer sections, say 8 foot, you could use 1x4 for the perimetr and 1x2’s for the center bracing, although a 1x4 down the center length wise may help more in that direction.
Like I said, you need some lettuce to afford either, but it might be worth it in your case. It sure is for me; I can’t cut a straight line to save my life with a miter box and a square. And let’s not even talk about level.
That looks neat but at the moment my budget is at a big o’l $0.00 so i will probubly end up tryng to make the normal 1x4 framework with plywood and foam top.
Do you have a miter saw? That one tool single handedly cured my “wrong length blues”. It made it very easy for me to quickly cut same length pieces to assemble. I have also gone to classic L-girder benchwork which is not picky at all about slight variations in cutting and joining. Not so good for modular though.
I think, as others have suggested, you give a look at using doors, perhaps mounted on top of L-girders. In David Popps “Building a Model Railroad Step by Step” book he goes into detail about using doors to build a sectional n-scale layout this way and it looks like a great way to do door construction. He runs most of his wiring and such on top of the door under a layer of foam scenery. I think that the “preview” in the Kalmbach catalog actually shows images from the benchwork section.
The easiest I have seen was, I think, the “Carolina Central” MRR article where they did what someone talked about above, fastented folding table legs to a door and used foam core scenery to make a fairly portable if not modular layout. Its what I should have done as a teen when I was using a door flopped on top of an old un-used pool table.
Good luck, I hope you find what you are looking for!
Well, they say Jesus was a carpenter, which probably explains why so many of us use His name a lot when we’re building benchwork. Carpentry isn’t my strong suit either, but if you apply the same patience, care an planning that you would when building a car or structure from a kit, you can get through it.
That said, I built a simple wood frame, using 1x4 lumber for the outer frame, and 1x3 cross-pieces. The diagonal bracing is 1x2, and the legs are 2x3, with 3/4-inch triangular plywood gussets. My 2-inch foam layout base sits on the cross pieces, inside the outer frame and thus protected from bruising and handling.
I bought a gadget for holding 2 pieces of wood firmly at right angles while you fasten them. It’s designed for making wood frames (like picture frames, etc.) but it works for benchwork, too. Like Chris, I use a mitre saw to get good square cuts.
Everything is screwed together, not glued, both for strength and to allow it to be separated. After I took the picture, I removed the legs and carried the 5x12 foot frame upstairs to the train room. I easily lifted it with 1 arm. It’s very light.
You can see the wheels on the legs. This is a free-standing table layout, and it rolls out from the wall to work on the back. The structure is rigid enough to do this, even on a carpeted floor. The open frame beneath the foam allows for easy wiring and under-table installation of switch machines, too.
Thanks a nice looking table. I have a bunch of tools including a compound miter saw, a electric nail gun, a bunch of craftsman 19.2 volt power tools including a drill, a handheld cercular caw and another saw i cant remember its name at the moment. I also have a table saw but i have yet to put it together and a scroll saw but i lost the little plastic key to turn it on. I guess it wouldent be as hard as im thinking to build the frame work i need ranging from 3’ x 5’ to 1’ x 5’.
You should consider the Linn Wescott book “How to Build Model Railroad Benchwork”. I think Amazon has it for around $12. I found it tremendously useful.
