here’s an idea for cheap tough quick fascia for your benchwork. I bought 150mmm-wide, 5mm-thick garden edging, made from recycled plastic - the stuff you run along the edge of garden beds to keep the mulch in. it is hard, black, very tough (although the surface will scratch and scuff - it is not hard like acrylic, more like hard PET-A). And cheap: 20m roll for 25 tiny New Zealand dollars.
It would be hard to paint, but the point is you don’t need to. It has a rough-hewn look, not shiny. but that is good: focuses attention on the layout not the fascia.
It bends well. i screwed it on with drywall screws, covered with little plastic caps sold for that purpose.
I cut it with a Stanley-knife. This is hard work, it is very tough. A saw might be better but a knife makes no mess.
I cut openings for Digitrax outlets and for a turntable controller. It took screws for the Digitrax panels beautifully, no drilling, held firmly. The turntable controller is a press fit: the plastic is hard enough yet with just enough give that press-fitting works beautifully. It is easy to trim slivers off with a knife to get the right fit.
i will contour the upper edge in places, but the strip is pretty narrow (150mm = 6"). Not suited for layouts with very thick benchwork but perfect for my shelf-layout.
I will also use it for the lighting valence above.
Do you think it will eventually crack along those hard right-angles in the 2nd picture? That would be my biggest concern about the material. Thanks for posting the idea.
It’s about a dollar a foot and it is available in 48 inch pieces and in 20 foot rolls at most stores that sell flooring, including, but not limited to, Lowes and Home Depot.
They usually have 3 or 4 colors in stock but if you special order it, it comes in LOTS of colors.
Professional installers cut it at inside corners, and use a knife to make it thinner at outside corners.
Good point. I don’t think so but only one way to find out
Great idea. What’s the edge of the vinyl like? Does it need finishing? Is it brittle? the garden edging has a slightly fattened and rounded edge and it is very robust (a bit too robust if your head meets it when under the layout )
If I say so myself, i think it looks pretty good now the lighting valence is attached to the edge of the upper deck (made from the same stuff) and i have put some curtains in
It might be a bit hard to obtain out here on the outer edge of the planet but for US readers I’d say go for it. It’ll have the durability, and gets away from the Henry Ford colour range. Check it is hard enough to provide its own edge
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