I’m planning to start adding masonite fascia sections to my 4x8’ N-scale layout. The first one will be on one end of my layout, where large rolling hills will be, which cover two levels of trackage.
Here’s a photo and a Photoshop-rendered image of the planned fascia and hills:
I’d like to know:
How do I best cut out the contour of the hills? With a jigsaw?
How do I best cut out the “window” in the fascia (created for watching trains from my desk and for easy access for track cleaning, derailments, etc)? As you can see I need to make perfectly straight cuts, so a jigsaw cut would be nearly impossible.
If you’re planning to use 1/2 inch steel plate for your fascia, the jigsaw won’t do you much good. Fortunately, few if any of us use 1/2 inch steel plate. So, what is your planned material?
I use Masonite for my fascia. I’ve cut it with a jig saw, and with a circular saw. It makes a bit of a mess, but you can trim it easily with a hobby knife. Masonite is really just a heavy paper product. If you have the patience, you can score it repeatedly and eventually you’ll get all the way through with a hobby knife. To get a good edge afterwards, you can just sand it down.
Thanks…nonono I’ll definitely use masonite for this.I thought everyone used masonite anyway, so I assumed such. Thanks on the hobby knife tip, though I anticipate the whole scoring thing is gonna take a while.
Would you recommend I score on the smooth side of the masonite, or the rough side?
drill 1/2 or 3/4 " holes @the four corners then a straite edge and knife to connect the holes ,stonger and looks better. for the contour of the hills ,I’d reach for the roto zip moter tool w/ spiral bit ,steady hand and your in buissnes…Jerry
Jig saw or a Rotozip. A Rotozip bit will plung it’s own starter holes avoiding the need to drill 1/2" holes in the corners of the window like with a jig saw. Have someone hold a 1x4 as a straight edge while making your cuts. They’ll come out great.
Make your window large enough for reach in access to clean up track and derailments.
The top of the mountain you just free hand…Like God did…[swg]
There’s no reason you can’t cut that slot with a jig saw. Before cutting the hills, and when you still have straights sides, simple mark the window out carefully, clamp a straight piece of stock as a fence, and cut. Move the fence around for each cut until you’re done, and you should have a straight window.
If you’re using Masonite, and you have the correct saw blade, and it’s fresh, and you’ve supported and clamped your work well, you don’t even have to drill corners, just angle the saw in and let it get a bite.
I would cut it using my Skil saw and rip fence, but using a jig saw and a fence would be okay. The problem with the jig saw is that the blade tends to move to an angle when you turn it and the edge an look ragged.
One thing you can do is trim it. You can spend a lot of time and energy trying to get a perfect cut when a nice trim can cover all imperfections. It is why trim was invented.
I am with Chip on this one partially, first make your overall dimension cuts using a fine blade in your circular saw or table saw if you own one. Then draw out the basic shape of the mountain and cut that out with a jig saw. Make sure you clamp the Masonite to a piece of plywood or your work bench first
A jig saw has a tendency to vibrate the snot out of what your cutting because of it’s up and down motion and if the piece your cutting is not secure more then likely you will wind up cracking it. Unless your really proficient at using a jig saw I would get as close to the line as you can and then go back and trim out the final shape with either a coping saw or a utility knife with a brand new blade. I stress brand new blade as I have seen it happen more times then I can count when guys try to cut or score something with a utility knife with a less then sharp blade. Usually resulting in a trip to the emergency room. I can’t say weather or not this works as I’ve only been told it will and never tried it but being as Masonite is nothing more then a compressed fiber hardboard made mainly of paper if you wet it first it will keep a lot of the dust down when cutting it also is supposed to help when you cut it with a knife?
Cutting out the hole is easy as described by another poster drill hole in each corner and use your jig saw. What also works real well is a dremel tool with a cut off wheel.not the abrasive type but they make one that will cut almost anything even glass. I recently picked one up in Lowes and found it to be invaluable
Unless you’re using a jigsaw blade for meant for Arborite or a similar one which cuts on the downstroke, make the cuts from the back (rough) side of the sheet. Ditto when cutting with a Skilsaw or table saw. The utility knife is also a good choice, but, as mentioned, use a fresh blade.
