Now that (mostly) all of the unpacking from the move is done, it is finally time to start working on my layout, though the track plan is in progress, I am already putting thought to the structure of the benchwork.
I plan on building the layout using hollow core doors, 30x80, with foam mounted to the top. One of these doors will be operable by itself and portable for use at my club’s shows. My question is support for the door modules. I was originally planning on using folding table legs secured to the underside but I’d like the layout to be higher up, around 42".
Does anyone have any suggestions on legs that would give me the height I’m looking for and still allow at least the one section to be portable?
Tough challenge because a prime advantage of the David Barrow domino method is the ability to move each domino around the room like a game piece. It is a great temptation to have just one pair of legs per table and fasten them together for stability - elephant chain style. That works BUT it makes each domino essentially no longer independent. And that kills much of the theory behind them.
Every method that occurs to me involves adding a fair amount of weight to what clearly is your attempt to make the dominos – or as one wag put it, doorminos – lightweight.
For example I could imagine constructing a series of identical truss like structures where the true legs would be 2x2 pine and a top flat sill of 2x2, legs held in place with stringers of light pine, so that flat top of the leg structure would snuggle into a tight fitting gap created on the underside of the boards perhaps also with lengths of 2x2 (I am not sure how to attach the wood to a light door however – glue I guess) so that the top of the truss would slip into the gap. that way all the truss legs would be interchangable – no one set would go with any one table. I would still be concerned about lengthwise stability without trusses.
The other method that occurs to me is to create a topless frame with legs but again it would have to be well trussed and gussetted (is that a word) to bring stability.
Third, perhaps those prefab table legs would be used but would attach to a secondary frame that would in turn have “legs” of the desired length that would rise up to the bottom of the door. That actually follows the original David Barrow domino drawings – legs come up from the floor to a frame, then leg-like pieces come up from that frame to the framed-in table top. You actually have two frames, and two sets of legs, one very short. The 1995 artcle in MR shows this clearly and after a clinic I gave at a l
A dowel (or broom handle) in each foot of the folding legs should do nicely. Just take the foot pads off of each leg and find a dowel (or broom handle) matching the pipe inner diameter of the leg, insert the dowel (or broom handle) into each leg, use one screw to hold the dowels in place then cut the dowel (or broom handle) to the length you need for the height you want.
You could build a sub-frame of steel stud material instead of wood, arranged to fold flat by removing four bolts that each hold one end of a diagonal brace. The advantage of the steel over wood is that the steel structure is far lighter than the same thing built of wood of equivalent size.
When my 5 x 12 foot peninsula was nothing but a frame, I could lift and move one end with one hand. If I had built the same design with 2x4 pine studs I would have needed a forklift…
I like Johnnny_reb’s idea of the dowel or broom handle in the legs to extent the height of the folding table legs. It is very simple, and simple is always best, as long as you already have the folding table legs.
I also remember seeing an article in MR a good number of years ago called “Model Railroading in Someone Else’s Basement”. In that article, modules were used, and they were supported by 1/2" to 3/4" pipe with threads on each end. There were pipe flanges screwed to each corner of the module section that the pipe screwed into, and a flange was used on the bottom of the pipe legs to protect the floor.
Check out the Free-mo.org website for ideas on legs, folding or socket styles. some folks use PVC pipe and fittings, but most use 2x2" wood with 5/16" or 3/8"T-nuts and 3" or longer carriage bolts for adjustment. There are also folding brackets available for these wooden legs. jc5729 John Colley, Port Townsend, WA
Since the dominoes were never intended to be “independent” sections like modules, its not a problem. Dominoes are layout sections. Modules are independent layout sections.
If you look closely at Barrow’s trackplans, you can’t just rearrange the pieces willy nilly. They don’t have standard track locations at the interfaces. You can rearrange groups of sections/dominoes and you can extend the sections by putting in additional intermediate sections.
Actually that is the original domino construction. The “benchwork” was a series of rectangular frames with legs on them that mirrored the dominoes above. Then the dominoes were supported on risers from the framework above. The original point of the dominoes was that you could remove a domino from the layout and take it to the workbench to work on and rapidly rearrange the layout. The way that was accomplished was to have an independent benchwork and all the dominoes sitting on top of the benchwork (via risers). Then you could remove any individual domino and wouldn’t disturb the benchwork or the adjacent modules. And since all the dominoes were the same size and the benchwork was realtively fixed, it was easy to rearrange because supporting structure was independent of the modeled surface. Only some sacrificial connecting sections of mainline had to be sacrificed if you did major rearrangement.
As for the problem at hand, i would suggest reseraching modular layout legs systems. You could build a frame with folding legs. Think of a rectangular frame of 1x4’s. In the four cor