I built my layout with a 24"X14" lift out shelf so that we could get to the inside of the layout area (10’X8’). When i first built the layout, i covered the plywood with 1/2" foam board - including the shelf. After a while, the tracks, that I so carefully laid and cut so that they would match from the main layout to the shelf, no longer were so perfect and the trains didn’t wark as well as they used to.
Today I finally so way - the plywook board for the shelf had warped. nomally straighening a warped piece of plywood seems easy - except for the fact that there is track on it, with ballast, and two turnouts.
So, my question is, coes anyone have an idea of what might be the best way to flatten the shelf without rebuilding it?
Does the plywood liftout shelf have any kind of support underneath? If you can without disturbing the track and ballast, maybe clamp and screw some 2x2’s as a support for your plywood.
I’d do something like this, but use a piece of angle iron or similar rather than teh 2x2 - tightening the 2x2 up to the plywood might warp the 2x2 to match the pkywood rather than straighten the plywood.
Just set the whole thing upside down on some towels or soft material to protect the track and roadbed on the top and screw into the bottom.
Thanks, that’s a great idea. I just checked the hardware store and they hove 1x1 angle iron with holds for screws. when I am screwing them on tot he plywood, the steel will pull the wood flat.
My first thoughts would be to figure out how/why it warped in the first place. What did I do/fail to do that I might inadvertently repeat because I don’t know what the answers are?
I have never experienced your problem, maybe because I season the woods I use well before starting to use them. I also maintain humidity in the train room between 45-65%. Finally, I tend to over-engineer my benchwork hinged/removable sections so that they are likely to be stable. I also try not to make them heavy, just robust. This applies to any hinges and abutments that might have to support it.
I’m trying to imagine what I would do in your shoes, and honestly, I would rebuild the item. The tolerances between gaps in rails in HO are really pretty tricky. I dislike sloppiness that makes my rolling stock hitch or derail even once a week. So, I make such things bullet-proof. I built a mainline wye turnout on my last layout that looked horrible…it was embarassing, but it worked as smooth as silk. I could back, shove, and trail cars of any type through it in both directions at crazy speeds without a derailment. I traded good looks for functionality because, in the end, I wanted to enjoy running my trains. If I had what I would term a failed insert/lift-out, I would simply rebuild it. It will take a couple of days, maybe more if I have to rethink how it rests or is mounted, but I’ll have a smooth system without bugs when I am done…for months, years.
I am thinking it warped because there was no lateral support and the weight of the track and turnouts just sagged it down. This is my very first layout and I am learning - a lot - the hard way. when I do my next layout, there will be no shelf or bridge of any kind.
Probably just sagged from it’s own weight without support.
I would do what Randy suggested for a repair. Built a picnic table out of 2 x 10’s on an homemade welded angle iron frame and under the top of the three boards 2 2x10’s, one 2x8 in middle and bridge them underneath with a piece of angle iron screwed to bottom and ground off any sharp edges and corners. It sits outside all year and 20yrs. later still no warping. I live in the Burgs of ‘‘Chiberia’’. That’s Chicago, for the less informed. LOL
You might want to look into aluminum angle rather than angle iron. It will save weight and you can get heavier gauge angle that should hold your lift out nice and straight. An unsupported 24" run of 1/2" plywood will sag over time - sealed or not.
Therein lies the rub, you HAVE to use thicker aluminum because it’s not as strong.Depending on space requirement that may or may not be possible. I had a liftout at the door to my room that was thinner than the rest of the layout so most of the time I just ducked under anyway.
A lot depends on the quality of plywood. A 2 foot span with practically no weight (track, roadbed, and ballast weigh almost nothing) should not sag, especially laminated to a 1 or 2 inch piece of extruded foam. My layout was built in 4 foot sections with exactly 1 cross brace in the middle, so slightly under 2 feet between supports. With 1/4 plywood under 2: foam. Now sitting on my basement floor for almost 2 years, plus having been up for around 4 years at my old place, still nothing has sagged. There is no extra support along the long edges - I built the side rails from 1x4 and then put 1x3 cross braces in so the foam is inset. The only support are the two end crosspieces and the one in the middle.
I used 1" angle iron to span the fireplace. I put cement board in (fireproof) and if you look at the ends you can see where I flipped the angle iron over and welded it across the ends and use that to screw the thing in place. I am not suggesting you do this, however you could use angle iron (lighter grade) with a foamboard insert. That should lift in and out easily.
Make sure the angle you use, whether iron or aluminium, is strong enough to bend the plywood, not be bent by it. Also, you may need to use stove bolts rather than screws since you only have 1/2" plywood to drive into. May have to dig a hole in the foam to get the bolt head down to the plywood, but should be able to fill it and repair scenery with a bush or such over it.
I would forget the wood and just glue the foam into whatever angle (metal) you end up using. That way you eliminate that material that has caused the problem in the past.
