What is the easiests way to mount L-girders on leg assemblies? I have two leg assemblies ready. I think I need something to hold the leg assemblies in position when mounting the L-girders. What method do you guys recommend?
I use C-clamps to hold the L-girders to the legs while I am mounting them. I use 3 or 4 drywall screws, 1-5/8" length. My legs are (were) 2x2’s and my L-girders were 1x4’s with 1x2 flanges.
Some people use carriage bolts, which are certainly going to be sturdy.
Yes, I have a zillion C-clamps, U-clamps, bar clamps, sissor clamps,etc. One cannot have enough clamps when working with benchwork, legs, and uprights.
On the other hand I don’t use drywall screws. They aren’t strong. Our club tried them and we often rip the heads off. Now the only thing we use drywall screws for is mounting the homosote to the sub-roadbed. Also one must use 3 or 4 when 2 regular screws would do. If you want the “fast” thread of a drywall screw try screws used for making wooden decks. They are much stronger, but the problem is finding ones short enough.
I now use regular bolts (not carriage) for the “leg to L-girder” and regular wood screws for the rest. With a regular bolt and nut there are two ways to tighten/loosen it. A carriage bolt bites into the wood on one side and can only be worked with from the other end.
Ok, I will get c-clamps, god idea. One more question. Please look at fig 8-24 in the book ‘How to build model railroad benchwork’. I know how to do the L-girder and leg assemblies, but how do they construct the layout section top? Is this a regular open grid?
The joists are simply placed on top of the L-girders and fastened by driving screws up from underneath - the whole reason for the L-head on the girder.
Chuck
Tex-Zeph comment about not using a carriage bolt on the leg-to-girder joint makes sense–having a washer on each side will keep the bolt from indenting on the leg/girder.
Interesting comment about drywall screws. I had planned to use them on my benchwork, as Wescott’s benchwork book and multiple MR’s on these forums have reccommended them. I’ve always wondered about their strength given that they’re plastic. Seems most have been able to use them without much difficulty–remember must drill pilot holes–but should do this also with wood screws.
Any others had problems with drywall screws?
Jim
I use a lot of drywall screws and ocasionally they do snap. To prevent problems I have four suggestions. 1 Use course thread in soft woods, fine in hard wood. 2 Prelube screws before driving in. I keep a film canister with wax from a tolet bowl wax ring (unused) to prelube screws. Makes a big difference. 3 use a # 8, they’re thicker and less likely to break. $ Most important, if using a phillips head, as soon as it shows wear, pitch it and put in a new bit. Get the good ones with a slight serration as they bit the phillips recess and are less likly to round out the screw.
Jim
Sorry for the typos on previous post, $ should be 4 and bit should be bite[:I]
I agree w/ Jim on the DW screws. When working with pine and other softer woods, there is less chance of this problem of snapping the screw. It is a good idea to use the countersink/ driver sets (Stanley, Dewalt Makita etc) and set the pilot depth accordingly. Whenever using semi or hardwood, it is nec. to have a clearance hole besides the tapered countersink or you are guaranteed to snap almost every screw. By not using a clearance hole you are basically only threading the wood together, any space between them will remain once the head stops and continued turning breaks the screw.
Bob K.
I concur with Bob, as the reversable countersink and pilot drill bit / screwdriver was one of the best $25 I ever spent on my RR.
Click this to see the pic: http://s7.sears.com/is/image/Sears/00926175000
I used this tool (actually, one by DeWalt, but same differance) to build my entire 25’ x 50’ layout. I used nothing but drywall screws and I never twisted the head off a screw that I can recall in the thousands of screws I’ve installed. It’s a heckuva timesaver, as one can quickly drill and countersink the hole, then click the collar, flip the bit around exposing the magnetic Phillips head bit, lock it back down, then set and tighten down the screw.
Also, I clamped all joints before I screwed them together. It’s important, as Bob states above, to make sure you have no air gap between the two pieces being joined. A little gap around the edges is OK, but you shouldn’t be able to see through the joint. The reason being that when using fasteners, the true strength of the joint is actually the friction of the two pieces being forced together, not in the shear strength of the fastener. All the fastener is doing is forcing the parts together.
BTW, I absolutely recommend one handed clamps as being the best to build benchwork with (for example, “Quick-Grips”). They are available in many sizes, from tiny to 3 feet. They resemble bar clamps, but have a trigger handle that allows you to squeeze the clamp with a simple squeeze of your hand. To release them, press the smaller trigger, and it pops open. I have three of the them, and boy are they so much easier than C-clamps. Mine are big enough to clamp from the top of a 1x3" on edge to the bottom of a 1x4" L-girder…about 7" overall.
jbloch… Um, I don’t know what you’re using, but my drywall screws are not made of plastic but rather a hard metal. Are we talking about the same thing?
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
I’m also very curious about the plastic screws. My drywall screws are metal.
Regular L-girders work that way. But if you look at the picture in that book, you will see that the top is removable and not fasten to the L-girder.