For those of you that use foam. I have my plywood with 1" foam on top with my roadbed and track on top of that. My question is obviously nails won’t go through my roadbed and foam, so what should I use to secure the track to my cork roadbed. I am assuming some sort of adhesive, but what kind has been used with sucess in my situation?
I have recently used Woodland Scenics foam tack glue with good results. Hope it helps
I think that Liquid Nails has commenly been used.
Reed
Well, if you’re using cork, you CAN use track spikes to hold the track in place until you ballast, and trust the ballast glue to hold everything in place. I personally don’t trust this method, and glue down the track. I’ve used all sorts of stuff: white glue, wood glue, spray adhesive, Liquid Nails, DAP, double sided carpet tape, and caulk. I prefer using caulk these days, because it helps deaden the drum effect that foam can have. One tube of caulk also goes a LONG way, since you only need a thin layer between the foam and the track to keep everything in place.
The only adhesives I strongly suggest NOT trying are spray adhesive and carpet tape. Neither are high-tack nor permanent, and will fail on you within a year. They seem like a good idea, but they’re not!
Thanks for all the replies.
When using adhesive, should I run run bead down the middle of the underside or spread the adhesive to cover more of the underside of the track? Does this make any difference?
If you’re going to use Liquid Nails for Foam, spread a thin bead down the center of the cork roadbed and then spread it with a putty knife. You just need a very thin coating. Lay the track, and either pin it in place with map tacks or weight it down until the adhesive sets, usually at least 24 hours.
Thanks, Cacole.
I’m thinking about trying either liquid nails or I picked up Elmers Pro-Bond glue.
While Im thinking about it, has anyone tried the Pro-Bond and if so, how were the results??
J1
Actually I misread your post. What I did was to lightly sand the area being glued with some 100grit sandpaper. Then I attached the cork to the foam with regular carpenters glue. This took a whie to set, but it provided a strong bond. Then, to attach the track to the cork, I used track nails.
Reed
Latex adhesive chalk works just fine for track too, and it’s usually a bit cheaper than Liquid Nails.