I am currently in the process of building a 1’x4’ N Scale practice module. Yesterday I went out to Lowes and bought enough 1x4s, 1x2s, and Masonite to build the benchwork, risers, and spline roadbed. Only thing is, the masonite was 1/8th inch as that was all they had. (And it was only $7) I’m not concerned about dulling my table saw’s blade, as it has carbide cutting teeth, but would cutting and using 1/8th inch masonite be any different from using 1/4"? (Aside from needing twice as many laminations)
Not really. However, you should be using a many-tooth plywood blade for a finer cut.
(Aside from needing twice as many laminations)
By this are you referring to using Masonite for splined roadbed or are you talking about using it for your fascia? In either case yes use a new fine tooth plywood blade and by all means cut the stuff out in the driveway. Next to Homasote it is the messiest stuff you’ll ever cut. I have a dust collection system for my wood working tools and I still get dust all over my shop. So now we relay on mother natures system.
I figure you will be ripping the masonite to about 1" Yes, it is a bit thin and will double the work of the spline. Hope you have plenty of clamps. . Milling such a thin and flexable material can be difficult as well as dangerous without the proper outfeed table. If you don’t have some sort of table beyond the saw, you should rig up even a plywood or other flat surface to accept those narrow strips. The 4x8 sheet should be ripped to smaller more manageable pieces with a skill saw first. 12 to 16" wide sections of the masonite will rip easily and safely on the table saw. You could use a fine plywood blade as mentioned, however a decent quality 60-80 tooth cabide would be a better choice. The plywood blade will dull quicker and will produce a good amount very fine dust. If at all possible this task would be better done outdoors. Shops that mill products such as this will use a dust collection system and that is still quite messy.
If you haven’t seen Joe Fugate’s method, it would be good to check it out. He glues the track directly to the spline with acrylic caulk, no need for roadbed. By beveling the outermost pieces of masonite (you would need to do it to 2 pieces), you get the ballast shoulder profile needed.Spline does make the gradual easements for turns and elevation changes.
Charlie Comstock has a worthy read on it too on his Bear Creek and South Jackson site:
http://s145079212.onlinehome.us/rr/howto/splines/index.shtml
ratle
you probably don’t need me to tell you this but keep the wide section next to the fence on the saw. sure you will have to move the fence over for each cut but those thin, narrow pieces can turn in to spears real quick and shoot across the room. i had a narrow piece of 3/4 pine shoved into my belly by a radial arm saw, giving me an extra navel. up side is i can carry 2 flags in the parade now.
grizlump
Ripping like this is safer, although as long as you’re careful with the fence setting the strips can be cut w/o trouble. There’s no quarantee that you will never experience a kickback. By setting the fence so that the outfeed measurement is just a hair open helps to stop blade bind. The use of the carbide blade over a much thinner plywood blade creates a wider kerf also helping w/ the bind. Once that plywood blade starts to wear and loose it’s set (cut width) binding on the plate becomes more noticable. Of coarse w/ any stock if the grain closes, you will have a bind and kickback. I have learned – Just don’t position yourself behind the piece.
The rips for masonite spline really need to be very acurate. Variations will create so many track laying problems from the irregular tops of the splines Many times for improved accuracy, I will rip slightly wider than needed then make a final clean pass for the piece. This quarantees that all stock is as close as possible. Constantly moving the fence is a real nusience, and the widths will vary- then you’d need to remill all the stock anyway.
Consider a ‘zero clearance’ insert which may reduce vibrations.
This is the piece the blade rises through. A new blank is custom fit by raising the blade through it to cut its own perfect fitting path.
Wow- Pleasant surprise to get this many replies this fast! Thanks for the help guys! So after reading all of the tips, here is my planned method for cutting the splines: -Cut the 4’x8’ sheet into 7 more manageable 1’x4’ strips, the 8th will be slightly smaller due to blade waste from cutting the other 7 -Rip the 1’x4’ strips into 11 1"x4’ strips (the 12th will be set aside as scrap and used for odd jobs) -Mill all of the non-waste splines down to 7/8" (as Charlie Comstock uses) width for consistency. And while I do like Joe Fugate’s Masonite bevels for his roadbed, I don’t think they are for me. I plan to lay the track on top of cork for mainline sections, and lay the track directly on the splines for sidings and industries. (My apologies as to the sloppy formatting of this post, my formatting spaces aren’t working so all of my sentences are running together as if in a paragraph)