Scale Lumber

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Anyone know a cheap source for scale lumber? Im going to build a large area of wood decking and of course dont want to break the bank. I have read of people cutting thier own with the micro mark saw but again the problem there is cost.

Thanks.

2

Hi yaz Joe,

Depends on how cheap yaz wanna be. I use coffee stir sticks from my local gas station. I stain them with indian ink and alcohol, let them dry and then cut them down the center. Works for me…

P.S I’ll post a link to this same subject on MR forum.

Patrick
Beaufort,SC
Dragon River Steel Corp {DRSC}

3

Here’s the link Joe…

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=69013

4

Thanks for the link, that looks great. I havent seen any wooden coffee stirrers around here but I’ll start looking around the house for some other kind of small wood.

5

One thing you could try is to use some balsa wood, it comes in a lot of different sizes and can be cut to the desired size with ease.

6

You can find many sources for wooden coffee stirrers at restaurant supply sites on the Internet. While not exactly free, they are very inexpensive. Hundreds or thousands of sticks for a few dollars. But they are fairly large for the smaller scales, and so for HO and smaller, need to be split lengthwise to be of use.

You should also be aware that there’s more than one type of wooden coffee stirrer. The round ended craft stick, or popsicle stick type, made from birch, is not want you want. You’re looking for a split wood type of stick. In some descriptions, they’re listed as square end coffee stirrers.

-Ed

P.S. One brand in particular is from the Forster Manufacturing Co. in Maine. It’s item no. 00316, Economy Wooden Coffee Stirrer, in boxes of one thousand. The only caveat you should be aware of is that this is information that is about ten to fifteen years old. That’s when I bought several boxes of these, and they’ve lasted this long.

7

For what it’s worth, ask your Doctor for a few tounge suppressors. Yes, dittos on the balsa wood, it can be easily cut with a hobby knife- no saw needed.