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Winston-Salem Southbound Series: Adding legs, wheels, and braces
There is something very satisfying about watching someone build a project out of wood. Now to get to the big box store for wood and hardware. Excellent job David!
David, that L-girder system seems to be a great support system for layout. Is it easy to expand that system to add other modules or does the spacing of the original girders limit that option?
Is there going to be a benchwork guide in an upcoming issue or maybe a possibility of a PDF download on here?
Thanks.
Hi David, could you have put the L girders parallel to each other? It would have saved you a lot of trouble with the legs and braces. And screwing the braces into end grain the way you did produces a weak joint, I would have cut a wedge and used a gusset to attach the brace at the bottom for a much stronger joint.
Apart from those points well done, I love watching how other people do things and I often learn something new.
Thanks.
David, I think you have been sniffing a little too much of that carpenters glue. Those seagulls sounded hold dead. LOL Come down to the coast of South Carolina and I will let you hear what they sound like. Love the video how to series. Gives me some great ideas from time to time.
Is there a formula to tell you how long to make the cross braces for the legs. I believe David said he use 24 inch braces here. Why 24 and not 36 or 12? Is it just an eyeball guess or is there some math behind it?
The formula for the long side (C)) of any triangle with a 90 degree corner (where A meets B) is the square root of A squared plus B squared. Most calculators will give you the square root of a number. If you have a triangle with a 3" and 4" side the long side will be 5 inches. There is math for triangles with no right angles (square angles). Check for trigonometry on the web or your local library.
Sorry, I guess I did not explain my question properly. I am looking for how you determine placement on the braces. In the example Richard Hands used, how do you determine how big to make “A” and “B”. I am looking at this from an engineering point of view in regards to designing the benchwork. For instance do the length of the legs affect how far from bench top to place the braces?
@Richard: I think Maurice’s question wasn’t about trig. As he pointed out, the cross brace could have been longer (thus lower on the leg) or shorter (thus higher on the leg). I’d be curious to know the reason that the particular length was chosen, too. I believe another benchwork book from Kalmbach specifies that for L-girder benchwork, the cross braces should start as low on the leg as you can make them, meaning they would be a lot longer. David obviously didn’t feel that was necessary.
Another great video from MR. Thanks!
That was great. It does give me something to work with. I also have made the mistake of drilling holes, with the wheels in place. I work in O scale, and will often take one of my layouts to shows. So I will have to figure how to make the bench work to either fold or break down to move it through door ways. Again great video.
David, what size nails work best in this L girder system? will 16 or 18 gauge 2-2/12 inch nails work OK? (will help me decide which air nailer to purchase).