Church Norton

3 LINK

Western Thunderer
A few of you will already know that this planned layout has so far been a labour of love, what with having to convert the garage and a demanding work schedule getting in the way it has been a long time coming.

Selborne is a beautiful little village just over the border in Hampshire, I have passed though this village many times as a short cut on my way to the Watercress line. What really stands out are the fields of Lavender on the outskirts of the village, it is a lovely place to drive through in the summer months.

Anyhow the buck stops there, the village was never served by a railway and it's just that I have fond memories of the place, and this is the only reason why I decided to call my layout Selborne.

The track plan is loosely based on the stations that were at Dymock and also similar was Bampton and was a typical GWR secondary through line.

I will be building my track work to 31.5mm standards, and it will be DCC controlled using a Lenz system, although this is a long way off at present :rolleyes:.

The first baseboard has now been built and I have used 9mm ply throughout, I decided to build the fiddle yard boards first so I could see if any major problems would be encountered with my choice of timber. The one problem I did find was that 9mm ply is not that flexible, and the fact that the layout is almost on a continuous curve meant that I had to router out the rear faces of the sides to some extent, also I used the router so that the cross members will be firmly supported.

Well so far so good, the one board is not that heavy at all, and it seems sturdy enough without any flex.

I will try to keep posting regular updates if there is an interest in my endeavours, but my work load at present is very hectic.

Here's a couple of pictures for now, nothing exciting but at least it's a start.

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ATB,

Martyn.
 

3 LINK

Western Thunderer
Hi Guys,

Well I did not get as much time as I would of liked in the layout room today, but I managed to cut out the next baseboard top which will form part of the fiddle yard. This board is smaller than the last one basically because it might have to be removed for time to time to gain access to the boiler.

Being that this board is on part of a curve it is important to get the baseboard ends as close as possible yet still carrying on the curved shape, this is made easier by using the Templot plan as a reference. Also when dealing with large boards it is not that easy to cut the angles unless you have a large table saw, I have over come this problem by using my router yet again. There are a lot more uses to a router than just machining fancy borders and mouldings.

When I want to cut out an angle I first start by sawing off most of the waste timber with an ordinary saw just keeping away from the pencil line.

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Then I clamp on a straight edge and measure the distance from the cutter to the straight edge, and then run the router along keeping it tight and level to the edge. If all goes well you should be left with a nice straight clean finish.

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The last picture is just to show you how it hopefully will look.

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If you think this post of woodworking tips is drifting too far away from rail related topics please let us know, I just thought I would show you all my way of doing baseboards, and as you all know there are many more methods but this works for me wink3.gif .

ATB,

Martyn.
 

adrian

Flying Squad
If you think this post of woodworking tips is drifting too far away from rail related topics please let us know, I just thought I would show you all my way of doing baseboards, and as you all know there are many more methods but this works for me wink3.gif .
As I see it, it's all part of the rich tapestry of skills we acquire for railway modelling. Anything that helps me improve my meagre skills are gratefully received. So thanks for posting, I can see a router going on my shopping list for tools. Is it a bosch unit? (guessing from the green plastic and red buttons!).
 

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
We bought a Bosch Router for use with baseboard construction and neither Peter nor I have regretted that purchase... using the tool we can achieve a far better finish for slot/tab construction than by our previous capabilities. If there is a downside then we found a need to change how we cut shapes from a 8'x4'sheet so as to maximise the amount of material under the router base (that is, the more material covered by the router base then the more stable the machine whilst in use).

We have been building baseboards in "6mm birch ply" and the actual thickness of the sheet is a tad under 6.5mm... so fitting the router with a 6.3mm diameter cutter makes slots an easy-peasy job.

Other tools to help us get the most out of the router? Steel rules of 30cms, 60cms and 100cms lengths and a 18"x12" framing square to assist in setting out... plus a 60" straight edge for use as a router guide (longest baseboard dimension is 48"...).
 

3 LINK

Western Thunderer
Hi Adrian,

Yes it is a Bosch and it does the job well, the only down side is that the Bosch collets are 6mm and 8mm, whereas it seems the rest of the world still use either a quarter or half inch shank. I am not sure if this is so you only buy their cutters or they are trying to break away from the American market who still use good old imperial.

I am sure there is probably a threaded " adapter " out there somewhere, but I have not found it yet and it can be quite frustrating when trying to find a local supplier of Bosch cutters. So if I was to buy again I would have gone for another make of router that takes the imperial shanks as you have a much larger choice of suppliers and also a lot more various cutters to choose from.

ATB,

Martyn.
 

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
Yes it is a Bosch... the only down side is that the Bosch collets are 6mm and 8mm...

I recollect that our Bosch router was supplied with several collets and one of those is for use with 1/4" shank cutters. The 6.3mm cutter with 1/4" shank that we use for slots in 6mm birch ply is made by Trend, part no. TT/06, from B&Q.
 

SimonT

Western Thunderer
I would suggest that taking a look at the Axminster Power Tools web site or catalog would be worthwhile. The listed Bosch routers are 1/4 and 1/2 inch (only Makita currently list a metric collet) and a truly massive range of bits and pieces are available. The extension collets and the various sleeves listed might solve the problem. My four year old Bosch router uses 1/4 inch bits.

My baseboard making has been improved by the purchase of a Proxon table saw. It is a fantastically accurate and flexible tool. Slots for curly sides are cut by setting the blade to half the depth of the ply and using the guide system to ensure square and parallel cuts.

Hope this helps

Simon
 

Scale7JB

Western Thunderer
I do like a sculpted baseboard...!

Bishops stortford was to have 'flowing' baseboards, but unfortunately life got in the way! This thread goes some way to filling that hole..

JB.
 

3 LINK

Western Thunderer
Hi Chaps,

The plot thickens as I had to ask the wife as to when it was that I brought the router, my memory is not to good at the best of times :rolleyes: .

Well after being told what the weather was like that day and that it was around 10am that I purchased it, it turns out that I brought it way back in April 1999, Wow what a memory :eek: .

So maybe Bosch decided to follow the crowd and reverted to imperial, but after I brought mine :rant: .

ATB,

Martyn.
 

OzzyO

Western Thunderer
Starting to come together, now being an old sod and a bit old school, do you think that it maybe an idea to glue some 3 or 4mm ply on the inside of the baseboards where you have done the router cutting just to add a bit of strength back to the side boards?

OzzyO.
 

Jordan

Mid-Western Thunderer
If you think this post of woodworking tips is drifting too far away from rail related topics please let us know, I just thought I would show you all my way of doing baseboards, and as you all know there are many more methods but this works for me
Sorry I'm a bit late responding to this bit, but I agree with Adrian. It's all part of the hobby, & as the baseboards are literally the foundations of any layout, seeing them being constructed is as interesting as seeing what goes on them afterwards. :)
 

3 LINK

Western Thunderer
Starting to come together, now being an old sod and a bit old school, do you think that it maybe an idea to glue some 3 or 4mm ply on the inside of the baseboards where you have done the router cutting just to add a bit of strength back to the side boards?

OzzyO.

Hello Matey,

If you look at the first baseboard that I finished you will see I have added some cross members to the inner sides, looks like some " old sod " needs a trip to Specsavers :D:thumbs:.

ATB,

Martyn.
 

OzzyO

Western Thunderer
now you young whipper-snapper nowt wrong with my eyes just your photos are to small (don't put them up as thumbnails). I was meaning between the cross members and following the inside profile of the edges of the baseboards. Just to add strength to where you had removed the wood to aide bending it.

I'm gong to kick your kneecaps in at playtime!

Speak soon,

OzzyO.
 

3 LINK

Western Thunderer
Hi Guys,

The second baseboard is now finished apart from the legs to put on, only around another 8 boards to go ! As you can see from the photo below these two boards will be part of the fiddle yard ( three in all ), I have laid out the Templot track plan on top of the boards so you can see what I hope to achieve.

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I am now going to have a rest from the wood work and make a start on some track work. Being that the fiddle yard will not be on show, I have decided to use copper clad sleepers and solder on the rail, for the main layout I will be using timber sleepers and C&L parts. Below are some of the tools I will be using, I will not be posting the track building up on here as it has been well covered plenty of times in the past.

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Progress will be slow as at the moment I am still working the graveyard shift with a 3am start each day.

ATB,

Martyn.
 
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