Plwood Timber Thickness

paratom

Western Thunderer
I am in the middle of planning a EM gauge layout and using either .8mm or 1.5mm birch ply for the track work. At first I thought .8mm would be a good option as the sleepers are the same thickness as the ready to lay EM gauge track and so no packing would be needed if I was to combine the laser cut point timbering with the ready to lay track. I am now having second thoughts and looking towards using the 1.5mm ply as it will look more realistic for the thickness of the sleeper and will facilitate the tie bars and point roding more efficiently. I plan to have half etched tabs between the sleepers to keep the timbers in place which will be covered by ballest and for this purpose 1.5mm will be better suited. My only concern with using ply is the consistency of the thickness that some suppliers can’t guarantee. One company in particular, SLEC Manufacturing, states on their website that their 1.5mm birch ply has a tolerance for the thickness of being +/-10%. This means a 1.5mm plywood sheet could be between 1.35 and 1.65 in thickness. The C&L ply sleepers are the same thickness but have not stated on their website the discrepancies that might be encountered with the thickness. Have any modellers encountered problems of this nature when using ply timbering?
 

Dog Star

Western Thunderer
Have any modellers encountered problems of this nature when using ply timbering?
I use current 1/16" ply sleepers from Slaters and Exactoscale (veteran/vintage/antique items from at least ten years back). If there is any variation in material thickness then I have not noticed for my S7 trackwork.
 
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