Some details I left out.
When I was ready to glue the 1/4" masonite to the 1X4 frame,I laid the masonite upside down on an old domino used as a workbench and the set the frame on the masonite.I lined up the frame along one side and one end,clamped it down and drew lines on the masonite on the inside of the frame.This gave me guidelines to lay the bead of glue along the outside perimeter of the masonite.I glued and clamped the frame to the masonite and added weight where needed to insure a secure seal.
The leg pockets are made from scraps of 1X4 and 2X2's.I screw these together as an assembly using a third 2X2 in the middle for alignment and to insure that each leg will fit snugly into each pocket.
I used a 2X2 18" long to fit between the leg pockets on each end of each domino for anchoring the bus wires.I drilled two holes,one inch apart,countersunk on one side for the bolts on each piece and used wing nuts to tighten each bolt and the glued the 2X2 to the domino.
I use 12 gauge solid wire for the buses.I crimp a ring terminal(eyelet)with a 1/4" opening for the bolt to each wire,then unroll the wire from the spool and stretch it to the other end,letting the spool hang over and off the end.I slightly stretch the wire and cut it,then strip and crimp another eyelet on that end.I then stretch the wire with a pair of pliers to attach to the bolts on that end.The bus wires are tight enough to play a song on.
More later.
Bill B
We now have 2 dominoes completed and have started construction on a third domino.
I've made 2 revisions to the construction process.First is that I now cut and glue the frame side and end rails to the masonite and to each other before I bore and peg.Second is that I wait to add the bus wires until after the track is laid and feeder wires from the terminal joiners are in place.That way I simply crimp the bus and feeder wires into the same ring terminals.
I picked up 6 Woodland Scenics roadbed sheets and 2 more No. 6 switches yesterday.I'll start laying the roadbed and track sometime this weekend.
Have a good one.
Nice woodworking there! A question though - will the Masonite act like a drumhead and amplify sound from the trains running on it? Or will the sound be dampened by roadbed, scenery, etc?
I'm not trying to rain on your parade, I'm just curious if anybody has gone the Masonite top route and what the results were.
I think the Woodland Scenics foam roadbed should dampen the sound.
Don Z wrote: Mike,I used 1x4 poplar hardwood for the frame of my layout. There are three main reasons that I used this lumber over 1x4 pine from Lowe's or Home Depot. First reason: I don't have a lot of time to spend sorting through the bins at Home Depot or Lowe's trying to find straight lumber that isn't loaded with knots. Second reason: The lumber store where I bought my material always has it in stock, it's always straight and the price was actually cheaper than Home Depot for the same product. Third reason: I can buy the material in lengths up to 16 feet, allowing me to build my benchwork longer than 8 foot if desired.Don Z.
Mike,
I used 1x4 poplar hardwood for the frame of my layout. There are three main reasons that I used this lumber over 1x4 pine from Lowe's or Home Depot. First reason: I don't have a lot of time to spend sorting through the bins at Home Depot or Lowe's trying to find straight lumber that isn't loaded with knots. Second reason: The lumber store where I bought my material always has it in stock, it's always straight and the price was actually cheaper than Home Depot for the same product. Third reason: I can buy the material in lengths up to 16 feet, allowing me to build my benchwork longer than 8 foot if desired.
Don Z.
Don, I live about 80 miles east of you and would dearly love to know the name of your lumber source ---- John T.
What I liked and like about the David Barrow domino approach is that once I had a "critical mass" of dominos built (about 10 or so) -- and before I had finalized a track plan -- I was able to move them around the basement like big game pieces, trying out different arrangements for where corners would be, aisle widths, proximity to electric outlets, overhead lights, low clearance ductwork, arm reach, radius curves, and the like.
Pencil on paper and CAD have their limits when it comes to visualizing what things look like in reality. My planning used reality in a sense.
When moving the actual dominos got cumbersome (or where I needed more than I had already built) I created 2" x 4" domino game pieces out of cardstock and moved them around on a replica of my basement that I created using large sheets of 1" graph paper I bought at an office supply shop. I also used a type of glue stick that can make any piece of paper into a "Post it" note, so the card stock dominos can be moved around repeatedly yet stay put.
Only once I had arrived at probable arrangements of the domino pieces in the basement did I start actual track planning, using one of those greenish plastic track planning tools that is also to a scale of 1" = 1'. That is the aspect of domino-based planning that some people have a hard time accepting -- you plan to the limits of the domino arrangement.
When the time came, I did attach the dominos to one wall, but the others are just bolted to other dominos and stand free on the floor away from the wall. Since each piece has its own legs the result is very steady with no wobble at all. Actually totally freestanding dominos are also very steady IF you have at least a couple of them attached to each other.
Dave Nelson
Very Interesting.
I guess that I will have to start calling my layout modules "dominoes" so you guys will know what I am talking about.
What was wrong with modules?
What Next?
jawnt wrote: Don, I live about 80 miles east of you and would dearly love to know the name of your lumber source ---- John T.
John,
I purchase my lumber stock from:
Fine Lumber & Plywood, inc. 9407 Brown Lane Austin, Texas 78754
Office Hours
Monday through Friday 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM CentralOpen until 6:30 PM on Thursdays
Phone and Fax
512-836-8990512-836-9796, fax
Research; it's not just for geeks.
Don, THANKS!
Next time I'm in 'River City' will have to go by and check them out!
I'm always on the look out for good lumber ----.
Again, thanks.
John T. in the cold cow pasture
BigRusty wrote: Very Interesting. I guess that I will have to start calling my layout modules "dominoes" so you guys will know what I am talking about.What was wrong with modules?What Next?
Nothing wrong with "modules." But over time the word module has come to suggest interchanability such as with Ntrak or HOtrak, where the height, length, width, track spacing from the edge, number of tracks, wiring system, etc., is made uniform so different people can bring their modules together and create a complete, if temporary, layout.
The domino system focuses on uniformity of the benchwork with the track arrangements and everything else being more or less nonstandardized. Your dominos could also be modules but don't have to be. And "module" does not have to mean the kind of uniformity and interchangability that it has come to mean.
dknelson wrote:Nothing wrong with "modules." But over time the word module has come to suggest interchanability such as with Ntrak or HOtrak, [...] made uniform so different people can bring their modules together and create a complete, if temporary, layout. The domino system focuses on uniformity of the benchwork with the track arrangements and everything else being more or less nonstandardized.
Nothing wrong with "modules." But over time the word module has come to suggest interchanability such as with Ntrak or HOtrak, [...] made uniform so different people can bring their modules together and create a complete, if temporary, layout.
The domino system focuses on uniformity of the benchwork with the track arrangements and everything else being more or less nonstandardized.
Any module can connect with any other module in any sequence but any domino can't necessarily connect with any other domino. Ntrak: 4/4 - 4/4 -4/4. Modules: 3/6 - 6/2 - 2/4 -4/4 for example. Just semantics...
My modules vary from 30 inches to 48 inches wide by 8 feet long. Each one is designed to connect to the adjoining specific one, not just any one in any order.
I have taken my entire layout and broken it down into modular sections that I can work on in my shop, and then assemble into the finished layout by bolting them together and adjusting the leg height bolts.
I guess they are variable dimension dominoes. I don't see the merit in making a whole bunch of same size dominoes that will result in too many joints, and joints across switches, and all the other problems.
Each of mine is a self contained scene without any joints.
My son and I worked on dominoes 2 and 3 tonight and placed Woodland Scenics roadbed sheets on domino 1.So far,so good.I'll post photos tomorrow.
Roadbed sheets glued in place.
Edit:I glued the roadbed sheets to the masonite with the Titebond wood glue and weighted down the sheets with another domino.This worked out extremely well.Originally I tried using double sided tape as an experiment which didn't work at all and I don't recommend it,but it was just a test to see what would work and what would not.I'll be updating this thread over the next few days as time permits.Will and I are going to do some more work tonight.I haven't done much lately because of the weather,having to break up ice and such.More later.Bill B