selector wrote:Probably not, if you can assure yourself that your foam slab will never fall out of its enclosure and get damaged. If you are reasonably careful, have a surdy support system for the layout, and have a strong desire to resist having to use a few small dabs of caulking to glue the foam in at the corners, say, the outer fascia (if that is what you mean by sides) should protect it well enough.
selector,
Thanks for your input.
It was my understanding that you had to glue the foam across it's entirety. Are you saying you just have to spot glue at the corners?
I used plywood 8" wide to make a border around the HCD's. It comes 2.5" about the doors and 4.5" below. I attached 2x4's to bottom part for legs. It seems to be very solid.
If you have good solid blocking around the tops of the legs it might be enough. Otherwise, some diagonal bracing might be wise. Long stilts don't take sideways pressure well when you stumble and reach out to grab the layout for support, or if you fall against it, so diagonal braces would be a good idea I would think.
You only need enough adhesive to do the job. So, if you make a 2"X2" swipe of caulking at each corner, about 1/32" thick, and press the foam onto that, it should suffice.
I am assuming that you are gluing the foam to a thin plywood slab around which the fascia goes and to which the legs are attached. If not, then glue the fascia to the sides of the foam.
selector wrote:If you have good solid blocking around the tops of the legs it might be enough. Otherwise, some diagonal bracing might be wise. Long stilts don't take sideways pressure well when you stumble and reach out to grab the layout for support, or if you fall against it, so diagonal braces would be a good idea I would think.You only need enough adhesive to do the job. So, if you make a 2"X2" swipe of caulking at each corner, about 1/32" thick, and press the foam onto that, it should suffice.I am assuming that you are gluing the foam to a thin plywood slab around which the fascia goes and to which the legs are attached. If not, then glue the fascia to the sides of the foam.
I haven't explained my bench work very well. So I'll try to give a better explanation.
I'm using 4 hollow core doors. Two are 36x80, one 30x80 and one 24x80. I have used the 8" wide plywood to build a border around the doors to hold the foam and for attaching the legs. I have built four separate modules. All with six 2x4 for legs, with cross bracing. I then attached all the modules together in a donut (rectangle) shape. I also attached it to the wall on one side. I can shake it and it does not move.
I'm going to use 2" extruded foam on top of hollow core doors.
So with this bench work I was wondering if gluing would be required.
I am new to this hobby and need all the help I can get.
Thanks
Mike
stepchild wrote: selector wrote: If you have good solid blocking around the tops of the legs it might be enough. Otherwise, some diagonal bracing might be wise. Long stilts don't take sideways pressure well when you stumble and reach out to grab the layout for support, or if you fall against it, so diagonal braces would be a good idea I would think.You only need enough adhesive to do the job. So, if you make a 2"X2" swipe of caulking at each corner, about 1/32" thick, and press the foam onto that, it should suffice.I am assuming that you are gluing the foam to a thin plywood slab around which the fascia goes and to which the legs are attached. If not, then glue the fascia to the sides of the foam. I haven't explained my bench work very well. So I'll try to give a better explanation.I'm using 4 hollow core doors. Two are 36x80, one 30x80 and one 24x80. I have used the 8" wide plywood to build a border around the doors to hold the foam and for attaching the legs. I have built four separate modules. All with six 2x4 for legs, with cross bracing. I then attached all the modules together in a donut (rectangle) shape. I also attached it to the wall on one side. I can shake it and it does not move. I'm going to use 2" extruded foam on top of hollow core doors.So with this bench work I was wondering if gluing would be required.I am new to this hobby and need all the help I can get. Thanks Mike
selector wrote: If you have good solid blocking around the tops of the legs it might be enough. Otherwise, some diagonal bracing might be wise. Long stilts don't take sideways pressure well when you stumble and reach out to grab the layout for support, or if you fall against it, so diagonal braces would be a good idea I would think.You only need enough adhesive to do the job. So, if you make a 2"X2" swipe of caulking at each corner, about 1/32" thick, and press the foam onto that, it should suffice.I am assuming that you are gluing the foam to a thin plywood slab around which the fascia goes and to which the legs are attached. If not, then glue the fascia to the sides of the foam.
If you're talking about laying a slab of foam down the same dimensions as the hollow core door, then you probably don't need to glue down the foam. However, if you're planning on doing any other type land forms, like hills or cuts for streams, etc., you will need to attach the foam in some way to keep the smaller pieces from moving and the larger pieces from shifting where you've cut into them.
If your bench is firm, and your fascia of thin plywood contains the foam slabs and keeps them where you want them to stay reliably and safely (that's the big one....keep the edges from getting marred over time from shirt buttons, belt fastners, fingers, etc.), then you should not have to glue the foam to the surface on which it rests. All you need to do is to glue the smaller shaped stacks of foam you are creating to make mountains.
I hope it works out well for you. Sounds like you have it well in hand.
Thanks, I appreciate your help.
Selector,
Only the top of the foam will be expose. The plywood will cover the rest.