I am building an open-grid bench work layout and I have 2 inches of insulation foam board over top my plywood surface. Im laying code 83 flex track over top a half-inch road bed. What is the best way to secure the cork to the foam board and the flex track to the cork? Thanks for everyones help.
Hi, there! Many of us use either white glue, yellow glue, or cheap acrylic latex caulk. They all work. You can even use the caulk to fix your track elements in place over the cork.
Keep in mind that a little caulk goes a long way. You aren't gluing down heavy masses, just light strips of stuff. So lay a thin bead along the centerline and spread it really thin for the track over the cork, and for the cork over the foam, a then bead on either side of your centerline, also spread thin.
If you have tight curves and it is hard to keep the tracks and cork in place while the fixative is setting or drying, you can use push pins, thin nails driven into the sub surface tight to the foot of the items to keep them in place, or use filled soda tins and soup tins placed on their sides over the rails or cork.
Crandell
Latex caulk. Spread thin. It shoudl NOT glop up around the ties. You need suprisingly little of it to actually adhere the track securely. I also use it to attach the cork to the foam.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Myself I used foam board adhesive to attach the cork road bed to foam. Then after it was dried I positioed the track ( flex and turnouts), in place with track nails, only as many to hold track in place. I then used white glue diluted to about 50% applied with a medium sized brush, as to not cover the rails. You could use a thin narrow masking tape if you affraid of getting no rails. Care should be taken around turnouts as not to glue moving parts. This seems to give a very solid track bed with little or nonr track movement due to expanion and contraction. Good luck and do what you feel is right for you.
I've had success with Aleene's Tacky Glue I'm buying from Michaels craft store. It's water based and easy to clean up. (Elmer's white glue was too thin and the latex adhesive i used was too thick.) I'm using Woodland Scenics Track-Bed instead of cork and gluing it directly to my plywood table top or W.S. Subterrain Inclines and Risers (foam). I also use the foam pins to hold the roadbed in place and allow the glue to dry overnight. I'm also using a thin bead of Tacky Glue to attach my Atlas Code 83 Flex Track to the Track-Bed. At first I was using tiny nails through the holes in the ties to hold down the track. That took too long so now I carefully place some weights on top of the track to hold it down while the glue drys. To make sure the Flex Track is straight I insert some strips of wood (5/8 inch wide by 1/8 inch thick) between the rails. There are usually various ways to do something but this method is working for me.
I'll second the plugs for caulk -- it's amazingly strong. I was surprised at how little is necessary to get the job done. The only time I had to glop it on is when I was mounting Caboose Industries ground throws. The "little dab will do you" doesn't hold true there.
I use adhesive caulk. But whatever you use, those fake credit cards that you get in the mail make great disposable spreaders. A putty knife also works, but you have to fight to remove the caulk afterward.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
CTValleyRR I use adhesive caulk. But whatever you use, those fake credit cards that you get in the mail make great disposable spreaders. A putty knife also works, but you have to fight to remove the caulk afterward.
I just let it mostly dry (starting to turn clear but still some white in it) and then rub it off with my fingers. No fighting. If you have a latex allergy don't do this, but then if you are allergic to latex you shouldn't be using latex caulk at all.