Soon enough I will building my own 4x8 layout. I have watched the, "Building Your First Layout" many times, and the benchwork calls for one half inch birch plywood. We do not have this type of wood at our Lowe's. I plan on using one half inch regular plywood, but with the way the wood has so many patches, it doesn't have a finished look. My dad suggested AC plywood, but this can cost up to $30. I may do this but soon will get to Lowe's after Christmas, that is when I get all my stuff for the layout. BTW Happy Thanksgiving!
For my 4x8 layouts that I've done, I've always used regular plywood, and then covered the plywood with luan (sp?) to give a much more finished and smooth look. Of course you could always use regular plywood, then sand it smooth and cover the whole smash with cork or foam.
Get plywood that's finished one side. (F1S) It's a bit more $$$ but it's the foundation of your layout and worth it.
That is never a bad idea either.
Thanks for all the ideas guys, I know for sure I am not going tommorow since it's Black Friday. I will probably will be helping my dad rip out the bathtub in our old bathroom. Then Saturday I'm going to help our local train station decorate for Christmas, so I'm pretty tied up for Thanksgiving vacation.
loathar Get plywood that's finished one side. (F1S) It's a bit more $$$ but it's the foundation of your layout and worth it.
Out of curiosity, I thought that when they said A/C plywood, that meant that it had one good side (the "A" side), and the other side was the "not so good side". Isn't this the same as F1S?
Anyway, I can't believe that Lowes (or HomeDepot) would not have some 1/2 inch, or 15/32 inch, plywood that is suitable for a 4 X 8 table top. Unless you are making furniture and need to be concerned about voids that will appear when you cut the plywood down to size, the key to buying plywood is to look at the number of laminations or layers that make up the plywood sheet. The more layers the better (costlier), the fewer the layers, not so good (cheaper, but not a stable). As others said, you're better off spending a few extra dollars up front to get the better product. The other thing that should be mentioned is that you'll be covering up the plywood top with scenery, track, and other stuff if you work on the railroad long enough. So it doesn't make any sense, to me anyway, to worry how fancy the top of the table is when it's eventually going to be hidden. Sort of like covering up the nice hardwood floor with wall to wall carpeting.
If there is a Home Depot nearby, you should find 1/2" birch plywood available.
Don Z.
Research; it's not just for geeks.
maxman loathar Get plywood that's finished one side. (F1S) It's a bit more $$$ but it's the foundation of your layout and worth it. Out of curiosity, I thought that when they said A/C plywood, that meant that it had one good side (the "A" side), and the other side was the "not so good side". Isn't this the same as F1S? Anyway, I can't believe that Lowes (or HomeDepot) would not have some 1/2 inch, or 15/32 inch, plywood that is suitable for a 4 X 8 table top. Unless you are making furniture and need to be concerned about voids that will appear when you cut the plywood down to size, the key to buying plywood is to look at the number of laminations or layers that make up the plywood sheet. The more layers the better (costlier), the fewer the layers, not so good (cheaper, but not a stable). As others said, you're better off spending a few extra dollars up front to get the better product. The other thing that should be mentioned is that you'll be covering up the plywood top with scenery, track, and other stuff if you work on the railroad long enough. So it doesn't make any sense, to me anyway, to worry how fancy the top of the table is when it's eventually going to be hidden. Sort of like covering up the nice hardwood floor with wall to wall carpeting.
It's not the top so much as it is the sides, I would like a finished, "wavy" look to the table top.
demonwolf224It's not the top so much as it is the sides, I would like a finished, "wavy" look to the table top.
Ummmmmmmm, okay. I'm not familiar with the show or video you were watching, so I didn't know what type of structure you intend to build. My impression, and I think others might feel the same, was that you were using the plywood as a top. It sounds like you want to rip the plywood down into strips and use the strips in place of normal dimensional lumber. Is this correct?
Or are you talking about the unfinished 1/2 inch edge of the plywood sheet?
I meant the framework, and as for the video, the Worlds Greatest Hobby video. Yes, I would like to rip a sheet of plywood into three inch strips.
demonwolf224Yes, I would like to rip a sheet of plywood into three inch strips.
Okay, I see what you're doing now. I'm still not certain what you mean by a "wavy" look, but I assume that you mean you want it to have a finished woodgrain or furniture look. If this is the case, I think you're going to be disappointed with the plywood no matter what type you buy. Even the best grades of plywood are not going to have a nice finished wood grain look unless you do a good job with the painting, varnishing, or staining required to give it that finished appearance. And the good grades of plywood are going to cost you a whole lot more than the $30 you mentioned.
You might be better off getting the A/C plywood, or even B/C, cutting the strips and making the frame, and then covering the frame with strips of that shiny surface tempered hardboard they sell in 4 X 8 sheets. Many of the nice model railroads you see in the magazines have their benchwok covered with the hardboard, either in its natural brown color or painted in some other color to match the scenery.
Here's the lowdown on the plywood grades. I'd say that you need at least B grade for the topside if you are going to build directly on it. You could go to a lower grade if you're going to put a layer of something else on it, like Homasote. Here are the grades:
Here's what I used: 2 layers of 7/16 oriented strand board (also called OSB or flake board), glued together with construction adhesive (e.g., liquid nails). I glue the sheets rough side to rough side and it gives me a 7/8 inch table top that is smooth top and bottom, cuts easily with a saber saw, is dimensionally stable, and has no voids. This stuff is pretty cheap (about $10 per sheet last year - I haven't priced it this year) and Lowes has it. Here's a picture of an unsceniced portion of my layout:
I like the stuff a lot and I've used it under my entire layout, so there's some that has had a 10 year field trial.
In my opinion, the best plywood for our purposes is called Baltic Birch. It's a little hard to find, but all of the layers are (I think) 2 mm thick solid birch. It's smooth on both sides, cuts well, looks good, and it's very stable (It is frequently used for good quality kitchen cabinet drawer sides, backs, and bottoms.). It is not made in the US, so it comes in metric thicknesses (6mm, 12mm, 18mm) and the sheets are about 5 feet X 5 feet. It's not as pricy as US made birch ply, but the price does fluctuate with the value of the dollar.
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
maxman demonwolf224Yes, I would like to rip a sheet of plywood into three inch strips. Okay, I see what you're doing now. I'm still not certain what you mean by a "wavy" look, but I assume that you mean you want it to have a finished woodgrain or furniture look. If this is the case, I think you're going to be disappointed with the plywood no matter what type you buy. Even the best grades of plywood are not going to have a nice finished wood grain look unless you do a good job with the painting, varnishing, or staining required to give it that finished appearance. And the good grades of plywood are going to cost you a whole lot more than the $30 you mentioned. You might be better off getting the A/C plywood, or even B/C, cutting the strips and making the frame, and then covering the frame with strips of that shiny surface tempered hardboard they sell in 4 X 8 sheets. Many of the nice model railroads you see in the magazines have their benchwok covered with the hardboard, either in its natural brown color or painted in some other color to match the scenery.
Yes I would like the finished wood grain look, for the sides of the layout, I will used regular plywood for the top, I will cover that with one inch foam insulation board.
Lowes and Home Depot have "cabinet grade" plywood also. They have some in oak and a few other "premium" woods. What I usuall pick up I don't think even tells you the variety of wood. The grain is really straight and a very light color. I will find 3/4" sheets of it for as low as $20 at times. They have 1/2" sheets too, but I have always just stuck with the 3/4" sheets. This is not really cabinet grade when you compare it to samples you can get from a real lumber yard. The price is half that of the good quality cabinet grade at those yards. It is MUCH nicer than the construction material sold at HD and Lowes. For benches or cabinets out in the garage or a train table, I think they are perfect. The cabinet grade stuff is usually NOT on the same isle as the various sheets of construction material. It will be in the same area, but probably an isle or two over.
If you have access to a table saw, the 3/4" stuff is great to rip down to 4" wide sections for making the benchwork instead of buying 1x4 material (which is never straight).
I my local Lowes (Martinsburg, WV) carry Aruco brand pine plywood in both 1/2" and 3/4" thicknesses. One surface is clear of knots. The other surface has filled knots. The 1/2" has five plies in contrast to the number of plies in the cheaper construction grade plywood. If you're going to rip the sheet of plywood to use it for the frame of the benchwork you should definitely use the 3/4" thick. This year, the HD's in my area started carrying 1x clear pine lumber (Black Label) imported from New Zealand. It's a little more expensive than the "Select" grade they carry but it's totally without knots and, if you cull through the pile you can get some very good straight pieces. If you go the route of dimensional pine lumber, I'd strongly suggest you let the pieces that you buy acclimate for a week or two to the environment in your train room before you use it.
Bob
Thanks for the info, like I said before, I will be helping the train station decorate for Christmas tommorow, so maybe one of these days.
Hey guys,
I guess were going up to Lowe's later today so I'll see what I find.
Well yesterday we didn't go because my dad wanted to get drywall but then it began to downpour. So today were going our local APM (Allensville Planting Mill)