Can anyone pls offer a reputable place to purchase 3/16" cork rolls? I thought to cut the cork since it's cheaper than buying the Midwest Products strips. 3/16" is the dimensions of the Midwest Products cork strips. They are great (used on my 1st layout), but need far more for the 2nd one.
I've looked online at various craft stores, distributers etc. but they are either too cost-prohibitive or not the right dimensions.
Thanks!
The Midwest is $1.40 per 3' length (in 5's) for Midwest at MB Klein. The following (if 2" is the right width??) would be $0.90 per 3' length (buying a 4' x 3' piece). The Midwest has the nice aspect of tapers plus 1/2 pieces that are easy to lay along the track centerline. I don't know if the qualities / composition are the same.
Shipping for the alternate, say for 9', is almost 50% of the product price.
https://www.bangorcork.com/product/48x3-16-cork-roll-cut-to-length
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
I've been using this type for a number of yrs. for lining tool box drawers, wood drafting boards that I use for My work bench...holds parts from sliding and when cutting. I also used it when I hand laid My own track. It is 1/8 '' inch thick, thats roughly 9'' in HO. You are going to find the thicker that you want over an 1/8'' is going to cost You sometimes double in price:
I also used it for Asphalt roads on the layout, parking lots, etc.
http://www.widgetco.com/cork-rolls-3mm-18inch
It was about 10.00 cheaper when I bought it 6yrs. ago.......I still have some left.
Take Care!
Frank
Modeltrainstff currently lists a 5 piece pack of HO roadbed for $6.99 and a box of 25 for $24.99.
I think someone here has said that they got some cork sheets from their local flooring store. If I remember they were 12'x12' tiles of cork. Craft shops and stores such as Michaels also carry sheets.
Good luck,
Richard
I found cork sheets on Amazon.com
kasskaboose've looked online at various craft stores, distributers etc. but they are either too cost-prohibitive or not the right dimensions.
I'm not clear whether you are using it to cut your own road bed or buiding a yard.
Michaels.com is $6.79 for a 2'x4' sheet
I bought mine at AC Moore but it does not appear on their website.
8' of Homabed is $7.26 so look at the money you are saving.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Cork sheet subfloor material used to be sold at Home Depot where the sheeting was a large roll 4 feet wide or so that could be sold by the running foot. This was on the large carpeting rack in the flooring aisle.
Fast forward a few years and all I see is tile squares of cork- and it is substantially thinner than the old sheet material!
I'm willing to bet that you can still find large cork sheeting, but only online. I don't know if it is used very often in flooring installations. I used some of the Home Depot stuff on my switching layout, bonding it to the 5/8" plywood with contact cement.
Cedarwoodron
I use Hobby Lobby 3/32" cork, for minor siding and yard track roadbed. It comes in a big 24" wide roll, I don't recall the price or total length, but its cheap and you won't run out of it.
Jim
hardcoalcase I use Hobby Lobby 3/32" cork, for minor siding and yard track roadbed. It comes in a big 24" wide roll, I don't recall the price or total length, but its cheap and you won't run out of it. Jim
They say it is 5/32'' thick for 24'' X 48'' roll for 14.99....thicker than what the OP is looking for and after reading the reviews.....I would not buy it....
What about the difference in composition between bulletin board or flooring cork and the Midwest product? The Midwest cork appears to have a lot more bonding material than the other types of cork. Does that make a significant difference? Is the Midwest cork more flexible, i.e. easier to install? Will it last longer before drying out?
We need to hear from people who have had the bulletin board/flooring cork installed for a long time before we can answer this question properly.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Paul and Dave bring up viable reasons for using the Midwest product. It is designed for our specific purpose of providing a good, flat and stable foundation for our trackwork.
A club I belonged to years ago tried "alternate" roadbed methods trying to squeeze a few cents per foot out of the track budget. The experiment failed miserably and all the main line track had to be pulled up and re-laid with Midwest cork at a far greater expense in time and destroyed track.
The rubber-like binders in the Midwest product allow it to flex around curves and as Paul mentions, the center split allows you to follow a precise center-line.
Just sayin'
Ed
I agree...most of the sheet cork I've seen was comprised of much larger particles than are used for cork roadbed. I can't image that it would have the same flexibility.
Wayne
That old Home Depot sheet cork was like old fashioned bulletin board material- fine granules of cork.and was 1/4" thick.
The tile cork I see is often very thinner. I would definitely try the Hobby Lobby material- 5/32" thick will help deaden the noise issues that might arise- and once installed, the Birdseye view of it ignores the extra thickness.
I just get mine at an auto parts store; its used for making gaskets. I like the rubberized kind, it cuts neatly into strips and doesn't crumble. I use it on my branch line railroad, doubled up for the "main", single thickness for sidings and yard areas.
The MB Klein rep stated he doesn't know when they will get more cork strips, so I will get 'em from somewhere else. Yes, the rolls require the additional steps of measuring and cutting.
Weird that the demand outweighs supply. I ought to stop thinking about it before I start reverting to economic theory, ugh!
Thanks all!
kasskaboose Can anyone pls offer a reputable place to purchase 3/16" cork rolls? I thought to cut the cork since it's cheaper than buying the Midwest Products strips. 3/16" is the dimensions of the Midwest Products cork strips. They are great (used on my 1st layout), but need far more for the 2nd one. I've looked online at various craft stores, distributers etc. but they are either too cost-prohibitive or not the right dimensions. Thanks!
Have been using cork roadbed for my n scale layouts for years.
I buy them at IKEA and are sold under the name of AVSKILD placemats, cork sheets of 42 x 32 cm and an 1/8 of an inch thick. A 4 sheets for Euro 4.99 a package, beats the current prices in the modelling industies.
A pass or two with a hobby knife will provide you with the required dimensions, I use a 2 cm wide roadbed on the straight sections, and a slit in the middle of the 2 cm sections will provide for any roadbed in curves....you calculate the costs per length of roadbed and can affort an error or two for that money....
Just my 2 eurocents...
Dredgeboater
Better to be roughly right, than to be exactly wrong...
And when you do what you did, you'll get what you got!
In the interest of specifically addressing the OP's inquiry about lower cost roadbed, I'll try to put some cost numbers on the Hobby Lobby cork, and also try to address some of the concerns about it noted in some of the earlier posts.
I model in HO, and use the 24” x 96” x 3/32” cork roll (SKU 987420, $14.99). To get to the OP's desired roadbed height of 3/16”, two layers of this would be needed. Cutting the sheet into 2” strips, with 2 layers would yield about 16 - 3ft sections of roadbed, or about $0.93 per section at retail. Hobby Lobby runs a coupon each week for 40% off on one item, which would drop the cost of a 3 foot section to about $0.56. If there's a HL near you, you'll avoid the shipping costs too.
Zstripe noted a different SKU (#784033, $14.99) which is the 24” x 48” x 5/32” roll (my fault as I didn't specify which I used in my 1st response). Although slightly thicker than the Midwest, it would eliminate the need for using two layers. The price is the same as the 3/32” - for half the area and twice the thickness, so the cost per a 3 foot section of roadbed would be the same.
As zstripe also pointed out, there are several negative reviews on the 5/32” concerning being flimsy and prone to tearing, but it sounds like these refer to other applications. The one review from a MRR was that it was crumbly but workable. For my “one-roll experience” with the 3/32”, the cork is more fragile than Midwest, but still easy to work with. It uses larger cork particles than Midwest, so a Surform tool tears it up, but medium sandpaper works well for shaping.
I use the Midwest for mainline and passing sidings, and the HL cork to represent a lower roadbed profile for yard tracks and spurs, all are secured with caulk. I use a 2” wide strip for straights, and 1” strips along the center-line for gentle curves. As the HL is less flexible than Midwest, for the sharper turns I cut curved sections from the sheet. Kerfing might also work.
Hon30critter pondered the durability and shelf life of the alternative cork. I have about 16 feet of track put down on the HL cork now for over 2 years and nothing has moved. I have not ballasted it yet, but I have placed samples of both the HL and Midwest in water overnight and both dried out to “like-new” condition. The roll itself has remained flexible since I purchased it almost 3 years ago.
So... (Whew - thanks for bearing with me!) Yes, Hobby Lobby cork has worked well for me, and there can be dollars to be saved using it, but it will require more effort spent in measuring, cutting and shaping. Midwest cork roadbed is a great product, I've used it for decades and plan to continue. There is room for both on my layout. To go “all HL cork” is really one of those “cost vs. time decisions” that we all have come to love!
Don't know about where you live but we have a dollar store chain in Canada that sells lots of cork and it is all the same thickness as hobby store bought cork roadbed. You can buy a package of 5 1 foot square cork sheets for a couple of bucks or a big roll 18 inches by 3 feet, I think, for a couple of bucks. There was also another size roll that I can''t recall the size of but they are all the roadbed thickness.I have used tons of this stuff on my layout, no problems and lots of money saved. Great for yards and city scenes.