Ductwork usages

[FJ and G]

After finishing my basement, I had some leftover ductwork and this weekend I put it to use.

I was constructing a helix and cut out curved sections of wood to go 1/4 of the way around the circle. To join the pieces together, some advocate putting a piece of wood over the joints. However, this greatly adds to the thickness.

The solution I came up with is to cut strips of ductwork (using straight, left & right hand snips) and wrapping the joint with this; then running machine screws in to hold it in place. If you do this, ensure you round the edges of the metal as you can get a nasty gash (I still have scars from high school shop).

Other usages I found for the ductwork is repair patches for tinplate structures on my 3-rail layout. I use rivets.

Has anyone else used ductwork for purposes other than ductwork?

Dave Vergun

[Anonymous]

In my new railroad, I'll be using circular ducts (like for clothes dryers) sawed in half as the East River tunnels leading up to my Penn Station.