Wood questions for bench work

[Anonymous]

I secured some real estate from the spouse (With some compromise) and am finalizing construction planning.

Some questions.

Home Depot had some 1"x4"x8' select white pine that was pretty good looking but wonder if anyone has any experience with this as benchwork?

Also the plywood sheeting I see in the store looked a little rough and some were too heavy 3/4" OAK! whoo...pig! I had my eye on the 1/2 Inch 4'x8' classic Birch as a candidate.

Again, has anyone used this sheet type as a top for laying track, roadbed etc?

 

[karle]

the 1 x 4 should be fine but sight down the boards to make sure they aren't twisted or warped.  Also 1/2" birch should be fine. There are different grades of plywood, so you might want to look around a bit more since the birch can be expensive.  I have also had good success with MDF (but do not use particle board... MDF is no te same thing).  Some will tell you to stick with 3/4" ply, but really that is overkill, as long as you keep the span between joists reasonable... say 16" max.  Also, I have found Menards lumber better quality than Lowes or Home Depot, at least for 1 x 4.  Ocassionally Home Depot carries 1 x 4's that are labeled on the boards as from Sweden; those are very nice quality.

[fsm1000]

I used 3/8 plywood covered in 1 inch foam. This way the wood was cheap and I still got a level, smooth surface.
For the lower part I used 2 by 4's but 1 by 4 is usable too if you cross brace it.
Hope that helps. :)
Oh yeah, pop over to my site to see how i did it if you want to. :)

[Don Z]

When building my benchwork I used 1x4 poplar for all of the framing and covered it with 1/2" birch plywood from Home Depot. I paid $0.97 a running foot for the poplar and the plywood was about $24.00 per sheet. Here's a picture of my framework:

Don Z.

[bobwhitten]

I would suggest that you NOT use White Pine for benchwork but use a GOOD grade of yellow pine which has more strength and will hold screws much better.

In building my own layout, I bought clear Yellow Pine - no large knots (pin knots are O.K.) and no bark. By doing so, you will not have to sort your wood to work around the knots/bark, can use all of the wood, and have good strength on any piece.

The 1/2" Birch plywood should work fine IF your supporting structure is closely spaced. 1/2" plywood won't span much more than 18" without deflecting quite a bit when you lean on it. A previous suggestion that you hold the supports to about 16" was very good advice.

Bob Whitten

[Tom Bryant_MR]

To connect all of the supporting structure together, invest in a pocket-hole jig from KREG.  Believe me, you will not regret it.

Regards,

 

[Driline]

When building my benchwork I used 1x4 poplar for all of the framing and covered it with 1/2" birch plywood from Home Depot. I paid $0.97 a running foot for the poplar and the plywood was about $24.00 per sheet. Here's a picture of my framework:

Don Z.

What a nice piece of ummmm "Benchwork" I really like the look of the poplar. I also used finished wood from Home Depot by I chose 1X3 finished pine. It's straight as a board and the finish is second to none. You pay a little more than "standard" grade lumber, but you don't have to worry about warped pieces. I used 5/8 sanded plywood as my base and then 1/2 homosote over it. I am pleased with the results. Here's a pic of my woodwork.

[CascadeBob]

In my last N scale layout, I used "L" girder construction with the "L" girders made from pine 1 x 4's and the top of the girder from 1 x 2's.  The joists were pine 1 x 3's spaced on 12" to 16" centers supporting 1/2" 5-ply fir underlayment plywood on risers with 1/2" Homasote glued on top.  The pine 1x lumber was obtained by culling through piles at a local lumber yard and at Home Depot  and 84 Lumber.  Over time I was able to collect enough lumber to build the benchwork.  Before using the lumber, I let it acclimate to my basement's environment for at least several weeks.  During this time, if any of the lumber was going to warp it would do it and you could remove those pieces.  I'm about to start my new layout and will use this lumber from my old layout.  I hope I can find similar quality lumber to complete the new layout.

I've been looking at the Lowes and Home Depot premium grade pine 1 x lumber and some of it looks fairly good.  You need to be particular when you select the pieces to buy.  Birch plywood my be over-kill in quality.  On my last trip to Lowes and Home Depot, they had 1/2" B-C (Sanded one side) pine plywood for $14.96 for a 4' x 8' sheet.  If you're going to glue foam or Homasote to the top of the plywood, you could put the "C" side up and the sanded "B" side down so you would  have a smooth surface to which you could attach switch machines, etc.  The "C" side has a few knots but these would be hidden by the foam or Homasote and I don't think they'd make a difference in the gluing.

I've been told to avoid the primed 1 x lumber sold at some lumber yards and home improvement stores that is used in construction for trim.  Most of this is composed of finger-jointed pieces of pine glued together to form the piece of lumber.  Apparently, these glue joints can come apart, especially if any force is applied to them.  Better to buy solid 1 x pine lumber.

Bob

[spidge]

I agree that you should use the yellow or better as the white is so soft that screws rip out too easily. You should be able to find plywood with one side sanded for roadbed. The thickness of your roadbed will dictate the span of supports, but your not standing on the stuff so you don't need 3/4". I used 1/2" with 16 inch centers with no problem on my N scale layout. Ny scenery is light also so consider that.

If you are building in the garage or shed think about painting or sealing all the wood before securing as humidity will cause some frastration. If you secured your trackage right of way in the house you are ok.

[nbrodar]

I used 1x4 clear pine for my orignal benchwork. 

Now I prefer 3/4" plywood.   Usually A/C pine or fir.   I have a wood shop with all the tools nessessary to machine the pieces.  And most important, I don't use screws.  I use glue, and air driven nails.

Nick

[jamnest]

I have built several modular/domino layouts by cutting 3/4" plywood into 1x4 lumber.  A 4'x8' sheet of good quality A/C plywood ($35.00 a sheet) will yield sixteen eight foot 1x4 boards.  This gives you good quality lumber without warps for a cost of about $2.20 per board or about $0.28 per foot.  For over all cost and quality I belive plywood is the best way to go.

JIM

[Anonymous]

I have used the 1x4x8 that you talked about and they worked very well and for the table top I used half inch plywood so far every thing is working well. good luck hope things work out for you

[rrinker]

I used ordinary plain old 1x4's from Home Depot,no special lumber. I picked out ones that were straight. Once everything is tied together it will be plenty solid. I used 2" pink foam board for my tops instead of plywood. I actually cut the wood with a hand saw, and still built my 4 sections, each 2'x8', in one day. It's held together with deck screws, I DID predrill the holes with a countersink bit. The handiest tool ever is a 90 degree clamp. I could clamp up two sides perfectly at 90 degrees and drive the screws in. No playing around with squares trying to get he corners right. I managed with one such clamp - but with 4 of them you could clamp the entire outer frame together at once and really speed things up.

--Randy

[jackn2mpu]

I have built several modular/domino layouts by cutting 3/4" plywood into 1x4 lumber.  A 4'x8' sheet of good quality A/C plywood ($35.00 a sheet) will yield sixteen eight foot 1x4 boards.  This gives you good quality lumber without warps for a cost of about $2.20 per board or about $0.28 per foot.  For over all cost and quality I belive plywood is the best way to go.

JIM

A very good way to go, and you shouldn't get pieces of wood that will warp. I learned the hard way some time back and got wood that warped after a few months. I'd used 1x4's of some typical home improvement center lumber out of which I'd built some benchwork (basic box frame, 16 inch centers). Due to circumstances not under my control, I'd not done any work on the layout. Went down to the train room after a month and found sections of the benchwork had warped. Ripped that out and went Jim's route. More work but worth it. I also skinned the top with 3/4" plywood - heavy but no warps with the seasonal humidity changes.
Question to Jim:
How did you come up with 16 1x4's 8 feet long out of a 4x8 foot sheet? 4 feet is 48 inches, divided by 4 inches will come up with a theoretical quantity of 12 pieces, and that is not allowing for saw blade kerf. I came up with 11 pieces each dimensioned 4 inches wide. I'm assuming your are talking a a 4" dimension and not the actual size of lumber sawed to a so-called 1x4 inch dimension.

[selector]

I used ordinary plain old 1x4's from Home Depot,no special lumber. I picked out ones that were straight. Once everything is tied together it will be plenty solid. I used 2" pink foam board for my tops instead of plywood. I actually cut the wood with a hand saw, and still built my 4 sections, each 2'x8', in one day. It's held together with deck screws, I DID predrill the holes with a countersink bit. The handiest tool ever is a 90 degree clamp. I could clamp up two sides perfectly at 90 degrees and drive the screws in. No playing around with squares trying to get he corners right. I managed with one such clamp - but with 4 of them you could clamp the entire outer frame together at once and really speed things up. --Randy

Whoooooose house?   Raaaaaannnndyyyy's house!!!

That means

[selector]

I have built several modular/domino layouts by cutting 3/4" plywood into 1x4 lumber.  A 4'x8' sheet of good quality A/C plywood ($35.00 a sheet) will yield sixteen eight foot 1x4 boards.  This gives you good quality lumber without warps for a cost of about $2.20 per board or about $0.28 per foot.  For over all cost and quality I belive plywood is the best way to go.

JIM

A very good way to go, and you shouldn't get pieces of wood that will warp. I learned the hard way some time back and got wood that warped after a few months. I'd used 1x4's of some typical home improvement center lumber out of which I'd built some benchwork (basic box frame, 16 inch centers). Due to circumstances not under my control, I'd not done any work on the layout. Went down to the train room after a month and found sections of the benchwork had warped....

I knew this could be a problem, so I stacked all my lumber in my basement for a week and used the dehumidifiers on their typical settings during that time.  I noticed no changes to the 1X4's, so I proceeded to commence construction.  However, I had decided to make L-girders, and I believe there-in lies the difference.  It is most difficult for the wood to warp when it is both glued and screwed to a rigid member at 90 deg rotation on the same axis.

Perhaps this would be useful to the questioner.

[fwright]

I knew this could be a problem, so I stacked all my lumber in my basement for a week and used the dehumidifiers on their typical settings during that time.  I noticed no changes to the 1X4's, so I proceeded to commence construction.  However, I had decided to make L-girders, and I believe there-in lies the difference.  It is most difficult for the wood to warp when it is both glued and screwed to a rigid member at 90 deg rotation on the same axis.

Perhaps this would be useful to the questioner.

I concur with Selector on this one.  I've always picked reasonably straight pieces of 1x4 or 1x3 and 1x2 pine at Home Depot or the like, and taken them home and glued them into L girders, without even bothering to dry them first.  I visually checked each piece for twists and curves in the 3" or 4" dimension before buying.  I didn't worry about curves in the 1" dimension, because I knew assembling them into L girders would straighten those curves out. The L girders were never painted or sealed, and have never warped despite being moved to a variety of climates over the years (I've used the same 6 L girders in about 5 different layouts).  I used yellow carpenter's glue and wood screws spaced every 12-16" to hold the L girders together.

In cases where I use sheets of foam instead of plywood, I turn the L girders flange down, and place the cross pieces (joists) between the L girders.  This way the L girders serve as a non-warping outside edge for the foam as well a strong support.  I'll even make mini-L or T girders for the end cross-pieces to avoid warping and provide a lip for the foam to sit on inside the frame.

I usually cut some old L girders for legs and brace with diagonal 1x2.

my thoughts, your choices

Fred W

[jamnest]

I get sixteen 1x4 boards from a 4x8 sheet of plywood because a 1" x 4" board is really 3/4" by 3 1/2".

JIM

[Don Z]

I get sixteen 1x4 boards from a 4x8 sheet of plywood because a 1" x 4" board is really 3/4" by 3 1/2".

JIM

There's no way to get 16 boards from a sheet of plywood.....16 times 3 1/2" is 56 inches. I will accept that you can get 13 nominal 1x4 sized pieces by ripping a sheet of plywood.

Don Z.