Well, I'm not in Florida, but plywood should always be stored laying flat in a stable environment.......
No trouble buying domestic birch here, but you get what you pay for.........
We just bought over 300 sq feet of 3/4 for the backs of large built in bookcases. No problem getting it or with its quality.
Sheldon
ATLANTIC CENTRALNo trouble buying domestic birch here, but you get what you pay for.........
Sheldon, I'm not far from your area (I'm in south central PA). May I ask the name of your source?
Thanks!
Ed
freeway3 ATLANTIC CENTRAL No trouble buying domestic birch here, but you get what you pay for......... Sheldon, I'm not far from your area (I'm in south central PA). May I ask the name of your source? Thanks! Ed
ATLANTIC CENTRAL No trouble buying domestic birch here, but you get what you pay for.........
Just a local, independent lumber yard/building supply, Kefauver Lumber in Forest Hill, MD.
But you might have similar success at Delta Lumber in Whiteford, MD, at little closer to you.
Much appreciate it sir, I'll check them out.
Henk and I went to the club this morning to figure out what to do to fix some track that has shifted a bit. The suggestion on another thread was that we should have used latex caulking to glue the track down.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/p/269221/3051939.aspx#3051939
We decided that the track could be easily straightened and held in place by simply using more nails. The track crew was nailing every 4" which is the spacing of the nail holes in the Atlas track. Additional nails were added at rail joints and turnouts. We are going to put in nails every 2" to see if that solves the problem. Lifting the already laid track to apply latex caulking under it was deemed to be far more work than drilling ties and installing nails.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
We had an interesting time at the club on Tuesday night. The club has decided that all of our turnouts will have jumpers added as per Allan Gartner's recommendations. The problem was that nobody knew exactly how to do it except me. So, I ran a seminar to teach those members who were interested how to do it. The seminar also included some basic soldering information. I wasn't sure how many people would be interested in the seminar but it turned out that everyone in attendance wanted to get involved.
The seminar was well received, and even the experienced modellers said they got something out of it. One member who had never been able to solder on his own actually ended up modifying a couple of turnouts and he did quite well.
I was a little annoyed because my Weller soldering iron didn't seem to be working as well as it had been at home. I seemed to be able to use it just fine but several others had a bit of trouble getting the solder to flow. Also, the tip seemed to be harder to keep clean. Not sure why. We used tinning compound on it a couple of times but the solder still wouldn't flow onto the tip as smoothly as it should have. Henk suggested that maybe the voltage in the system wasn't quite up to where it should be. It is an old building. Oh well, overall the session was a success.
hon30critter I seemed to be able to use it just fine but several others had a bit of trouble getting the solder to flow.
I wonder what solder blend you are using, Dave?
I have an EE friend that works at a hi-tech electronics builder. He brings me left-overs and recently gave me some Alpha Reliacore 63/37 in .010, .015 and .020 diameters.
I figured this is what the "pros" use so it must be good. I really didn't like it and couldn't get a good flow both on nickel silver rail or PC boards. The "eutectic" properties made it chill too fast for my liking.
After a while I went back to my Kester "44" 66/44 rosin core and suddenly realised I should have stuck with this all along. It makes a nice, shiny tent and flows beautifully.
I have some Radio Shack 60/40 too but it doesn't flow as nicely as the "44".
From what I've collected over the years I'll bet I have two-or-three dozen one-pound spools of rosin solder alone plus several dozen spools of 50/50 plumbing solder.
My kids will probably have to pay to have the property de-contaminated when I'm gone
Cheers! Ed.
gmpullmanI wonder what solder blend you are using, Dave?
Hi Ed:
That may well have been the problem. Normally I use Kester Electronic Silver Solder and I have no trouble with it at all. It is rosin core .020" 62% lead, 36% tin and 2% silver. I buy it from Ngineering. http://ngineering.com/soldering.htm
At the club I was using 63/37 eutectic rosin core solder which I had not used before. I bought it because I thought that the eutectic properties would result in fewer cold joints with several different people doing the soldering, some more experienced than others.
When we start to solder the feeder wires to the bus I will take some of the Kester solder to the club to see how well it works vs the eutectic stuff. I'll let everyone know the results but don't hold your breath waiting. We are having yet another discussion on how to do the bus wiring (probably the fifth time round ) and we have to resolve that before any feeders get soldered.
Cheers!!
Interesting, I've always used 53/37 because, indeed, it is easier to NOT get a cold joint. I've never had a problem with it not melting or flowing, even with my old collection of soldering irons back in the day. Both my station and my big gun for feeders seem to have no problem. Sounds to me that if the tip wouldn;t stay clean, the issue is the opposite of too low a voltage - it was high, and the iron was running too hot.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinkerSounds to me that if the tip wouldn;t stay clean, the issue is the opposite of too low a voltage - it was high, and the iron was running too hot.
OK Randy, I'll check that out too. It is adjustable.
I have to share with you some recent experiences that being a club executive has exposed me to. Those of you who don't want to be club members will enjoy this!
In March we got a letter from the Ontario Government telling us that we were not in compliance with the laws governing non profit organizations. This is the second letter that we have had to that effect. I responded to the first one which we received last fall which asked us to list the club's executive members. Turns out that we didn't understand what they were asking. The club is supposed to have a Board of Directors over and above the Executives. Foolishly we had followed the advice of a member who told us that we didn't need to have Directors. OK, the simple solution was to ask the members to appoint the existing executives (President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer) to the Directors positions.
Unfortunately, there was way, way more involved. The club is also supposed to have written by-laws which govern the operation of the club. The by-laws were nowhere to be found so we had to rewrite them, which the President did to the tune of 16 pages of legaleeze! He didn't create that size of a document because he wanted to. All he did was follow the example of another non-profit organization which supposedly had all their ducks in a row. OK, now we have the by-laws so our job will be done as soon as the members agree to appoint the current Executive to the Board of Directors, or so we thought.
The next thing we discovered is that the club needs to have a separate by-law governing the dissolution of the club if that ever happens. OK, so we drew that up. Easy, right?!?
Not so quick. In order to comply with all of the government regulations we have to have a series of separate meetings to ratify all of this. Each meeting has to start with a resolution to do whatever, i.e. appoint the Board of Directors or ratify each by-law and has to end with another resolution to bring the meetings officially to a close. NO, we can't do all the things we need to do in a 'single' meeting! We can have all the meetings on the same night, but each one has to be started and stopped with their own resolutions.
OK, are you exhausted yet? I am!!!
We are not done yet!!! Each of the meetings has to be held in a particular order because if we don't ratify something like the dissolution by-law first, the following meeting can't ratify the other by-laws without the first meeting's resolution being adopted. We have to have three (I think) separate consecutive 'official' meetings in order to clean up the whole mess.
Now I'm really exhausted. But wait!! There is still more to do!!! Henk and I have to figure out a way to explain all of this to the members and deal with any questions about any of the details (I'm sure there will be questions - lots of questions!).
I'm not making this up! We are simply following the law. The really unfortunate thing is that, had the previous executive done their due diligence, everything would still be in place and the whole process could have been dealt with by simply submitting our list of Directors and Executives on an annual basis.
Henk and I took over the leadership of the club to get it back on its' feet. Such is the price we pay.
Cheers everybody!!
Cheers, the Bear.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
hon30critter I have to share with you some recent experiences that being a club executive has exposed me to. Those of you who don't want to be club members will enjoy this! In March we got a letter from the Ontario Government telling us that we were not in compliance with the laws governing non profit organizations. This is the second letter that we have had to that effect. I responded to the first one which we received last fall which asked us to list the club's executive members. Turns out that we didn't understand what they were asking. The club is supposed to have a Board of Directors over and above the Executives. Foolishly we had followed the advice of a member who told us that we didn't need to have Directors. OK, the simple solution was to ask the members to appoint the existing executives (President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer) to the Directors positions. Unfortunately, there was way, way more involved. The club is also supposed to have written by-laws which govern the operation of the club. The by-laws were nowhere to be found so we had to rewrite them, which the President did to the tune of 16 pages of legaleeze! He didn't create that size of a document because he wanted to. All he did was follow the example of another non-profit organization which supposedly had all their ducks in a row. OK, now we have the by-laws so our job will be done as soon as the members agree to appoint the current Executive to the Board of Directors, or so we thought. The next thing we discovered is that the club needs to have a separate by-law governing the dissolution of the club if that ever happens. OK, so we drew that up. Easy, right?!? Not so quick. In order to comply with all of the government regulations we have to have a series of separate meetings to ratify all of this. Each meeting has to start with a resolution to do whatever, i.e. appoint the Board of Directors or ratify each by-law and has to end with another resolution to bring the meetings officially to a close. NO, we can't do all the things we need to do in a 'single' meeting! We can have all the meetings on the same night, but each one has to be started and stopped with their own resolutions. OK, are you exhausted yet? I am!!! We are not done yet!!! Each of the meetings has to be held in a particular order because if we don't ratify something like the dissolution by-law first, the following meeting can't ratify the other by-laws without the first meeting's resolution being adopted. We have to have three (I think) separate consecutive 'official' meetings in order to clean up the whole mess. Now I'm really exhausted. But wait!! There is still more to do!!! Henk and I have to figure out a way to explain all of this to the members and deal with any questions about any of the details (I'm sure there will be questions - lots of questions!). I'm not making this up! We are simply following the law. The really unfortunate thing is that, had the previous executive done their due diligence, everything would still be in place and the whole process could have been dealt with by simply submitting our list of Directors and Executives on an annual basis. Henk and I took over the leadership of the club to get it back on its' feet. Such is the price we pay. Cheers everybody!! Dave
Mother government, protecting you from yourselves..........
Being a Yank and a conservative, don't get me started........
ATLANTIC CENTRALBeing a Yank and a conservative, don't get me started........
Hi Sheldon!
I figured my post (rant) would get your attention!
Every time I have to address the situation I shake my head. We are a group of 22 people who just want to run trains. Give me a break! Unfortunately, if we ignore the rules, the government will recind our corporate status, which will mean that we can't get the necessary insurance to meet our landlord's requirements, which will mean the end of the club. The NMRA club insurance unfortunately doesn't carry much weight up here.
We will hopefully be done with all of this rigmarole by the end of April. Then we can get back to working on the layout.
Solder questionI'm still a bit ignorant about really good solder technics, but I thought I understood that it was NOT a good idea to use rosin-core solder on electrical circuits??
Brian
My Layout Plan
Interesting new Plan Consideration
hon30critter We decided that the track could be easily straightened and held in place by simply using more nails. The track crew was nailing every 4" which is the spacing of the nail holes in the Atlas track. Additional nails were added at rail joints and turnouts. We are going to put in nails every 2" to see if that solves the problem. Lifting the already laid track to apply latex caulking under it was deemed to be far more work than drilling ties and installing nails. Dave
hon30critter ATLANTIC CENTRAL Being a Yank and a conservative, don't get me started........ Hi Sheldon! I figured my post (rant) would get your attention! Every time I have to address the situation I shake my head. We are a group of 22 people who just want to run trains. Give me a break! Unfortunately, if we ignore the rules, the government will recind our corporate status, which will mean that we can't get the necessary insurance to meet our landlord's requirements, which will mean the end of the club. The NMRA club insurance unfortunately doesn't carry much weight up here. We will hopefully be done with all of this rigmarole by the end of April. Then we can get back to working on the layout. Dave
ATLANTIC CENTRAL Being a Yank and a conservative, don't get me started........
railandsail Solder questionI'm still a bit ignorant about really good solder technics, but I thought I understood that it was NOT a good idea to use rosin-core solder on electrical circuits??
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
Thank you Carl, that's what I was trying to remember that I had read,....not to use acid core solder. Getting older is not all its cracked up to be, particularly memory. (I can't even talk politics any more as I can't remember all of their names, and there are SO MANY crooked ones now.)
Hi Brian:
railandsailIt appears as though it is PRIMARALY changes in the subroadbed (usually wood of some sort) that results in track distortions. And this can occur over a long period of time as the wood adjust to indoor climate.
You are probably right, because the track distortion is less pronounced today then it was two weeks ago. Never the less, there are areas where we haven't installed enough nails yet so that is next on our project list.
As far as layout progress goes, we now have almost all the mainline cork roadbed in place. There are just a few turnout areas left to do. We also finally decided on the bus configuration. We were going to go with a 5 amp command station and a 5 amp booster, but we can't find the booster after our move last summer. We have decided to work with just the command station for now. If it proves to be inadequate we have designed the bus system so that a booster can be added in without having to re-do any wiring. Fortunately, despite changes to the plan, all the wire that we have already installed can stay in place. We also got a bunch of feeder wires connected to the various buses tonight.
Next Tuesday will be the big meeting to appoint the Board of Directors and ratify the by-laws. So far everyone seems to be accepting the reasons for all of this so we don't anticipate too many objections.
Stay tuned!
“Kia Kaha”, (stand strong) Dave.
Thanks Bear! Things aren't quite so bad yet that I will have to stomp my feet, stick my tongue out and make my eyes bulge!
Hi gang!!
First, I want to express my gratitude for all the interest that all of you have shown in this thread! The guys at the club are amazed!
Second, I wish to announce that we achieved a major milestone on Tuesday night! We ran our first engine!! Granted it was only on DC and it only went for about 30 ft or so, but it never skipped a beat. So far, so good!!
And, if you recall my rant about having to appease the government's bureaucratic requirements, we passed all of the necessary resolutions with 100% of the members present voting in favour. Our President, Henk, has done a ton of work to make sure that the club is on solid ground legally, and everyone was very appreciative of his efforts.
As a result of all of this rigmarole I can now add the title of Director to my credentials!! My head is swelling!!!
If you have been following this thread you will know that have vented my frustrations about some of the occurrances at the club. Here goes again.
I just had to send a pleasant reminder to all the members to restrict the use of other members' email to club related messages only. Why? Because one of the members was blanketing everyone with inappropriate content. Don't worry Steven Otte, I won't post the naughty message here.
hon30critter I just had to send a pleasant reminder to all the members to restrict the use of other members' email to club related messages only. Why? Because one of the members was blanketing everyone with inappropriate content. Don't worry Steven Otte, I won't post the naughty message here. Dave
Wow, that sucks, who knew someone would be so inconsiderate. Do you have any young members of your club? Well, on a lighter note, how is work on the new layout coming?
~Eastrail
Sounds more like someone got a virus, haven't seen that one in years.
I just wanted to mention that there is another current thread in the General Discussion area that talks specifically about what industries we could put on the layout. There are lots of good ideas on it.
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/269603.aspx?page=1
rrebellSounds more like someone got a virus, haven't seen that one in years.
Naw, the inappropriate message was intended, unfortunately. It wasn't real hard core but some of us have moved beyond the school boy stage.
Did you reprehand them?
rrebellDid you reprehand them?
Did you mean 'reprimand'?
I sent out a politely worded email asking all members to get permission from the intended recipient(s) before sending emails that some people might feel were not appropriate.
The only response I got was from the guy who sent the inappropriate email in the first place. He thought I was asking everyone to get permission from the Executive Committee before sending any emails, so I sorted that out.
hon30critter rrebell Did you reprehand them? Did you mean 'reprimand'? I sent out a politely worded email asking all members to get permission from the intended recipient(s) before sending emails that some people might feel were not appropriate. The only response I got was from the guy who sent the inappropriate email in the first place. He thought I was asking everyone to get permission from the Executive Committee before sending any emails, so I sorted that out. Dave
rrebell Did you reprehand them?