Benchwork Construction - My Lessons Learned


wesno

Member
I've finished the benchwork on my layout and wanted to share my thoughts on what I've learned. These are only my opinions and not the 10 Commandments from On High.

  1. I use poplar for 1X stock (1x2, 1x3, 1x4) and yellow pine for 2X stock. I don’t use white pine. Reasoning: poplar, in particular, and yellow pine to a lesser extent, appear to be denser than the soft white pine. This results in less splitting and better holding of screws.
  2. I don’t use 1X1’s for anything. I find it’s just too easy to split, even with poplar. Also, the wider board gives you more leeway when screwing the board to another board. I use at least a 1X2.
  3. I use Torx head screws only. I use mostly #6 and #8 size screws with #10 only on really heavy duty jobs. The way the Torx head driver fits so snugly into the screws is a huge win for me. I used to used drywall screws but the Phillips head is not as reliable and the thread thickness on the Torx head screws seem to hold better. This is the single biggest recommendation I can make.
  4. I purchased a Right Angle Drill Attachment. It snaps into your quick-release chuck and lets you snap a quick release bit into the business end so that the bit is at a right angle to the drill’s barrel. I try very hard to allow enough room to drill my holes and screws into the benchwork but sometimes I really need to drill in a tight space. Depending on the style you get, you can drill in some pretty tight places.
  5. I ALWAYS drill a pilot hole before drilling a screw into the benchwork; no exceptions. And almost without exception, I clamp the pieces together before drilling to insure nothing moves and I get a secure, tight screw-down. A quick way to do this is to get a 3-pack of pilot hole bits with quick disconnect ends. You insert the right size pilot hole drill bit, drill your hole and then swap out the bit for the Torx head screwholder. If you have 2 drills, that’s even faster.
  6. As a personal preference, I avoid having vertical legs on the “aisle” side of my layout. I was able to design my layout so that it always runs along a wall and comes out no more than 24”. I lagbolt 2X4’s to the wall and then use 45 degree 1X4 bracing to support the horizontal members that protrude out from the wall. These serve as joists and onto them I fasten other 1X4s at a 90 degree angle to serve as girders. Onto these I screw the risers and cleats.
  7. When positioning riser/cleats, pay special attention to where you’ll be placing your turnouts, especially if you’ll be adding switch machines later. You’ll want to make sure you have enough room to work underneath to mount the switch machine.
  8. When preparing to attach a riser/cleat to the underside of the roadbed, if the roadbed is on a grade, I first screw the cleat to the riser at a 90 degree angle. I clamp the riser to the girder such that the riser/cleat is touching the underside of the roadbed on one side. You will see that there is an angled slice of light shining through. Use a digital caliper to measure the thickest part of the slice. The value of the measurement is meaningless. Just lock your caliper to freeze the measurement. Unclamp the riser/cleat. Use your frozen measurement and mark on the correct end of the cleat that measurement. Now, draw a line from that mark to the other end of the cleat. You now have a close approximation of the “light slice” replicated on your end of your cleat. Use a disk sander or a belt sander to sand down the cleat to get just to the line you drew. Now, you should be able to position the riser/cleat on the girder and its slope will be close enough to the slope of the roadbed that you’ll be able to screw it in and things will match pretty darn close.
  9. I used 3rd PlanIt software to plan my layout. While the learning curve was a bit steep, I’m convinced I got a much smoother running layout than if I’d tried to devise it any other way. This was my third layout in 35 years and this one went much smoother than anything before. One thing that 3rd PlanIt can do is create cutting plans to have your roadbed cut out on a CNC router. The 3rd PlanIt developer actually can use those plans to cut out as many pieces as necessary which, when glued together with epoxy, forms your complete layout. I took that route and am very glad I did. The cutting plans takes into account elevation changes and it engraves the track plan on the roadbed pieces. Yes, it is more expensive than transferring the plans to plywood and cutting it out yourself but I’m convinced that the final result was MUCH closer to matching my original track plan than if I’d done it myself. The pieces are fabricated from 1/4" thick Baltic Birch. While this thickness is normally a bit thin, Baltic Birch has no voids and is unusually dense; it works great. However, in order to screw the roadbed to the 1X2 cleats, I found it necessary to use CA glue to attach a small piece of 1/4" plywood to the underside and use 1” screws to attach the cleat. You may find this technique handy if your roadbed is a bit thin and you need to screw something to its underside.
 
I use much of the same method but instead of 1x or 2x anything I use 3/4 ply ripped into strips.
Here in the Great White North we use Robertson screws, you know the square head ones but I like the Torx idea too!
I recently purchased a “Rotozip” tool and I’m happier than Donald Trump in a bag of Cheezies.
 
WESNO,
Thanks for some great information. As Rico said, I use many of the same techniques and materials, but there were some ideas I had not considered. Glenn
 
I use clear spruce, predrill, clamp, and chop and rip as I need to. L-Girders used for long reaches, made from 1X4 ripped out to 1.5", short width across the top, glued and screwed. Robertson head all the way here in Kanuckistan.

I'm not positive I understand what you're talking about in item #8. If I do understand you, I just clamp risers, make two lengths of roadbed meet atop them, and then adjust the clamp up and down to get a consistent grade, screw, remove clamp, and do a light sanding at the joint if it can stand it.

I don't mind vertical legs at the aisle. I would agree that angled braces down to blocks/cleats against the plate at the foot of the closest wall makes sense.
 
wesno, post:

I've finished the benchwork on my layout and wanted to share my thoughts on what I've learned. These are only my opinions and not the 10 Commandments from On High.

  1. I use poplar for 1X stock (1x2, 1x3, 1x4) and yellow pine for 2X stock. I don’t use white pine. Reasoning: poplar, in particular, and yellow pine to a lesser extent, appear to be denser than the soft white pine. This results in less splitting and better holding of screws.[/quote]
On my last layout I was able to find some good straight pine with some knots. It worked well on that layout which was up for almost 4 years before I had to move. This time around I've used clear pine and so far (it's been up nearly a year) it's looking good. The cost of lumber has risen quite high but if you can afford higher quality dimensional lumber, more power to you. But I haven't had any issues with splitting or holding screws - none what-so-ever.

  1. I don’t use 1X1’s for anything. I find it’s just too easy to split, even with poplar. Also, the wider board gives you more leeway when screwing the board to another board. I use at least a 1X2.
I didn't know anyone used 1x1's. I use 1x4's for open grid frames and 1x3 for cross memebers. I have used 1x2's in some applications where space demanded it and they worked well.

  1. I use Torx head screws only. I use mostly #6 and #8 size screws with #10 only on really heavy duty jobs. The way the Torx head driver fits so snugly into the screws is a huge win for me. I used to used drywall screws but the Phillips head is not as reliable and the thread thickness on the Torx head screws seem to hold better. This is the single biggest recommendation I can make.
Torx or similar star head screws are nice. I used standard philips head #6 and #8 on past layouts and they did the job well. Torx are easier and if you aren't tight for money, by all means. I've used a mix of philips and Torx style on my current benchwork.

  1. I purchased a Right Angle Drill Attachment. It snaps into your quick-release chuck and lets you snap a quick release bit into the business end so that the bit is at a right angle to the drill’s barrel. I try very hard to allow enough room to drill my holes and screws into the benchwork but sometimes I really need to drill in a tight space. Depending on the style you get, you can drill in some pretty tight places.
A right angle would come in handy. Presently I have a standard and an impact drill. The impact drill is much more compact than the standard and can still drill holes and drive scews fine. It generally fits into most places. So far I've gotten along without the right angle and may be to the point I don't need to spend the money on it.

  1. I ALWAYS drill a pilot hole before drilling a screw into the benchwork; no exceptions. And almost without exception, I clamp the pieces together before drilling to insure nothing moves and I get a secure, tight screw-down. A quick way to do this is to get a 3-pack of pilot hole bits with quick disconnect ends. You insert the right size pilot hole drill bit, drill your hole and then swap out the bit for the Torx head screwholder. If you have 2 drills, that’s even faster.
Pilot holes should be a no brainer. Any one working with wood finds out very quickly splits can occur without a pilot hole. I always counter sink and drill a pilot hole. ALWAYS. Perhaps that's part of the reason I have gotten along fine without buying posh wood.

  1. As a personal preference, I avoid having vertical legs on the “aisle” side of my layout. I was able to design my layout so that it always runs along a wall and comes out no more than 24”. I lagbolt 2X4’s to the wall and then use 45 degree 1X4 bracing to support the horizontal members that protrude out from the wall. These serve as joists and onto them I fasten other 1X4s at a 90 degree angle to serve as girders. Onto these I screw the risers and cleats.
I didn't want to put more screws in the wall so I have vertical legs, but they are far apart enough to be of little issue and they are in-set enough to not get kicked or interfere with legs or knees. Plus they were easier to construct.

  1. When positioning riser/cleats, pay special attention to where you’ll be placing your turnouts, especially if you’ll be adding switch machines later. You’ll want to make sure you have enough room to work underneath to mount the switch machine.
I've seen in many articles people using cleats, but I've found them to be superfluous on the past couple of layouts and never used them. But risers can interferer but they get install from the cross braces that are part of the open grid benchwork. Since I don't want the added comlexity of switch machines all over my layout, I'm using switch machines only in area's that are hard to reach and finger flick every where else. I don't need to automate that much of the layout and frankly it also means you have go to control panel and hopefully not throw the wrong switch. Manuel, that is nearly impossible.

  1. I used 3rd PlanIt software to plan my layout. While the learning curve was a bit steep ... I’m convinced that the final result was MUCH closer to matching my original track plan than if I’d done it myself.
I suppose it depends on your skills. I grew up with graph paper, scale rules, and the like and although I have used graphics software for other applications, including my masters thesis in college, I still feel the most comfortable drawing a paper scale plan. I can draw it accurately enough that it all scales out well in 1:1 scale.

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During construction I made checks along the way to be sure everything scaled out from the plan to full size. It worked quite well.

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Most of the major benchwork is up now - I only need to add the upper yard which will be mounted on shelf brackets along the wall.

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Nice bench work. I used clear pine from Sweden and it worked great and no warping problems to note.

I did use a combination drill and countersink to pre-drill all of the holes to attach the pine sections while held in place with angle clamps. The pre-drilling made installing the drywall screws a simple process. I some areas I used wood glue in addition to the screws.

Greg
 
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I like to imbed my controls, car card boxes, etc into the fascia. So I'm not a big fan of the "grid' style bench work. I use L girder for stand alone peninsulas and a bracket with a knee brace attached to the wall for the perimeter. I don't use any linear piece on the outside of the brackets. Attaching them to the wall keeps the back from moving and by the time I attach the roadbed and fascia to them there is no need for a brace or board on the edge. When possible the roadbed is raised above the joists on risers.

I generally use quality or clear pine and 1/2" AB or AC plywood with a 1/2 Homasote glued to it (I handlay track). The plywood is mostly only under the track or an industrial area. Other landforms are built up (or down) with foam.
 
I haven't gotten to the fascia stage yet, but don't see any reason why I can't build imbedded controls or card holders. Any of that stuff can be attached.

Although I've been aware of it since the 80's and people have explained the why's, personally I've never really seen the advantage of L-girder and feel I can do every thing with open grid that I need. My philosphy is to not do anything any more complex than is necessary. I find it easiest to construct open grids to the dimensions I need to fit my track pland. I use riser and in the end it all looks the same on top regarlds of which type of benchwork is used.

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Previous layout using the same simple open grid benchwork construction:

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Unfortunately I had to move before much scenery went in.

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Any benchwork along the wall has been anchored at various points to it is rock solid and I've installed enough bracing on the penninsula that it is very solid also.

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I'm not a trained carpenter and am doing things in a way that is basic and seems to be working well for me. The good news is there is more than one way to build benchwork and still get basically the same results.
 
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Here is a test run of a freight train on my last layout:




Since I am modeling late 170's Rio Grande, this is the Rio Grande Zephyr including the Prospector combine. The F units are the early Genesis F9ABB released about 15 or so years ago. There is newer release recently which has the modernized D&RGW F details such as grabs up the side and over the nose, "nail" antenae, correct horns, toe creepway and nose MU receptacle.
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I have models to do a mid and late 1960's California Zephyr as well (F3ABBA and F7/F9A set).
 
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I'm a real fan of hand-drawn plans on graph paper. That is a great looking plan and the benchwork is top notch . I cant wait to see this one progress.
 
I like them too. I find what works for me is to have a scale drawing of the room perimeter and other features such as HVAC, doors, support posts etc., all drawn in at a decent size on the graph paper. I can do a lot of visualization for major elements like turnbacks etc. To me it aids in coming up with a track plan, Aisle widths etc. Once that is all drawn in I design the benchwork in sections that fit the track plan.
 
Here it is about a year later and have not had much time to work on the layout due to house projects taking up lots of time and a type A wife.

Here is the staging yard track laid and framing for above yard and after subroadbed/Homasote down above:

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Subroadbed down and cork.

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Track starting to go down:

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The card board guard rails are up temporarily to come off when scenery goes up.
 
I have a bunch of those Tangent 86' Greenville auto parts cars and people have been reporting that they don't like S curves. I was concerned mine might not go through the S curve in the last photo with the #8 turnout. But tests with two coupled - no issues. That track comes up from staging at a 1.8% grade into a 36"R curve, then the #8 turnout and taking the siding into a 33"R inner curve.
 



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