Securing servo mounts under layout to plywood


videobruce

videobruce

Tower Operator
Details;
N scale, Peco electrofrog turnouts (around 57 yard & main), Motrak servo mounts, SG90 type servos, 3/8" plywood, 1/2 foam board, cork roadbed. Holes drilled under the throw rods, but they maybe too small and all are not 'dead center'.

The only two ways I can think of are screws or hot glue, both with substantial disadvantages;

Screws; they need to be drilled first after marking the EXACT location of the holes. Self taping screws don't make holes in plywood w/o a lot of pressure which will not work here.
Hot glue; concerned about when it oozes out and/or gets on your fingers and sliding the mount around to position it.

I tried looking around for small self drilling screws, but couldn't find anything. My concern for the hot glue other then above is the setup time after you apply the glue to the underside of the mount and tiring to line up the piano wire thru the hole on the base AND the hole on the 'horn'.

I also thought about double stick tape, but I can't see it sticking to typical rough surface plywood.
 

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videobruce said:
Details;
N scale, Peco electrofrog turnouts (around 57 yard & main), Motrak servo mounts, SG90 type servos, 3/8" plywood, 1/2 foam board, cork roadbed. Holes drilled under the throw rods, but they maybe too small and all are not 'dead center'.

The only two ways I can think of are screws or hot glue, both with substantial disadvantages;

Screws; they need to be drilled first after marking the EXACT location of the holes. Self taping screws don't make holes in plywood w/o a lot of pressure which will not work here.
Hot glue; concerned about when it oozes out and/or gets on your fingers and sliding the mount around to position it.

I tried looking around for small self drilling screws, but couldn't find anything. My concern for the hot glue other then above is the setup time after you apply the glue to the underside of the mount and tiring to line up the piano wire thru the hole on the base AND the hole on the 'horn'.

I also thought about double stick tape, but I can't see it sticking to typical rough surface plywood.
Click to expand...
videobruce - this might sound st00pid. Try Alien Tape. We used this for mounting a Sirius Antenna on top of the blind side mirror along with snaking the cable down the mirror, across the arm and into the door. Put it on sometime in April. Still is there with zero corners coming loose and everything tight. Does not seem to matter if it is raining, snowing, sunning with temps from -5f to 125f. Survives 70Mph and strong wind gusts. On top of all of that - the stuff is easy to get off when ya want. Amazed me that it stayed put. Sure, your RR is not going through the above, my point is that it sticks to anything. Well, at least all of the place I have put it.
 
I have quite a few Tortoise Machines on my empire and my modules. On the empire I use a glue and stick system. The stick is cut long enough to stand on the floor and sightly tilted to adjust pressure at the bottom of the machine. The use of glue allows me time to adjust the machine so it is perfectly lined up under the turnout. As my empire flows in elevation over the 6 1/2 scale miles I use scrap material under the stick to reach the higher levels. I use a small amount of glue in the center of the machine so it can be removed later. After the glue dries I apply screws to provide additional holding power.
On the modules I drill two holes, one on each side of the machine. I use a couple rubber bands to hold the machine in place. I apply the glue, put the machine in place then feed the rubber band under the machine and each end up through the holes. Stick a pencil or tool through the rubber band ends to apply upward pull on the rubber band.
 
I would think the Alien tape approach would require you to get the machine positioned perfectly on first try and offers no opportunity to make minor adjustments.
 
glue and stick system ??

He's using a stick wedged from the floor to pin the servo in place, a clever technique. With that method nearly any compatible glue would work.
George
 
Doesn't hot glue setup quickly? And wouldn't that 'stick' have to be very close to vertical or the mount would slide?
 
I went through the learning curve of how upright the stick has to be. You can have it tilted a couple degrees from straight up without the machine being pushed out of place. The idea of it being tilted slightly is so you can adjust the amount of pressure being applied upward by how straight up the stick is.
 
To give yourself wiggle room with screws first attach a piece of 1/8" hardboard (Masonite) to the switch machine. Hot glue it if you like. You can put larger screw holes in the hardboard and use large washers to hold the hardboard to the bottom of the plywood. The large holes should give you enough play to line things up exactly and the large washers will secure the machine.
 
There are many places I wouldn't have room for a larger 'base' other than the mount itself. I already thought about drilling larger holes in the servo mount, but the existing holes are too close to the corners.
 
As you increase the thickness of the roadbed the throw wire has a harder time moving the turnout. I bought a roll of #16 piano wire to provide a stronger throw wire for all my turnouts. I use 3/4" plywood over the entire empire. Just didn't want to have to mess with warping wood later on.
 
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