Baseboard as I like it

[Gerhard Novak]

After having some experience with wobbly legs and hard to reach coach bolts for board connection I thought I can do better and try this time to make the perfect solution.

As material I chose a frame from spruce, approximately 70mm x 15mm. The actual board will be ply, but not the hard stuff you get normally in the DIY shops but poplar ply (also called light ply). I learned to love this material when I lived in Italy, as there this material is the standard ply you get in all DIY shops. It is light - as the name says - easy to cut and keeps it's shape very well. The ply accepts small self cutting screws and can be glued with PVA or any other glue suitable for wood. As the material is soft the glue is soaked in and provides very strong connections. OK - I am in the UK now - where to get the wood from?

I found it at RC model shops, but at unbelievable prices. Or at special wood distributors, but then you need to buy several sheets (2400 x 1200) as a minimum purchase... Finally I found the company Slec, well known at the community of RC model enthusiasts. They have it in the proper size, 1200 x 600 mm. Unfortunately the maximum thickness available is 6mm, I would have prefered 10, but this keeps the weight down and with a few cross bars it will be stable enough.

But before I start I need some dowels to center the board connections. Ok, it is crazy, but as I have my onw lathe and always a few pieces of aluminium around I made them myself. (Not the first time, also my old layout used these with big success)


producing the dowels 1 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr

dowels - rear flange with fixing holes by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr

some dowels ready by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
Finally the ready dowels. Cost: almost nothing. Time used: a lot, but I enjoyed it...

Now to the boards itself
drilling baseboard sides by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
The holes for the centering dowels are drilled into the sides.

frame sides are glued with PVA to the board by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
And the board is glued to the frame. Yes - this is a double size one. Will need a van for transportation...

cross bars for stability by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
And some cross bars are glued to the board for stability. By the way - there is no whiskey in the box - but brass parts - they are so heavy that I can use the box as a weight while the glue sets.

My boards have only 2 legs and one provisional leg - when they are connected together they do not need more than two - except the last board which has four. The provisional leg is for building - when I do not want to set up all the board I can use a single one with 3 legs.

cross brace by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
I decided to use foldable legs - they are more practical than the A-frames I used in the past. I also added adjustable feet - especially for 9mm track a useful investment.

foldable legs in transport position by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
Here you see the legs folded in

standing on its own legs by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
and finally the module stands on it's own legs.

Enough for today (ok, I don't want to cheat - I work on this since 2 weeks...)
more to follow.

[Gerhard Novak]

Work progressed a little further - but not as far as I wanted as my shed hoover gave up. Without that I cannot use the router as I would be in a cloud of dust...

But something moved - I have the first 2 boards and can make a trial assembly.

part assembly by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
Now you can see also the provisional leg in place - when I will put all boards together it is no longer necessary. But this is impossible in my shed - I will have to move to the garage.

adjustable latch by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
The boards are connected by adjustable latches from Wixroyd

joint by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
The connection between the boards is good, probably I have a small gap at the sides as you can see at the previous picture - I overdid the sanding. But other than that the boards fit without noticeable gap. And they are level. Hope it stays this way.

[Gerhard Novak]

As mentioned before one baseboard is double size. So if added to the others the standard latch fixing will not work. What to do?

DSC02938 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
See here the two baseboards.

The solution is easy. I modified a M6 screw into a hook shape, fixed an M6 insert nut into the board side and here we are.

DSC02933 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr

DSC02930 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
see here the modified screw - I used a screw with a hexagon head - and I used a high strength one (8.8 grade) as I don't want the hook to be ripped off by the latch.

DSC02936 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
now the latch is closed - it works very well.

DSC02939 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
and the board joint is again as I like it.

[MickT]

This is very impressive indeed Gerhard, thanks  for sharing!

Mick

[Graeme Dunbar]

I like the corner joints - are they made with a router?

I've recently bought one and am interested to learn what they are capable of.

[Gerhard Novak]

Many thanks Mick. Old man tries to do his best... My main problem is I am still not 100% sure what to put on the boards and where.... It will be a small country station served by a single track electrified branch line in H0 - and in this station will be the terminus of the narrow gauge. As I think about the 80/90th of the last century (this is because of existing Austrian H0 rolling stock) it will be a kind of museum line. Idea is to have a quarry or mine in it, which is still working for show purposes and a passenger service bringing the tourists closer to the action. But this should go rather into the layout - section of the forum and not into baseboards. Just to give you a taste...
Gerhard

[Gerhard Novak]

Graeme,

yes, the corner joints are made with a router. Quite a cheap 1/4 chuck model, and a new 8mm bit from tool station for 2

[Graeme Dunbar]

Yes please! A photo of the jig and a description of your technique would be very useful.

[Gerhard Novak]

Especially for Graeme, but also for everybody who is interested a small description how to make a finger joint with a home made jig.

To start with a make a disclaimer: A router is a dangerous tool, which can cause severe injuries. What I explain here should only be done if you are familiar with the tool and full aware of what you are doing. I can and will not take any responsibility for injuries resulting of somebody doing what I describe here.

OK, now less bla bla. How does the jig look like? And what is the router used?

DSC02967 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
Here we have the router, a cheap Chinese no brand tool.

DSC02972 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
and this is the jig. note that it is clamped securely to the table.

jig1 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
click on this picture as it is in fact a video on flickr.

As I said you need to convert the router int a stationary machine, for this I remove the parallel guide and I screw the router to the jig from below.

Also I fix the electrical switch into the on position with some adhesive tape. Attention - be sure your plug is disconnected from the socket before doing that!

jig 1.1 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
click on this picture as it is in fact a video on flickr.

Now all is set up - dont for get the hover as a router produces an enourmous amount of milling dust. fix the workpiece to the jig so that it touches the index bolt. this gives you the right distance for the first cut. When the workpiece is secury clamped to the jig you can start. Be aware of the danger of the unprotected cutter!

jig2 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
again a video, just click on the picture above.

jig3 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
and another video.

jig4 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
and another video



jig5 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr
and a last one.



After a tap wit a rubber mallet it looks like this:
DSC02971 by Gerhard Novak, on Flickr



Hope you enjoyed this little trip into the workshop!

[Gerhard Novak]

Back to the baseboards. Now they are mechanically ready, the connect nicely and even stand on their own fold in feet.
As long as there is no track or scenery on the boards I can also prepare some basic wiring.

Even this is still baseboard related I think this is the place where I need to change to "Electrics and control"
If you want to read also the electrical part of my baseboard thread then click the link below.
http://www.009society.com/forum/index.php?topic=2553.0

[Graeme Dunbar]

Many thanks Gerhard! I was getting network buffering problems at home on the slow connection I have so gone through all the videos again at work this lunchtime. The arrangement of the jig and especially the way in which the distance is transferred to the second part of the joint is very clever.

[Gerhard Novak]

Graeme,

First I thought of buying a jig - but then I saw the price and I do not think I would use it frequently. And after some research in the internet I put the jig as described together. For me this is double fun - first the tool and then the job you have made it for. I like making tools or jigs as they may help you to do things which otherwise wouldn't be possible. Sorry for the videos- not really professional. Also I have no software to edit them. So what I say is unfiltered and sometimes rubbish - my English is normally better....

[Doug Dickson]

Gerhard,

Your English is fine!

I also speak two languages........Englsh and Rubbish.

Very interesting videos,

Doug

[Gerhard Novak]

Well - I speak 3 fluent - and make mistakes in all 3 of them  :) :D

German
English
Italian

and probably Viennese if we consider this as a language...

[Allscales]

Hi Gerhard,


I spent the weekend at Vienese Model Messe in 2015 as part of the ARG stand, to me Vienese is another language and like you I speak German...

:-)