Model Railroad Blog

Floating Bench Work

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Occam’s Law can be summed up with the adage K.I.S.S.  In other words, the best solution is typically the simplest.  Simple doesn’t mean easy to design.  Often the opposite is the case.  It takes a fair amount of thought to come up with the cleanest approach.  Whenever I find myself using the proverbial duct tape, baling wire, and a prayer to make a concept work, I know I’m on the wrong track.  Such was the case with the threaded rod idea for my floating bench work.  Pride of ownership can overcome all of us but I ultimately had to resign myself to the fact that the idea simply would not work.  Even with stiffening tubes the rods were too bouncy.  The Hillman anchors, while probably great for short levers such as towel racks, couldn’t handle the torque and were becoming slightly unseated from the wall.  Finally, extruded foam slabs have a slight warp to them.  Without some sort of frame to secure the slab to, there is no way to overcome the warping.  Simply setting the foam on the rods wouldn’t work.

Back to the drawing board.  The challenge of floating bench work for a model railroad is the deeper shelf depth which results in a longer lever.  To over come this you need: a light frame, a very strong anchor to the wall, and you need to eliminate as much weight as possible from the end of the outriggers (levers).  The design above solves all these problems and meets my goal of a clean look while at the same time being very solid.  For the plate against the wall I used poplar as it is harder.  I used lag bolts and large 1 1/4 washers to securely fasten it to the wall studs.  The outriggers are select pine attached to the poplar with relatively long, three inch drywall screws.  I used a Forstner bit to remove material from the end of the outrigger to lighten it up.  There is no facing frame on the end of the outriggers as that would have added too much weight.

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The outriggers are on 32 inch centers.  After the frame was in place I inserted two inch thick extruded foam slabs between the outriggers.  I haven’t decided on a fascia material yet but need to find something relatively light.

Powdered Glue

The initial test on a six inch piece of test track of powdered glue as ballast adhesive showed promise.  I’ve since moved to using it full force on a large N scale project in my shop.  Again, success.  I find it is not only easier to use than traditional liquid adhesive but it’s also easier to get better results.  Better being defined as no floating ballast, no craters, and no mini trenches.  I haven’t yet dialed in the best ratio of glue to ballast so can only say the amount of powdered glue needed is “not much”.  At present I’m putting two, 10 oz. bags of ballast in a bucket with only 1.5 oz of glue and it holds very well (that comes to 1:13).  One caveat is that the glue is very sensitive to moisture in the air and when exposed to it will start to dry.  I’m noticing that after mixing the ballast and glue in a bucket and leaving it over night there was some drying.  That being the case I suggest storing your excess in a container with an airtight lid.  If over time I find I didn’t use quite enough powder the ballast would be knit together enough that a quick follow up with dilute matte medium would be easy to do as insurance.  Finally, there is warning label on the glue container letting you know the powder is a lung irritant and not good to breath.  That is certainly the case so wear your respirator when working with the stuff.

Powdered Ballast Glue

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Effectively applying ballast glue is a challenge at best.  The more powdery soils and small gauge products even more so.  The problem comes with application of the adhesive, specifically the surface tension of the liquid.  Agents such as alcohol and dish soap help slightly but there is always an ongoing battle to minimize craters and channels created by applying the glue with an eye dropper or bottle. Ballast “float” is also a pain in the butt.  I’ve always wondered if the problem could be solved if a powdered glue was mixed with the ballast before application.  I picked up some Dap Plastic Resin Glue from The Home Depot to run a test.  I mixed the powder into some N scale ballast at a rough ratio of 1:5 and spread it some N scale track.  Next, I took a fine mister bottle, filled it with water and rubbing alcohol, and misted it onto the ballast/glue blend.  I let it dry and, voila, it worked!  It seems very solid and I haven’t noticed any major discoloration, shrinkage, or cracks.  The bond is VERY strong.   I haven’t experimented with the best glue/soil ratio although if 1:5 works I’m not sure it warrants a lot of testing time.  This adhesive method would be particular helpful for large surface areas of fine blends such as soil patches and gravel roads.

Eight Foot “Rulers”

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One of the more useful tools I’ve picked up along the way is a 98 inch aluminum cutting guide.  I originally picked it up for it’s intended purpose, as a guide for a circular saw to ensure you get a straight edge on longer cuts.  It’s also extremely handy, however, for laying out longer track center lines ( in a yard for instance).  It breaks down into two halves for easy storage.  Most hardware chains care it.  The Home Depot version can be found here.

Floating Bench Work

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Following my last post on floating bench work, I received a number of emails wondering if the torque imparted on the hollow wall anchor would rip it out of the wall.  The design of the Hillman anchor takes this into account.  That, in combination with a large washer screwed tightly against the front face of the wall, produces a very solid connection that won’t rip out of the drywall.  Another problem has surfaced though that I hadn’t accounted for, the “springiness” of the all thread.  Although it is tight and solid where it meets the wall, at the end it is really “bouncey”.  Envision a swimming pool diving board.  It won’t pull out of its mount and won’t break but it bounces all over the place.  I’m not ready to give up on the idea but I’m going to have to try something different.  A 1/2″ square structural member that would screw into the anchor might work “if” I could find such a thing.  Also, right now I’m only using one anchor every thirty two inches.  By going to sixteen inch spacing that might help a little.