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Benchwork Question

Gary works in O scale and asks readers:

“What is best to put on the wood table first. Homasote or what. Is anything needed?”

2 Responses to Benchwork Question

  • david says:

    Homosote is an American product not sold Down Under, but we do have a product that is used a lot for on top of base boards called Canite. It is not really self supporting over any great span, especially in damper conditions.
    I built base boards using MDF of about 15mm thickness and in the pat topped this with cork sheet or floor tiles. In the new layout I will be experimenting with the cellular underlay used with floating floors. It’s about 3mm thick and I will be gluing it to the based board and then cork roadbed on that. The idea is not to connect the track directly to the base board, but to let it float
    The main issue for me will be the rolling noise of trains in the train room where I would prefer to hear the clickity-clack of wheel on rail rather than the drumming of the base board and I believe this may give me the result I need.
    In the British Isles 3-4mm ply, suitably braced is used. That seems a bit light to me, but one must remember most of their layout are for taking to exhibitions.

  • Newman Atkinson says:

    Homosote is good for your track areas and I have installed it on top pf 1/4 inch plywood with great success so far. Another item to install is the older harder ceiling tile material. it is a lot like homosote. But it also needs some support such as plywood. I repaired a club module for someone one time and the decking they used was the old ceiling tile. But as you may know ceiling tile will droop when hung in a drop ceiling. They had installed this directly on the framework and over the years it warped so bad that the trains could not cross the module. Hope this helps.
    from Newman Atkinson

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