gunrunnerjohn posted:One problem I have with hole saws is it's usually a PITA to get the wood puck out of the saw.
That's what the 2 small holes by the center are for. Punching out the wood plug.
I know what the holes are for, but it's still a PITA, especially if you're doing a bunch of them. I suppose another approach is to use the bandsaw and a pivot and just cut a circle that way.
Eddie I really like the sliding box idea too. I imagine they would slide equally well on a painted concrete floor also. A side benefit is that you also get some protection in the event of a basement flood due to a plumbing leak or a leaky hot water heater. This is a big worry of mine because the house is plumbed with poly b pipe. Yikes! 😱 If it's overland water flood though, all bets are off!
Rod
There BETTER NOT be any floods in my basement! 
Hello John, I have been watching your progress on the new layout. I believe it will be a premiere layout when you finish it. I would not worry about the carpet unless you are moving. I love this set of wheels you fabricated, you are a talented Macgyver sir. here is the proof.
BTW that is a nice townhouse. 
All I have to do is find a suitable seat.
Ahh, cutting circles. You can cut sub road bed circles with a circular saw and smaller circles on a table saw.
If you encounter dexterity difficulty while cutting curved road bed with the circular saw there are even dished blades available for circular cutting with a circular saw.
Table saw small circle cutting is done with a table mounted pivot. It blew me away when an elderly deaf mute master carpenter showed me how to do this. He could not speak but was one of my best instructors.
I agree with John, The pair of top holes or even the diagonal side slots are a pain to use because you are applying uneven pressure and the plug, especially if thick, will jam. Just remove the mandrel. A vise helps. Also cutting half way from each side will give you a pull out handle.
The frequent point of difficulty with a hole saw is cost. You only want a sharp hole saw and the cost can be an issue. Plus, an assortment of them for on site use can get heavy & stolen. I have several dozen for wood and tile, Extremely helpful.
Yep, I don't want to have more money tied up in tools than I do in trains! 
Check out arcusblade.com web site for saw circle cutting blades. Phone 502-495-2954. Blades start at $44. They also have trammels to mount your circular saw.
One of the uses suggested on their website is specifically for cutting curved model train track beds.
gunrunnerjohn posted:Yep, I don't want to have more money tied up in tools than I do in trains!
John, if you are like most of the rest of us train nuts, that would be hard to do! 😱
Rod
Rod Stewart posted:gunrunnerjohn posted:Yep, I don't want to have more money tied up in tools than I do in trains!
John, if you are like most of the rest of us train nuts, that would be hard to do! 😱
Rod
Yep, probably no danger in that happening if the truth were to be told.
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Tom, I like the rolling wire spool racks. Where did you score them?
And those cantilevered knees off your walls - excellent!
David
David98 posted:Tom, I like the rolling wire spool racks. Where did you score them?
Tom,
$30 to hold 8 rolls! I think I am going to order one! Better than the homemade thing I made! Thank you!
Only $20 on Amazon search for Gardner-Bender-WSP-100E-Electrical-Dispenser
Tom, thanks!
David
David98 posted:Only $20 on Amazon search for Gardner-Bender-WSP-100E-Electrical-Dispenser
Tom, thanks!
David
Thank you David! My adult kids finally convinced me to join Amazon Prime. It has been great Christmas shopping since I hate stores. I’ll look it up tomorrow!!!
Thanks for the tip, picked up a wire dispenser on Amazon for $20.06 total with tax and free shipping.
John a really cool way to cut plywood into sub roadbed curves, Is take your plywood (don't go cheap with plywood) to a place that makes counter tops. They can cut that plywood into curves on their CNC machine. I have not done this but my neighbor offered to do it.
Jim McGehee posted:Thanks for the tip, picked up a wire dispenser on Amazon for $20.06 total with tax and free shipping.
I'm going to be right behind you, Jim! 
Tom Tee posted:For decking consider Advantech 4' X 8' X 3/4"sheets @ $30.oo +/- each. Available at 84 Lumber, select Lowe's and quality lumber yards. HD had it for a while under their brand of Ameritech.
Very strong, extremely flat and smooth. Non responsive to moisture. Certified for use in home construction to be good for four months open to weather. Very affordable.
I have been experimenting supporting it on 22" & 32" centers with no deflection in 7 years.
Also, I just added a three rail upper level to my 2 rail layout. Knowing how loud three rail trains are, as an experiment I used various deck materials. Because Advantech is so extremely dense it is the quietest structural decking material I have ever used. You can hear the difference when the train travels from any thickness plywood to Advantech. As an aside, IMO, sound systems and slower speeds make three rail wheel/track sound much more bearable.
Advantech is great stuff!
That Advantech is an awesome product! We used it to floor a 25x21 loft we put in one of our buildings. It is printed with markings for attaching at 16, 19.2, and 24 inches. Now the weather rating is no warping or separation issues for 500 days in weather. Bad thing is it will kill circle saw blades and nails spark when you shoot em its so hard! But that is a good thing also!
Jim
Moving along, all the Mianne stuff is assembled, and I just have to finish wiring the limit switches for the liftgate and it's on to pre-wiring and then putting the top on. I already have a mod in mind for the liftgate control switches, what they supply isn't suitable for my use. My gate is four feet wide, and I need a control on each side of the gate, not one handheld flapping around. The good news is, that should be really easy to do. 
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Looks great John! cant wait to see it with the top on! Your moving right along!
Not moving as fast as I like, but at least I'm moving. 
gunrunnerjohn posted:Moving along, all the Mianne stuff is assembled, and I just have to finish wiring the limit switches for the liftgate and it's on to pre-wiring and then putting the top on. I already have a mod in mind for the liftgate control switches, what they supply isn't suitable for my use. My gate is four feet wide, and I need a control on each side of the gate, not one handheld flapping around. The good news is, that should be really easy to do.
Looks like the first trains might be on time!...........Pat
Looks good from my house!
Gunrunner at the rate your going Alex M will get his done first and you know how fast he is LOL .
Guy
It's coming along nicely!
-Greg
John: your are making better progress than I am. Have done nothing to the layout/bench work in months. But have got all he drywall complete and painted and started installing and filling shelves.
FWIW Here’s Sean’s video on his method to install switches on each side. Slide up to 8:30. liftgate switch install I’m sure you might build a better mousetrap. Maybe remote control like your garage door...
Looking real good with plenty of space. I did the same and purchased pre-fab benchwork but in some areas the hills and valleys and high lines required some serious mods. The layout also has three lift up sections that simply use hinges and knife switch blades/contacts for voltage continuity. Very easy to do.
Hi John, Please keep your progress and posts published. As you know I'm at least 6 weeks behind you. Tim's moving, Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Years Holidays ain't helping me one bit. But Tim has cashed my check, and put me on the list. John, Please stay in touch on your bench work progress.
Thanks
Tommy
Thanks guys, I'm looking forward to actually having a layout again, it's been a long time coming. The liftgate control I'm thinking about will be relay based so I'm not wiring 120V around under the table, just in one place. I saw that video Ted posted, and that's another way to go, it certainly works, maybe I'll just get lazy.
I talked to Alex, and I think I may beat him this time, he's kinda' snowed under right now.
Next I have to do some pre-wiring before I put the top on.
Looks great, John. I'll look forward to seeing something go on top of the Mianne benchwork! I'm going to give Tim a call a week or two after New Years and ask on the status of my order.
Looks good GRJ! I also saw a fellow on YouTube put switches on both sides of his lift gate. You wont have any problems doing that!
Jim
Made a bit more progress, the liftgate is done and operational. I also installed the protection panels on the side to keep fingers out of the cables. I had to ad-lib a bit on mounting the protection panels, they had a pretty lame design that only supported them from the sides. This is a 48" span, so the Masonite was flapping in the breeze. I added some wood blocks and supports to attach them on all four sides. I just used some old scrap lumber to space them out to the same plane as the legs. I'm hoping the extra blocks on the bottom I-beam help support the liftgate, all the weight of the liftgate is on those two 4 foot I-Beams, makes me a little nervous. The Masonite panels attached top and bottom and the blocks are helping support the weight on the bottom I-Beam, hopefully the liftgate lives a long and useful life.
The only remaining task for the liftgate is to add controls to operate it from both sides, the single control isn't going to do the trick. I saw a couple of Internet solutions, but I have a little problem with them. If you parallel two switches across the connections for the single switch on the control, it all works UNTIL someone on each side flips the switches in opposite directions at the same time. Then you get fireworks! 
While that's a remote possibility, Murphy was an optimist, so I'm not taking any chances!
Here's my latest update, the completed and operational liftgate.
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John:
I installed the controller for the liftgate out of sight but within easy reach just under the benchwork. Besides being convenient for me, it keeps curious visiting hands off:
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JOHN - When you get it completed I and others I bet would like to see your lift mechanism and wiring.
Freight Train Jim posted:JOHN - When you get it completed I and others I bet would like to see your lift mechanism and wiring.
I second that!!!
Nice work John! I hope you figure out your wiring for the liftgate!
stangtrain posted:I installed the controller for the liftgate out of sight but within easy reach just under the benchwork. Besides being convenient for me, it keeps curious visiting hands off:
With a 4 foot span, my arms aren't long enough to reach that from both sides. If I want the outside switch to be disabled, that's easy to do with a simple switch on the inside.
My goal is to have the two switches, one on each side. They'll actually trigger relays in a control box that actually controls the liftgate. There will be an interlock so that when one relay is activated, the other one is locked out to avoid the dreaded short circuit with opposing switches.
