We are building a Jig for making Trestle Bents and I was wondering what size wood some of you have used for the Posts in your trestles. All that I have read says that the posts were mostly 12" x 12", If I observe the O scale size reduction, I think that takes the size of the post down to 1/4" x 1/4" which seems small? What sizes have you all used?
Thanks in advance,
David
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I used 1/4 x 1/4 for the bents and 1/8 x 1/4 to join them together.
I used 1/4 x3/4 for main beams 1/4 x1/2 for uprights and 1/8 x1/4 for x braces .
Guy
I used 1/4 for the bents and smaller sizes for the supports.
Forgot to mention - if you would like to see a picture of my jigs just let me know.
Joe
I too used 1/4 x 1/4 basewood. I also made a jig so that all bents were uniform in the spacing of the posts, etc. This is a very time consuming project but the end result is worth it. Here is a pic of some of mine.
Forgot to mention - if you would like to see a picture of my jigs just let me know.
Joe
That would be awesome - never enough great ideas - Thanks!
ACL:
The first picture shows the inital jig for gluing the posts to the sills. I lay one set of top/bottom sills and add glue to the positions where the posts will go (the jig has marks giving post location. In the second photo I turned one of the spacers so you could see the marks but they are not showing up in the picture. I then glue in the second set of sills. I use two jigs so that while I am gluing up the second bent the first has a chance to cure a little. I take the bent out of the jig and use mini clamps to hold it overnight.
The horizontal sway bars go on next. The number and position depend on the overall height of the bent. I use a real simple jig for this (see the next photo). It has pemcil marks showing the position of the sway bar for different bent heights.
The diagonal sway bars are just cut to size and glued in place.
Thanks to everyone for the help and insight - I am hoping to build a new jig this weekend!
David
David,
Step by step details on how to build this trestle (from scratch) are on OGR Magazine current issue, Run 256. And yes, I used 1/4" x 1/4" bents, which I cut from 1/4" thick x 6" wide x 36"long poplar from Home Depot.
These are fun to build, and if you have any specific questions, please feel free to email me.
Alex
See my Hidden Pass Junction RR layout under construction here:
https://ogrforum.com/d...ent/2415514336550790
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