Drywall or deck screws' unthreaded shanks are not full clearance diameter of the threads. Wood screws' shanks are. Generally, the unthreaded shank length should be at least the thickness of the top/outer supported piece being fastened to the support beneath/behind it. Threads gripping into the supported piece are counterproductive to forcing it against the support to which it is being fastened. If your screws do not have an unthreaded shank long enough, then you should drill a clearance hole in the surface piece to clear the threads. Failing to do this can cause the surface piece to crack. Some drill bits are stepped to automatically drill the pilot, clearance, and counter-sink/bore in one step. Note that drywall doesn't really have this problem, since it won't really hold threads anyway. Their bugle heads are also designed not to need a countersink in soft wood or drywall, whereas conical heads on wood screws in hardwoods do. Note that a drywall or deck screw will cut threads in the drywall or deck board as they are driven in, but once the screw is seated, the threads of the screw will be past it, and sunk entirely into the support.
Drywall/deck screws can split wood. Especially the thinner kind. And opening the outer layer helps to hold tighter. Of course that does make chamfers unnecessary in soft wood. We each have are own ways. Rich
As I reported in the Cattle Car, I'm just getting back to working on the layout. http://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/just-checking-in.138851/#post-1223613 My hobby room is approx 7½' x 14'. Having the layout running lengthwise behind and parallel to my workbench was a PITA. I've since rotated the layout 90° and put it near the far end of the room. This freed up space when entering the room and made everything feel less claustrophobic. When I reconfigured my workbenches I moved them from directly infront of the window to the corner next to it. In such a small room placing the layout and workbenches at opposite ends has made a huge difference in how the room feels. More to come.
As I reported in the Cattle Car, I'm just getting back to working on the layout. http://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/just-checking-in.138851/#post-1223613 My hobby room is approx 7½' x 14'. Having the layout running behind and parallel to my workbench was a PITA. I'm not sure when, but s
As I reported in the Cattle Car, I'm just getting back to working on the layout. http://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/just-checking-in.138851/#post-1223613 My hobby room is approx 7½' x 14'. Having the layout running behind and parallel to my workbench was a PITA. It also partially blocked entering the room Prior to surgery I spent some more time reconfiguring the room. I turned the layout 90° and placed it across the far end of the room. My workbenches are now in a 90° configuration as soon as I enter the room in stead of the prior side by side on the long wall. I really miss having the window directly in front of my workbench so I put a folding work stand in front of the window. This is going to be my assembly table. I just wanted to breathe some life back into my build thread. I have some photos of scenery rough in I'll post later today between walking and respiratory rehab sessions. Gotta Go! Logging Loco
FINALLY SOME PROGRESS! Getting ready to cut foam for the upper scenic level of my layout. The thick grey foam was left over from when a former neighbor had a crawl space encapsulated. The blue foam was pieced together from scraps to make a template. When planing the layout I made full size drawings on vellum but I had made some minor changes during track laying. Since the gray foam layer will be removable, I decided to make the foam template in order to get as accurate a cut as I could. Here I'm using a pounce wheel to transfer the outline of the template onto the foam scenery base prior to cutting foam.
I found this heavy duty comercial hot knife for a couple bucks at a church yard sale last year. It goes up to 600 watts and reaches full temp in just a couple seconds. Here I'm cutting out the access area for terminal boards and electrical connectors that alow me to remove the control panel and split the HCD in two. Here I'm roughing out the area for the road up to the downtown business district portion of the as of yet unnamed town. Here is a bonus shot of me heading into open heart surgery. Looking back I can't believe how puffy my face was from retained fluid. Even with all the wire holding my sternum back together I've still lost 18lbs in one week! I turn the big 60 in August. My goal is to be healthy enough to walk a few miles of the S&NY RoW west of Foot of Plane, Bradford County Pa. Maybe even catch a couple trout out of the Schrader! Have a Good One! L.L.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Your thoughts on changing your layout/workbench is much on my mind as well. Before I start rebuilding. And it's been quite awhile since I've seen a 'pounce wheel' being used. That's an antique as well.
Great to hear that the surgery went well and that you are now on the mend! Best wishes for a speedy recovery. That hot knife was a cool find. Looking forward to seeing how that road up to the town turns out.
It's been five weeks since heart surgery and almost four weeks since a layout update. I'm feeling really good but still have little stamina so the layout work sessions have been limited in frequency and duration. I start cardiac rehab next week so my stamina should start increasing. So much for me. Onto layout progress! This shows the foam base for the business district sitting on a table. I cut out an access to the terminal boards and connectors that allow the two layout sections to come apart. I installed foam blocks to keep the foam access panel flush with the top of the scenery base. Here they are taped in place while the glue dries. For retaining walls I used some old Walthers printed paper stone wall sheets trimmed to fit. This stuff had a 1967 copywrite. Not the best looking material but I had it on hand. The Henry Readyset adhesive is thick like peanut butter. It worked well for filling the uneven surfaces in the foam base. I might be trying this adhesive in other modeling applications. Since I decided this layout is only going to be put up at Christmas my priorities have changed a little. I felt spending a lot of time on the retaining walls was a waste. Since the business district foam base won't be permanently attached to the layout I can upgrade the retaining walls at a later date. I should have more updates over the weekend.
My mother sewed all our shirts, and the dresses, pants and skirts for my sisters, until they started sewing their own. I remember her laying out the pattern pieces on the fabric, and cutting out the pieces. She used a pounce wheel and carbon paper to mark the pockets, darts, seam lines, etc., through the pattern onto the fabric, all on our breakfast table. I hadn't thought about that it quite a while. Thanks for bringing those memories back!!!
I've been spending more time on the layout this past week. Im feeling a lot less tired as my recovery progresses. I feel like I'm starting to make progress on the layout. I know this isn't the neatest looking wiring and scenic base but it will all be covered with scenery eventually. Changing plans after laying track made some things more difficult. My next layout will probably not be another HCD layout, more for portability and ease of wiring across layout sections. Here is the modified Amp connector I used to bridge the layout seam. I forget the wire gauge but it is pretty light so I ran a pair to each terminal. There are plenty of unused contacts in the Amp connector if needed. The connector was salvaged and I had it on hand. If I were going to purchase connectors there are more appropriate ones available.
Here are a few more shots of installing the paper retaining walls. Sorry about the poor photo quality. This shows the roughed out curving road from the industrial area up to the downtown comercial district. The Ready Set worked well. I've also been using it as a seam filler on the foam board. It will shrink and crack if put on more than about ⅛" think. That's fine where I've been using it. The paste consistency is nice for filling voids in the scenery base. I'll see if I can relearn shooting with my camera and transferring pictures to my phone. The older I get the less patience I have with tech stuff.
I've been working on laying out the commercial district on .060" sheet styrene. The styrene will be the lift out base for the buildings as well as sidewalks and rear parking areas.Electrical access is below this area of the layout.
