The Modelers Thread

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis, the “Big Four”, learn something every day. Looks very sharp.

Thanks! Spent years rarely never building gondolas and in the past 18 months have done 7-8 now. Best part are the dry transfers from Clover House!

[gregj410]

I wanted a Howe truss style bridge for a short On30 line on my pike. I admittedly am not a good planner and I am almost embarrassed on how much money I spent on two bridges that didn’t even work. Oh well, maybe on another part of the layout or a short sale at York.
So I’m 0-2, and I figured three strikes and you’re out. I thought about the hunter line bridge, but could not bring myself to spend any more money. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing, so I figured I’d give it a whirl and build it myself. I found this pile of poplar flooring splines that I never used, and to the band saw I went. Again, I did not have an exact plan on how I would do this. It got better as I went along, and although it’s not perfect I think I have something I can work with here that didn’t cost me any more money.





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[Rufus T. Firefly]

Slick using the band saw!

What glue do you use for securing the end grain to the stringers?

[gregj410]

Slick using the band saw!

Yes! More time thinking out how to keep all your work from blowing apart in the cutting process.

What glue do you use for securing the end grain to the stringers?


Been having success with this

how to download hi res instagram photos

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Titebond 3....have to try it someday. End grain is just terrible to deal with for good strength.

[gregj410]

Titebond 3....have to try it someday. End grain is just terrible to deal with for good strength.

I agree. I’ve had the worse time with CA and end grain. If it doesn’t bond the first time it seems to glaze over the end grain making it almost glass like. From there I could never get a nice bond. I think the tight bond wicks into the end grain and dries slowly making a good bond.

[RBH29]

Greg, I think this is the best type of project; using stuff you already have with the opportunity to exercise your creativity. You end up with a nice product for no or low cost, except for maybe time. But it's time well spent.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Titebond 3....have to try it someday. End grain is just terrible to deal with for good strength.

I agree. I’ve had the worse time with CA and end grain. If it doesn’t bond the first time it seems to glaze over the end grain making it almost glass like. From there I could never get a nice bond. I think the tight bond wicks into the end grain and dries slowly making a good bond.

I've been using Goo on the end grain and medium CA on the other surface with good success, but I'm not sure I'd trust that to build a bridge that a train would be using.

[gregj410]

Here’s a little test I did. Keep in mind it only set an hour with no applied pressure. I think it performed well, those 1-2-3 blocks are heavy little buggers.

https://youtube.com/shorts/NmLIGQEhrqg?feature=share

After an hour of drying

https://youtube.com/shorts/2v8EvvtW3gI?feature=share

[Rufus T. Firefly]

All of the joints added together ought to be plenty strong then.

[chuck]

Whoah, thats pretty impressive. I've been using that glue for wood projects for a couple of years. It's water resistant so you can use it for outside projects. Only complaint I have is it's pretty thick and about once a year I have to unscrew the cap and then pull the sliding part off to clear out material that has been building up in there. It doesn't dry out but it doesn't seem to ooze back into the bottle either.

BTW, nice doggie in the back ground. He/she looks a little bored.

[gregj410]

BTW, nice doggie in the back ground. He/she looks a little bored.

Lol! I never saw him there until you pointed him out! That’s Bentley tons of fun. Light on the fun and heavy on the ton, never leaves my side....all 120 pounds of yellow lab.

They love the concrete floors in here on 90+ degree days. Harper joins me from time to time too.

[gregj410]

Few touch ups and stain and it’s a wrap. I have to admit this is high up in the list of most gratifying projects I’ve done. Started picking at it Friday, and a few hours off and on today. Never had an exact plan but had a prototype to work from, one of the bridges I purchased. The only way it could have been better is if I’d never bought the other two bridges first Its not perfect but I’m happy!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Not going to put in all the truss rods and nbws?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

And, another gon finished....