Not sure why it took me so long to find this channel, but I think your discussions and demonstrations are very well done. Been planning for years to build a large basement layout with spline roadbed, been on my mind quite a bit lately as we will break ground on the forever home this year. Watched the whole series, looking forward to next episode. Thanks for posting!
Sorry for the delay in responding. I've been very busy helping Afghan refugee resettlement. Thank you for your kind remarks about my videos. I'm going to switch over to building some scenery based on the California hills during the next few episodes, including placing a building and vegetation, and making trees. I have a lot of video and stills in the can, but with my more important refugee work I haven't had the blocks of hours it takes to produce the episode. I hope I can get something posted by mid-Feb. Please don't hesitate to pass on the link to my RUclips channel to anyone else who may be interested.
Most thorough spline demonstration I've been able to find. Thank you! Unresolved question is, how do you secure the spline to the cleat in place of the "cotter pin"? Is that where the segment on brads and countersunk screws come in?
Brian, Glad you found my ad lib "tutorial" on spline roadbed useful. Correct re the segment on brads and countersunk screws as means to secure to the cleats. I just need to repeat a couple of the tips on that. First, if you use brads be sure they are at least .5 in/12.5 mm longer than the thickness of your splines, but less diameter than the thickness of a single spline. Drill a pilot hole slightly smaller than the diameter of the brad almost all the way through either of the splines nearest the center of the laminated sub roadbed, but not into the cleat. Slightly dull the sharp point of the brad with a light tap with a tack hammer... this will minimize risk of splitting the grain of the cleat. Tap the brad into the pilot hole and continue to carefully tap away until the head sits flush with the surface of the laminated splines, then use a nail punch to "seat" the brad about 1-2mm below the surface. But, proceed carefully here because if you drive it too far you may risk separating the spline laminations, so it is always a good idea to c-clamp the laminated splines before you use either brads to provide a little additional reinforcement when you drive the brad. Second, I prefer to use counter sunk (phillips head) wood screws do in locations where the spline roadbed is under additional tension over the span of a vertical transition easement curve. I do this because I've found that if the laminated splines are not held securely to the vertical curve established by the riser+cleat that the tension will be relieved elsewhere, and that never works out well... particularly if the roadbed is also in tension from a horizontal curve or easement. That said, proceed as with a brad, except use the appropriate size drill bit with adjustable countersink fitting and set the depth of the drill bit to equal the length of the screw, minus the head. Definitely c clamp the location before you start drilling, and be sure to also clamp the spline to the cleat as well, because the force of the drilling and/or the screw itself will tend to lift the spline from proper contact with the cleat. The point here is that you're taking a structure that wants to be level and straight and forcing it to conform to a distortion in three dimensions so that over time it will naturally assume the desired shape. Like the brad, be sure the head is countersunk 1-2mm below the surface of the splines. BTW, I usually use 1.5 in/37 mm #6 screws twice the vertical thickness of my splines. Hope this was helpful. And to all of my subscribers, I owe you an apology for the delay in releasing new episodes. I have been very busy working on resettling Afghan refugees and that has a much higher priority than my model railroad layout. I am accumulating enough video and graphics to produce at least two episodes, both devoted to constructing scenery, I just need about 8-10 hours to go through all the work to turn them into finished productions. Hopefully I will have something up for you all later this month or in February. In the meantime, if any of you want to join in on the effort to assist our Afghan, Iraqi and Kurdish allies, I very much you to check out Veterans For American Ideals, www.vfai.org. Happy New Year!
Yeah, there's a gap of about 3/32 inch, roughly the diameter of the cotter pin. But since the roadbed is built up by eight laminations of Masonite strips there aren't any issues related to structural weakness, and I also use the resulting "hole" in the completed laminated subroadbed to insert a 1 1/4 inch phillips flathead machine screw to anchor the subroadbed to the cleat. Answer your question okay?
Love the shirts! There are too many hate-filled, exclusionary right wingers in our otherwise noble and peaceful hobby. Keep spreading the word of reason and the great modeling tips!
Glad you liked the video... and the shirts, too. Sorry I haven't posted more episodes in a bit, but I've been rather distracted working on Afghan SIV resettlement issues of late, and also some work I'm doing on combating antisemitism and climate change. That said, I have had opportunities to take breaks to work on the layout (a major stress relief) and I hope to get some new episodes in the can over the next couple months. I think you all will be quite pleased with what I've accomplished. Also, if there are any particular topics you'd like me to expand upon please let me know. Model railroading is fun!
Love your shirts.
Thanks!
Not sure why it took me so long to find this channel, but I think your discussions and demonstrations are very well done. Been planning for years to build a large basement layout with spline roadbed, been on my mind quite a bit lately as we will break ground on the forever home this year. Watched the whole series, looking forward to next episode. Thanks for posting!
Sorry for the delay in responding. I've been very busy helping Afghan refugee resettlement. Thank you for your kind remarks about my videos. I'm going to switch over to building some scenery based on the California hills during the next few episodes, including placing a building and vegetation, and making trees. I have a lot of video and stills in the can, but with my more important refugee work I haven't had the blocks of hours it takes to produce the episode. I hope I can get something posted by mid-Feb. Please don't hesitate to pass on the link to my RUclips channel to anyone else who may be interested.
Most thorough spline demonstration I've been able to find. Thank you!
Unresolved question is, how do you secure the spline to the cleat in place of the "cotter pin"? Is that where the segment on brads and countersunk screws come in?
Brian,
Glad you found my ad lib "tutorial" on spline roadbed useful. Correct re the segment on brads and countersunk screws as means to secure to the cleats. I just need to repeat a couple of the tips on that.
First, if you use brads be sure they are at least .5 in/12.5 mm longer than the thickness of your splines, but less diameter than the thickness of a single spline. Drill a pilot hole slightly smaller than the diameter of the brad almost all the way through either of the splines nearest the center of the laminated sub roadbed, but not into the cleat. Slightly dull the sharp point of the brad with a light tap with a tack hammer... this will minimize risk of splitting the grain of the cleat. Tap the brad into the pilot hole and continue to carefully tap away until the head sits flush with the surface of the laminated splines, then use a nail punch to "seat" the brad about 1-2mm below the surface. But, proceed carefully here because if you drive it too far you may risk separating the spline laminations, so it is always a good idea to c-clamp the laminated splines before you use either brads to provide a little additional reinforcement when you drive the brad.
Second, I prefer to use counter sunk (phillips head) wood screws do in locations where the spline roadbed is under additional tension over the span of a vertical transition easement curve. I do this because I've found that if the laminated splines are not held securely to the vertical curve established by the riser+cleat that the tension will be relieved elsewhere, and that never works out well... particularly if the roadbed is also in tension from a horizontal curve or easement. That said, proceed as with a brad, except use the appropriate size drill bit with adjustable countersink fitting and set the depth of the drill bit to equal the length of the screw, minus the head. Definitely c clamp the location before you start drilling, and be sure to also clamp the spline to the cleat as well, because the force of the drilling and/or the screw itself will tend to lift the spline from proper contact with the cleat. The point here is that you're taking a structure that wants to be level and straight and forcing it to conform to a distortion in three dimensions so that over time it will naturally assume the desired shape. Like the brad, be sure the head is countersunk 1-2mm below the surface of the splines. BTW, I usually use 1.5 in/37 mm #6 screws twice the vertical thickness of my splines.
Hope this was helpful.
And to all of my subscribers, I owe you an apology for the delay in releasing new episodes. I have been very busy working on resettling Afghan refugees and that has a much higher priority than my model railroad layout. I am accumulating enough video and graphics to produce at least two episodes, both devoted to constructing scenery, I just need about 8-10 hours to go through all the work to turn them into finished productions. Hopefully I will have something up for you all later this month or in February. In the meantime, if any of you want to join in on the effort to assist our Afghan, Iraqi and Kurdish allies, I very much you to check out Veterans For American Ideals, www.vfai.org.
Happy New Year!
I didn't see when you took out the coder pins. When you take them out is there a gap in the roadbed due to the coder pin drying in place?
Yeah, there's a gap of about 3/32 inch, roughly the diameter of the cotter pin. But since the roadbed is built up by eight laminations of Masonite strips there aren't any issues related to structural weakness, and I also use the resulting "hole" in the completed laminated subroadbed to insert a 1 1/4 inch phillips flathead machine screw to anchor the subroadbed to the cleat. Answer your question okay?
Love the shirts! There are too many hate-filled, exclusionary right wingers in our otherwise noble and peaceful hobby. Keep spreading the word of reason and the great modeling tips!
Glad you liked the video... and the shirts, too.
Sorry I haven't posted more episodes in a bit, but I've been rather distracted working on Afghan SIV resettlement issues of late, and also some work I'm doing on combating antisemitism and climate change. That said, I have had opportunities to take breaks to work on the layout (a major stress relief) and I hope to get some new episodes in the can over the next couple months. I think you all will be quite pleased with what I've accomplished. Also, if there are any particular topics you'd like me to expand upon please let me know.
Model railroading is fun!