The Kitchen Workshop

It has taken what seems like a lifetime, but at last, one of the baseboards is finished. I might however add some hand holes to aid transportation, but can be done retrospectively. The kitchen has been employed as my makeshift workshop of late as, although the cutting and routing have taken place outside, most of the construction has been done inside to avoid the bad weather!

First off I routed the rebates into the end rails and cut the holes in the cross members.

I then glued and screwed baton to both of the above to enable a good fix to the top & bottom boards and the side rails.

Next I fixed one end rail to both side rails and fixed the top board down to the end rail, matching the end of the board with the rail. I then fixed the other end rail to the top board again making sure the end of the board and the rail were in alignment lengthwise. I then fixed the side rails to the end rails ensuring everything was in alignment.

I could have glued and screwed the end rails and side rails together to start, then added the top board, but I felt it was better to align everything with the top board using that as the datum as I went along to ensure higher accuracy.

After the end rails were in place I fixed the cross members in place and added the bottom board, effectively making it a closed box with no way in...

...Apart from, of course, adding the access holes in the bottom. 

And there you have it! One monocoque baseboard that should stand the test of time and hopefully some rounds on the exhibition circuit!! 

Next up: baseboard two. 

Timber!

A bit of progress on the baseboard front yesterday!

Having remembered that in my lockup, I already have sheet of 12mm ply pre cut into 150mm strips for the layout I had started in our previous house, I have updated the plan to make all of the top and bottom sheets, side rails and cross members from 12mm ply. This has the added benefit of enabling two 6mm sheets of bendy MDF to be used on the one side rail that curves on the left hand board These will be laminated together to make which will make a strong section to match the 12mm ply used on the rest of the boards.

Having forgotten to pick up my black and decker workmate on the way home from work before the Easter weekend, the pavement outside the front of the house had to do for my mitre saw, and the kid's Ikea table sufficed for the rest of the jobs.

Next on the list is to route rebates into the oak end rails to accept the side rails and cut some 2x1 for the carcassing.

The curved section of the top and bottom panels of the left hand baseboard will be cut once I receive the full size plot of the layout that a friend has promised to do for me. This plot will also form the basis of the template upon which the track will be built.