Plywood as Dimensional Lumber for Benchwork

[conrail98]

Since I have the tools to do this, I plan on ripping plywood strips for use in my benchwork as a substitute for using 1xwhatever boards. My question is, since I grossly miscalculated my wood needs for some furniture projects, I have 2 almost full sheets of Maple plywood that are available for benchwork. I know the de-facto standard seems to be Birch plywood, but would Maple be an ok substitute?

Phil

[mplsjct]

I don't see why not, it's only the veneer that's maple, the core of the plywood is likely pine/spruce/fir.

At least, that's my experience.

[cv_acr]

I don't see why not.

We use 3/4" plywood cut in 4" strips for all our benchwork supports/bracing in large areas. For some narrow shelf areas we use regular metal shelf brackets to make the shelfs as thin as possible for clearance and hanging lights below. (Double deck). We'll use 2x4s for legs, but use the plywood for all the benchwork grid.

We've also taken to using poplar plywood for flat surfaces since it is nice and smooth. It splinters a bit at the edges when cut, but that's easily cleaned up with a sanding block. We use standard plywood for our supports.

If you're building something like a stud wall, don't accept any substitutes for 2x4s.

[cv_acr]

Also besides, maple is a hardwood, and furniture grade material should more than hold up any sort of model railroad application. Furniture's far more likely to take a heavier load.

[BCR 570]

All of my sectional benchwork is framed with plywood and it worked well.  Some sections of my upper benchwork were built with maple for greater rigidity with a lower profile.  More difficult to screw and nail into, but definitely stronger!

Tim

[conrail98]

Thanks guys for the feedback. What I plan on doing is using a commercial shelf system I bought from Shaun's old layout for my 2nd and 3rd (staging) levels and use plywood brackets for the first level. Nothing will be over 15-18" in width so I'm hoping legs/gussets/diagonal brackets will be minimal, especially since I have the studs exposed. Also, for my peninsula, I'm planning to build something similar to what Bruce Faulkner did on his Shenandoah Division layout and Jamie is doing on his CSX Dixie Line one,

Phil

[conrail98]

A question for both Chris and Tim, if where you use shelf brackets, whether slotted (which I think Tim uses) or the stamped metal, do you worry about the right of way not being as elevated as if you were using risers of some kind or do you cut away the plywood tops when needed and adjust the fascia?

Phil

[BCR 570]

Phil:

I am not sure I understand your question, so I will try to explain what I did.  The Construction Page of my website includes a page on using the brackets.  My benchwork is sectional and the height for the roadbed is consistent around the layout.  Most sections were built as solid top but there are two sections built open top box for river canyons.  The reason for solid top is that the area I am modelling is relatively level.  A layer of donna conna on top of the plywood will allow for subtle variations in topography, whereas the river canyons will extend down into the box sections.

The key thing to remember with the brackets is that there is a difference in height between the front and rear of the bracket.  On an 18.5" bracket this difference was 1/2 inch.  This is so a shelf will slope slightly toward the rear when mounted on the brackets - not wanted for model railay benchwork!  My solution to this was to design the benchwork so that the rear stringer was 1/2 inch deeper than the front stringer behind the fascia, thus resulting in a perfectly level top.  There is a photo on the aforementioned web page which will illustrate this for you.

Tim

[ArtinCA]

Just a small thought for you guys...

When you cut your ply, do a shallow cut first, then a through cut. It helps with splintering on ply. When I rip it down on my saw, this works really well. Got the idea from Woodsmith...

[conrail98]

Tim, I've actually looked at your web site many times on how you did the brackets (and helix). The one image on your site I'd really like to see bigger is your cross section one, as I think that would answer a number of questions of probably not just mine but others as well. My shelf brackets are flat, so there is no slope to them so I don't really need to worry about any height difference. My question is probably better illustrated looking at a picture of the mock-up I was doing.



So if you look at the bottom shelf (as was in Tony Koester's double deck book) you'd screw the plywood directly to the brackets. Another alternative is to put 2x2 or something like that underneath the plywood, like the middle shelf (I used scrap 2x4s) to elevate the subroadbed off the brackets and have room for wiring. I think you did, based on what I can tell from your photos, was put the runners at the front and back and then place your modules on top, kind of like domino construction on shelves. Another option I'm thinking is using the 2x2s with plywood but then alternating to using risers screwed to the 2x2s where some eleveation between the subroadbed and brackets/2x2 frames are needed to model ditches, creeks, underpasses, etc. And others would put the plywood on top of the brackets and then use foam, which is also an option, to adjust elevations, etc. I know Bill Darnaby's layout is just foam, but he mentioned on an MRC show that it was extremely noisy and would have suggested a thicker plywood base. Again, I'm just experimenting and gathering enough information before I go off and either purchase more plywood or more standards/brackets. Thanks,

Phil

[cv_acr]

A question for both Chris and Tim, if where you use shelf brackets, whether slotted (which I think Tim uses) or the stamped metal, do you worry about the right of way not being as elevated as if you were using risers of some kind or do you cut away the plywood tops when needed and adjust the fascia?

Phil

At the club we make all our roadbed out of spline, so that is mounted on blocks above the shelf. For the shelf, we just use 3/8" ply and attach blocks and risers for the spline to the top surface. Lights for the lower deck can be hung below.
Most of our scenery is filled in using shaped stryofoam and using the spline roadbed allows the ground to vary above and below the track level.

In progress, it looks something like this: (kinda crappy scans of old photos)





Area shown in first photo and top left of second photo, completed:

[conrail98]

Chris, interesting, that's kind of what I was thinking with the 2x2 blocks on the brackets themselves and then attach risers to the brackets, you guys just also have the small plywood base underneath. I should also mention I was going to put 1x3or4 on the front edge to connect them all,

Phil

[cv_acr]

We use 3/8 to 1/2 inch plywood an inch thick screwed on edge to the bottom of the shelf to stiffen things up, block the lights installed below for the lower deck and most importantly to actually have something to which to attach the masonite fascia.

[BCR 570]

Phil:

If I had a scanner at home I would post scans of my construction drawings for you.  Perhaps I can explain what I did with photographs.  I located cross-members above each bracket.  Where the benchwork is 12 inches wide I made the rear stringer half an inch deeper to sit on the rear of the bracket, and the front was shimmed level as the difference on the shorter brackets from front to back is less than half an inch.  Where the benchwork is 19 inches wide, the bracket contacts the rear stringer which is half an inch deeper and the front stringer which is level with the cross-member.  On the 24 inch wide benchwork the bracket contacts the rear stringer and the cross-member because it extends past the end of the bracket.  The front stringer also acts as a surface for the front fascia to attach to.  This is how I designed all the sections except for the river canyons which are open box construction.

This is 12 inch wide benchwork sitting on 11.5 inch brackets:




This is 19 inch wide benchwork sitting on 18.5 inch brackets:




This is 24 inch benchwork sitting on 18.5 inch brackets:




Hope this helps,

Tim