Cork to foam...track to cork...what's your method of adhesion ?

[VonRyan]

Yes, it does work in the fixture--barely. The tape is a lot tougher and stickier, so the blade has to be brand new, or else it jams.



I've already applied the tape to my new layout, although I didn't bother using the cutter--I just laid it on as-is. If need be, I'll trim the edges with a knife later.

+12!

The layout is coming along David. The use of the gray tape is quite intriguing.
I'm debating if I want any pronounced roadbed for my N-4mm seeing as how some of the scenes on the prototype basis have basically a negative profile in terms of roadbed. Keep up the good work!

-Cody F.

[Lemosteam]

Thanks very much David!  I don't have a copy of MR with that article.  Is the fixture online with MR?  I do have a subscription there.

Are you saying that this tape is more flexible than the 3M outdoor tape and that it will stretch eaisier around radii with no lumps or thinning?

[DKS]

I don't think the fixture is online; I don't have a subscription to check. I'll see if I can scrape up some old plans.

Are you saying that this tape is more flexible than the 3M outdoor tape and that it will stretch eaisier around radii with no lumps or thinning?

No, I'm saying the grey VHB tape is a lot harder to use in the fixture. As for how it performs on the layout, it's a wash. I'd recommend against using the grey VHB tape; at $150+ per roll, it's way too costly to make it worthwhile. I'd stick with the plain 1/8-inch x 1 inch 3M foam tape. It's more than adequate to bond track--I've been using it for many years with excellent results.

[chicken45]

I hope you were inspired to name it "Mr. Roadbed" from Spaceballs. 

[Bob Bufkin]

I think the glue on the right is what you all want.

[DKS]

I hope you were inspired to name it "Mr. Roadbed" from Spaceballs.

Nope. God I hated that movie...

[rogergperkins]

http://www.3m.com/product/information/VHB-Acrylic-Foam-Tape.html
The tape photo shown is one of the 3M VHB or very high bonding tapes.
I recognized it from 28 years as a 3M employee.

[DKS]

http://www.3m.com/product/information/VHB-Acrylic-Foam-Tape.html
The tape photo shown is one of the 3M VHB or very high bonding tapes.

Correct. And after using the tape for some time now, I would not recommend it for tracklaying. For one thing, it's outrageously expensive, and for another, 3M's standard 1/8-inch thick foam tape works perfectly well in this application, after a having used it since the 80s with no problems. The standard foam tape is also more easily revised; it can be sliced laterally with a packing knife and removed by soaking in heptane, whereas the foam in the VHB tape resists being cut.

[rogergperkins]

The VHB = very high bond tapes are definitely far more aggressive adhesive than what one would need to fixing track or track with roadbed to a foam or plywood substrate. 
However using one of the other foam tapes would be a better choice than a liquid adhesive.
Here is the link to the line of foam tapes:
http://www.shop3m.com/roll-tapes?cat=1252

I am reminded now after 8 years of retirement that the green and white colored liner was used on a wide variety of foam tapes, not just VHB.

[davefoxx]

My only concern with the foam tape is that it seems unforgiving once you apply pressure to complete the bond.  I'm known for having no hesitation to pull up track and make modifications to my layout plan as I operate it and decide that changes need to be made.  Go over to my Seaboard Central 2.0 thread in the Layout Engineering Forum, and you'll see how many changes I have made since I first started construction.  A lot.  This might be difficult with tape.  I use yellow glue and it pops free easily when I need it to.  Obviously, those of you who are better at designing the track plan correctly at the outset won't have this problem.   

DFF

[DKS]

I've revised track laid with foam tape quite often. It's a two-step process: first, cut the foam tape laterally with a packing knife. Then peel it off the foam base and the track. If it's bonded too well to the track to peel off readily (which isn't often for acetal-type track such as Atlas Code 55), then saturate it with rubber cement thinner, and it'll come clean.

[pnolan48]

I basically used yellow carpenter's glue all around, with a lot of T-pins. I didn't use plywood for the basic structure, but metal closet racks. I attached the foam to the wire racks with baling wire--a tall upside-down U pushed through the foam, then twisted around a rib. I do not recommend this construction technique in any way!

I also found that yellow glue doesn't work well in bonding large areas of foam to foam. After eight years, when taking down the layout, I found that the yellow glue still had not set in the middle of large areas.

[rogergperkins]

In the line of 3M foam tapes, I think there are removable tape options.  This is similar to the Post-It Notes adhesive technology.
If I were to use this approach, those are the type I would try.
The transfer adhesive products are ones I have used to adhere cork roadbed to plywood.   They are quite aggressive and removal
can remove a layer of plywood as well.

[mmagliaro]

DAP or ALEX gray caulk (whichever I can find) + lots of T pins (from Joann Fabrics or some other similar sewing place).

Holds well, I haven't had one piece of track hump up or slide out in the 20 months I've been building this layout on foam.

I DID have a few that didn't hold right after putting them in, but it was my own fault for not using enough goo.  You
need a complete, thin layer under the whole roadbed or track, and don't let it be "dry" when you stick and pin it down.
Just a touch of wetness so you can feel a little ooze or squish as you press it down is the key.  It took a few tries
before I found just the right amount so that it would be flat and clean, but not too thin/dry as to make it not hold.
I like to get it so that it is wet enough that I can slide the track back and forth in the wet caulk JUST a LITTLE (without having
it squish up through the ties and make a mess).  Then I know I've got it right.