A week or so ago I designed a cart in an article called “Clearing the Clutter” to provide a home for all of the model building supplies that always seem to end up on top of my layout.

This weekend I finished the project and I am happy to report it worked out well. I purchased the Castor wheels from Harbor Freight for approximately $4 each. Two swivel and two are straight. I attached the wheels by pre-drilling the plywood and using 3/4″ long lag bolts.

I cut each shelf to 18″ X 36″ inches and added a 3″ edge on all four sides. The plywood pieces were attached together using my brad nailer and 1 1/4″ brads with glue. The three shelves were then attached together using 1″ X 4″ X 36″ board and gold screws.

In hindsight I wish I had made the cart about 6″ lower as it barely fits under the layout and only if nothing on the top shelf sticks above the three inch edge. Currently it is stationed on the end of the layout and has become the catch-all as planned. It also can be wheeled over to the workshop occasionally to offload and restock as necessary. All in all I am very happy with how it turned it. Total construction time including cutting the material was less than two hours.

I think it was Tony Koester that provided a good description of a Model Railroad layout: “World’s Longest Shelf”. As I have began working on scenery, finding a flat spot to set down spray bottles, plaster bowls, cups, rock molds, paint, brushes has become increasing difficult.

Tonight, I came up with the plan. It involves a fairly good size cart that I can use as a work station and intermediate storage which working on the railroad. When not in use, it can be tucked around the layout. I broke out SketchUp again and threw together a quick diagram. After trying to draw scenery contours using SketchUp, I got frustrated and put it away for a while. I am fairly productive drawing mostly rectangular shapes so this was a good re-acquaintance with the tool.

I have the plywood on hand and plan on using my brad nailer and glue to fasten the pieces together. I will head up to Harbor Freight in the morning for the castors. I should be able to throw this together fairly quickly and turn my layout back into a layout instead of allowing it to become a shelf. Look for an update soon on how the actual construction went.

It has taken several hours of experimentation to be able to produce usable strip wood. One of the first things I bought was the 24 tooth carbide blade and the feather board/high fence attachment. The big drawback of the carbide blade is that the kerf is wide compared to the size of the strips I am cutting and much of the material ends up as sawdust on the floor. The high fence very nicely allows a feather board to be clamped on in order to keep the strips flat on the table saw bed.

Another accessory that I bought was the zero clearance blade plate. I managed to break both of them trying to bring the blade through. Once with the 24 tooth carbide and once with the stock 80 tooth blade. I now have another set on order with a 168 tooth blade that I think will work well for cutting scale 1 – 2″ stock.

Originally, I was cutting the stock down using my 10″ table saw. Making the 1/4″ cuts on a full-size table saw is certainly doable but I feel much safer on the Micro-Lux. For material I am using 5″ cedar fence pickets from Home Depot. It is not the best material in the world but by carefully selecting the most knot-free pickets possible, it is usable. I also put it through my surface planer first to get nice smooth and square sides. I am using cedar because I like the color. I have experimented with Norway Spruce and it is much easier to work with compared to the cedar. Boone Morrison uses Redwood and I think it looks great. The only Redwood I have been able to find here is 2 X 6″ stock but I plan on picking some up shortly to experiment with.

This weekend I cut about 2 dozen each scale 10″ X 10″ beams and 4″ X 10″ pieces that I plan on using for my Engine House. I also cut some scale 1 X 12″ material to use as siding on my Machine Shop. I spent a couple of hours trying it out on the foam core mock up I built previously.

I am not sure I like the color that resulted from an India Ink wash. It does photographs darker and better than it looks in person though.

Jigsaws have never been a priority and I have suffered along with a homeowner quality Craftsmen for the last ten years. It did the job as expected and cutting corners was simply a matter of withstanding the vibration and noise long enough to wear the 3/4″ plywood down into submission. Cutting a 30″ radius 180 degree turn for model railroading seemed to take weeks.

This jigsaw on the left, the Bosch, has made all the difference in the world. As I began working on the current model railroad, the Craftsman finally gave up the ghost. With the pungent odor of burnt electrical in the air, I knew it was time to upgrade.

After some quick googling, I knew it had to be a Bosch. The reviews were outstanding. I had it down to two models: The 6.4 Amp 1590 or the 5 amp 1587. As much as I wanted the bigger, more powerful 1590, I knew that the 1587 would more than suffice. It probably didn’t hurt that the local Lowe’s was out of the 1590 and I was itching to get back to work as soon as possible.

I was simply amazed at how quick it cut through the 3/4″ plywood. Using the full orbital setting it chews very rapidly. When cutting Homasote, I have found that if I set the orbital setting back to off or one, that I am able to get a very clean edge. I am unsure why people often use a knife edge blade to cut the Homasote. Dust is often a complaint but since I do all of my cutting in the garage, it is not an issue for me. To cut masonite hardboard for the profile boards and backdrops, I drop back to the smaller profile 10 TPI blade with low orbital setting to get a nice smooth edge and rapid cut.

I have often found myself using the Bosch Jigsaw where previously I would have used a circular saw. I simply clamp a straight edge offset 1.25″ and cut.

Spending $125 or more for a jigsaw is quite an investment but if you are planning anything more than a 4 x 8 then it might be worth taking a look at a Bosch as it will save significant amounts of time and aggravation.