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The fun begins as David Popp launches into the effort to assemble our N scale Canadian Canyons project layout! In this first of several videos addressing benchwork, David shows how to use a butt-joint framing technique to build a substructure that’s both rigid and adaptable enough to accommodate detachable components.
Hi David; just signed up for MR Video Plus and watched this video. Great video instruction. You made the assembly so simple.
Hi David; great series. Where do I get the lumber plan for the frame?
Lumber is No1 stain grade pine, found at Home depot
I am also very interested to know what type/grade of lumber is used. Most of what the big boxes have around here would confuse M C Escher with its twisting and warping.
I am very interested in watching this layout come together. Are there any actual schematics available for the benchwork and the other aspects of the layout? The 3D track plan is nice but it doesn’t tell me dimensions of and where exactly to put support members etc. This layout looks small enough to fit in my basement and I am considering an attempt at building it myself if I can get more actual information. Thanks and carry on!
Great video but, the river is named Fraser not French. The Fraser is in Britich Columbia while the French is located 5000 km east in Norther Ontario. Oops. LOL.
What lumber do you use?
Course thread screws are less likely to snap. Some brands (country of origin) snap easier than others. Good point about the table saw. I was in the exhibit and set design and production business for 25 years and am loaded with tools. I understand about space being a problem and a decent assembly table would need to be 9’x5′ to be useful.
Hello all,
Yup, the Canadian Canyons layout is underway – as I write this, the helix is almost complete! Thanks for your comments and interest. There are a lot of videos to follow, and while I will address some of the construction questions you have there, however, I’ll see what I can do to fill in the details for you in the meantime:
Frame flaw: Mark, yes the frame is flawed. My original design used L girders to support the box frame, which meant I didn’t need to make allowances for the cantilevered pyramid on the far end or some of my other cookie-cutter supports. Then at the last minute, I decided to go without the L girders to save… well, who knows what? And, while I showed adjusting the frame components to support the helix end, I forgot to take into account the change in the plan for the pyramid. I will show a simple method for rectifying the situation in video 3, but as of now, I’m not entirely satisfied with that adjustment. As we are fond of saying at MRVP, “We keep it real,” so you’re watching a work in progress, complete with the mistakes. Stay tuned. If I had it to do over, I’d have gone back to the L-girder design – but too late!
Straight boards: Yup, finding straight lumber and keeping it that way are some of the biggest battles for projects like this. I also build furniture, and between layouts and bookcases I’ve spent hours of my life combing through the area’s building supply stores for the right boards. If you have a good table saw, you can rip plywood sheets into dimensional components instead – and I’ve done that – but a lot of people don’t have one. I still prefer straight boards when I can get them and doing the projects for the magazine and video with a minimum of expensive tools.
Screws vs. Nail gun: This is a matter of personal preference. I’ve used both to good effect, however, I now use coated decking screws instead of drywall screws – The decking screws are more robust, and the coating keeps them from rusting. I’ve had too much trouble with the heads snapping off of drywall screws, so that’s why I switched. The Nail gun is a Porter-Cable trim nailer, and it came free with the air compressor when I bought it. At first I thought, “What am I ever going to use this for?” Let’s just say that after the first project, I was hooked. It speeds up the process greatly, and those little nail holes are very easy to fill. But if you’re building just about any layout – you definitely don’t need it – screws work well.
Work tables: Yup, I’d love to have a worktable in the shop here at MR, as well as a full bench for the trim saw. A pingpong table sans the net works really well. Unfortunately, while the shop may look big on video, it’s actually very small, and crammed full video gear and other things, including other people’s projects. So, I (and my poor knees) make do.
Thanks again for all your interest in our projects. You can always check in on the MR shop web camera to see the latest condition of the project railroad, or some of the other things we’re doing. Video 2 will be up later this week.
Enjoy!
David
Shouldn’t you roll up or take off your long sleeves while working with the circular saw?
Great video! Question though .. drywall screws versus nail gun and glue? Better, easier, etc?
David you did not mention that you had to recut board number 2 because you cut it to the original plan and not to new one, otherwise a great video.
Pour David, what did you do with your knees. Doun´t you have a table tennis plate or something else like this, to work on it?
For the rest I liked your lesson.
Great video David. I’m not an N-scaler or building a layout like this, but your general tips on how to approach building a layout are easily transferrable to any project. Thank you. Phil
Good video with some excellent tips. For some reason, I had never considered using my nail gun to assemble the benchwork, My current go-to is to use pocket screws. I will have to try the nails on the next expansion . As for straight lumber, it takes a lot of sorting through the pile at the store and then assemble it within a day of getting it home. It does not take long in a humid house for it to start to warp. One reason why I use a lot of L-girder construction, so I can use cheaper materials.
I enjoyed it David!
I assemble my frames on a large table to save the floor and the knees.
I build the entire frame without clamps or squares and when finished I lay the frame out on square marks such and the tile lines and let it dry.
I rip 3/4 sandply into 2 1/2″ wide strips and use that for my framing as it is cheaper, stronger and resists warping.
I was probably going to let my subscription expire. Don’t wanna miss this now!
Very nice construction techniques, David. These videos are becoming a bible for me in my layout techniques in their detailed nature.
I was very impressed particularly in your note to unplug and adjust things while laying out your variable edges. And you did unplug before adjusting, BUT, then you knelt onto your saw bench as you plugged back in. Not sure if you noted that. I use a very similar saw and on occasion as I too got tired knees, grabbed the power handle to stand up or push back and almost turned on the saw. Your knees are needed for future construction. Be careful!
Another way to go is to use drywall screws and a cordless drill/screw driver instead of glue and nails. This is cheaper than a nail gun and if you need to change something you can just unscrew it (ask me how I know). Looks like a great project-it’s nice to see MR doing some more advanced projects than just simple 4×8 layouts.
Great start David… I usually don’t watch the framework series on each project railroad, but I’ve definitely learned a lot in this one. Thanks for demonstrating good techniques for flawless carpentry. Too many times in my past I’ve measured twice, cut once and still needed a board stretcher. If I ever do another layout, I’m using this video as a guide.
Good video. Unfortunately, the framework design appears to have a major structural flaw.
The truncated pyramid end is cantilevered off the main box, meaning the glue/nail joints of the pyramid will have very significant bending moments applied by the weight of the layout above. If anyone leans on that end, you run great risk of having one or more of those joints fail. That end will be many times stronger if you add a “doubler” board to carry the load across the main box end to the first crossmember in the box. The unbroken wood fibers of the doubler will resist much greater bending forces than the current glue/nail joints…