baseboard

bessytractor · baseboard

Hi all, I want to mount my SP2 and WS1 on a baseboard for display. Any ideas as to what would be the best looking wood for one? I also would like a wood that does not warp, and looks great varnished. I did consider Mahogany (my school got given a massive load of it that they don't want so I nick bits to even out the pile!) but I have known it to warp.

any ideas?

BT

toxx

Yo, BT! Mahagony would be a good choice - it's very expensive, if you can get it for free, take it! I wouldn't be worried about warping. If it's thick enough for a base, say, 2 - 4 cm, nothing will happen. Mahagony can be brittle, though. But carefully cut and nicely sanded ...

Would look simply great! For the base of my D455 I used simple pine wood. Very splintery, and full of holes. I used 3 coats of clear paint for preservation and sealing. With Mahagony, you shouldn't have any trouble ...

Mister Occlusion

I've been using laminated pine, mainly because it's available in roughly the sizes that I want and I had used it years before for a little desktop shelf that is still standing up okay

Usually have to sort through 5 or 6 pieces at the store before I find one that satisifes me for not being overly knotty, holey, or have these weird black stripes going through them..

Reid

Any solid wood can warp, depending on the cut of the log, etc,

but of all the fine, well-known woods, mahogany is THE most stable;
it's the wood that holds paint best. It's a wonderful wood.

For a board that cannot warp, it must be plied, or as they'd have done it many decades ago,
timber cored and then on the faces, double veneers (cross-banded, it's termed)>

In either style, you'd finish the perimeter sides in solid wood of same
or contrasting wood as you like.

Veneered or plywood construction is the only surely warp-proof construction for wood.

Fine pianos, grand pianos: the lids are timber cored (narrow boards, selected, tongue-and-groove glued, then double-veneered each side.

The curved case rims are many plies of hardwood, face-finished in a furniture wood unless painted. All to ensure dimensional stability,
or, in the case of lids, a sonic quality.

For me? What's wrong with a base of countertop granite?
If you get a piece large enough, there's also room to mount a kitchen 'pon it

---
Marine spar varnishes are the most water resistant.
They also take the longest to air cure, and so, are soft for a long while.

Linseed oil and phenolic resin spar varnish can make a glass-like finish that resists outdoor exposure.

Alkyd resins make a harder finish, but alkyd is not resistant to alcohol, where as phenolic resin varnishes are resistant to spirit.

Polyurethanes as we get from a can are quick drying like alkyds,
are more water resistant, but not all that sleek looking,
nor do they hold up well for outdoor work, nor are they as transparent
for fine indoor finishes.
In weathering, the polyurethane will yellow (but this is of no concern for an engine base, of course!

Finishing for our needs, though, should not be that fine.
It's only going to get...used? I hope so. Polyurethanes are the best practical bet.

I can no longer find a linseed/phenolic spar locally anymore.
They're all blends of this-and-that, neither one nor t'other anymore.

bessytractor

thanks for the useful info all!

Also thanks for the tech Reid, it will be useful for my A level Design Tech exams!

Mahogany it is then! I just hope my school have a large enough bit thats not warped.

Atticman

I dont think you can get a more comprehensive answer than Reids- the Varnish type is interesting- we varnished our floors with water based varnish to avoid the yellowing with age as Reid describes.

Moose has a lovely base, somewhere is the video with his wormar powering some machines- I think he used some ply with dolls house wallpaper varnished on the top- looks really neat, the patten looking a bit like some of the older steam engine bases.

mj

Any hardwood such as oak, beech or mahogany would be suitable for an engine base. Mahogany (no such real tree i'm afraid, just a term used for dark red tropical hardwoods such as Meranti), is often favoured for its deep rich colour. The key to any timbers stabilty is its seasoning, most now is kiln dried & should cope with centrally. heated homes. For sinlge engines 20-30mm thick should be fine, but for larger engine/worshop boards you need to increase the thickness for stability or make the board up from 'staves' (smaller sections glued together with opposing grains). If you find offcuts from a joinery shop, store them in your home for a few weeks before planing, sanding & oiling them to give them chance to acclimatise. Many different finishes can be used but my preference is linseed oil or danish oil for oak & beech or clear matt varnish for darker woods. Any timber base will suffer a little from the hot water & steam, so you need to clean & dry them well after every use. They're not as durable as metal bases, which probably why you don't see many surviving bowmans with wooden bases. The grain of a well finished wooden engine base always adds character, maybe why ''engineered'' scale steam models usually have them.

Minor1PJG

A very comprehensive guide there. I have used composites rather than solid wood to best effect to avoid warping.

I have used real wood veneer chipboard and plywood both of which get at least 4 coats of Mahogany Stain Varnish with good results. Jensen themselves used plywood for the #100 Workshop.

[img]

[/img]

Four coats of stain varnish will hide the fact that your piece is not solid wood and these bases are on engines that are run so get hot & wet. I mount the diferent items separately and just push them together when used together. I use brass screws to secure the items to the boards so you can polish those as well as the boilers

Reid

You guys make good points. I like in particular what Minor says: let the engine be the star of the base.

Am also fascinated by what I read of MooseMan's method.
If such a paper is varnished-over, it must then give a fair representation of the old-style litho found on German engine bases.
Like, a diamond check design...

Well! There are many ways to make a bread board stand up
to a tiny engine serving hot water for tea, oil for jam,
and meths a' la flambe for dessert.

edit: fixed typo

Cranko

as stated any hardwood would be excellent

Atticman

Reid here is the thread from Moose, as you say has a german look, as Moose intended

http://modelsteam.myfreeforum.org...amp;highlight=wormar+base+meccano

Reid

MooseMan

Thanks for the kudos....that's a piece of plywood, covered with dolls house flooring paper, and then varnished with "antique pine effect" varnish to age it.

bessytractor

wow lots of interesting ideas being posted here, thanks guys!

I like Minors idea about putting seperate bases on all of them and then putting them together. Think I'll do that, would certainly take less space than one large board.

Reid

Odilon, you beat me to my own edit!

Yes, varnishing will add a nice yellow cast to any lighter paper,
adding to the vintage look.

What a great strike of genius your wallpapered ply is!

Thanks. I'll use this technique some day for sure.

johnreid

Moose has some excellent ideas. Thanks for the link too Reid that one got Bookmarked.

Reid

Moose is the genius innovator of solutions for tough problems.

ancient joke:

The saddle-sore cowpoke, still wearing his dusty, rawhide chaps,
limped into the General Store
and stated to the clerk,
A leedle talcum would be very walcome

.

MooseMan

Reid

MooseMan

Thy will be mine command.....but perhaps you're best off looking at the man's website....very much a work in progress, but you'll get the idea. Paul's a great character - he used to play bass in a few pretty big acts.

http://www.freewebs.com/earlgray/index.htm

Reid

Thank you.

re: toy stuff:

I once thought I was well-past the age of drooling.

MooseMan

Well, I personally tie on a bib before a visit to Paul's engines.

Reid

That's so great that you two are neighbors.

Here, this page, shows again just how splendid papered boards can look:

http://www.freewebs.com/earlgray/steamworkshops.htm

The 1910 overhead lineshaft is so appealing;
one wonders why this style is not made today.

Great stuff. Give him a handshake for me?

Thanks, O!

MooseMan

Oh yeah, I think that overhead lineshaft workshop's his masterpiece.

We'd lived a few streets away from each other without knowing for years....a couple years ago Paul spotted a mention of his favourite pub on my website and rightfully concluded that we couldn't be living all that far from each other.....the rest is history.

Even weirder was that I saw Paul perform a couple of times when I was still in Holland and he was still playing bass with UFO.

I'll certainly give him your regards - hope to see him Christmas day.

Mister Occlusion

Wow... I saw that Wilesco beam engine and just got blown away.

I had hoped that it was a rare rare factory model rather than a one off. What a wonderfully mad mod

Wilesco should build that...

H2o vapour

Brilliant topic this!!

My father has a Wood turning company, he uses anything he can get his hands on to put on the lathe, but all of these issues are a problem to him. unseasoned woods etc.

The point I would make is can you find any old wood out of a reclaim yard or from demo site. This is my father's favorite as it is dead dry and dead stable.

Just a thought

H20

James

Moosey, on that bloke's website, his SE2 is labelled an SE1a, and his MM2 is labelled a MM1

MooseMan

Nick

I am building a very small workshop from 3 accessories and I would like to try something like these for the base:

I have a few questions.

1. Where do you buy the doll house paper?

2. How do you get it to stick to the wood? Does it have an adhesive backing?

3. What do you put over the paper to protect it?

Les

Les

There is even this company in Minnesota.

http://minnesotadollhouse.com/

Les

Just in case you do not know what PVA glue is.

PVA is sold as an adhesive for porous materials, particularly wood, paper, and cloth. It is the most commonly used wood glue, both as "white glue" and the yellow "carpenter's glue." PVA is widely used in bookbinding and book arts due to its flexibility, and because it is non-acidic, unlike many other polymers. Elmer's Glue is a popular brand of white PVA glue sold in the United States.

Nick

johnreid

3M makes a spray adhesive that works great, just print out your own then cover with Lacquer.
Here is a good selection which I believe Reid posted before

http://www.jennifersprintables.com/printables1.html

IF you cant print them yourself, have 8X10s printed at WalMart photo. 2 or 3 should be more than enough to make a real nice baseboard.

Nick

The workshop is a Fleischmann setup. It is a lineshaft, blacksmith, and the man with grinder. It is small enough that one sheet should work.

igy569

The dollhouse flooring is available at A.C. Moore and Michael's for the Yanks in the forum. Nice texture to it. I am building a doll house now!! (mostly, kinda, sometimes)

Nick

What kind of paper do I print them on if I am going to cover them?

Would I use photo paper?

Nick

I think I might try one of these brick patterns, but I don't know how to do it.

http://www.jennifersprintables.com/woodandbrick.html

1. What kind of paper do I print them on? How do I keep the ink from running?

2. How do I stick it to the base? Would John's 3M adhesive suggestion be the best?

3. What do I use for lacquer once it's on the base? Aerosol?

Thanks for the help.

igy569

I would think 20lb bond would work great, then coat the whole thing in a clear finish of your choice, shouldn't run.

Nick

My hardware store is open for 2 more hours, so I could get the supplies and start on it tonight.

johnreid

I would use the good photo paper and if you are not too strapped for cash get it printed at Staples or Wally World. The spray adhesive wold work great and use multiple thin coats of the Lacquer, I would spray. If you go overboard and try to do it all in one coat it would get wet and run so several light coats would be best. It is less risky if the Engine itself isnt on the Baseboard as the Accessories usually dont leak a bunch of water.

Nick

Would a glossy finish look odd on a brick pattern?

Nick

I also think the pattern that Reid suggested might look good if it was aged:

http://www.jennifersprintables.com/victorian009.htm

I read that Moose used varnish to give it an aged look, how is this done?

johnreid

IF you dont want gloss, use a matte lacquer

Wallace

Roundy

The frame on my old garrage door was wrotten 2 buggerey but with the aid of the chainsaw removed some of the pannels and after a trip through the table saw and a quick wizz with the belt sander and a go round the edge with a router this is what i was left with- think it is some sort of hardwood just never got round 2 mounting engines on the bases lol

johnreid

That looks real nice Roundy, real nice.

Roundy

IndianaRog

That is beautiful wood Roundy, nice job of saving it and transforming it into perfect pieces for steam engine mounting. I love natural wood against the metal look.

Roundy

thanks Roj, i made 2 baseboards, 1 for m135 and one for se2 - i think that was the only solid bit of door left lol

Minor1PJG

Amazing

Mahogony stain varnish and brass screws is all you need there (see my earlier post....

)