thought's on hollow core door's

hey guy's what is everyone's thought's on hollow core door's to build a doughnut style layout id have a sheet of plyood on shelf backeet's that is cut down the middle for the part's that are on the wall's and then the door's would be the rest of it it will be 8 feet wide by 16 feeet long im jsut lookign for an easy wya to build my benchwork cause i dont' have many woodworking tools all i have is a jigsaw and a drill thank's guy's.

 

You can do just about anything with a jigsaw and a drill. What sort of layout shape are you thinking of?

 

a rectangel doughnut style layout but i don't have the skill's to build much from scratch with wood so was thinking the hcd's would make a good layout base since it's gonna get a layer of 2 inch foam on top of it afterward's thank's lfb.

 

Doors are okay. The most important part would then be what is holding the doors up. You are going to have to have a solid base so that the slightest bump doesn't ruin things. I have seen doors mounted on top of sawhorses and held there using metal L-shaped bars held by screws. Worked quite well actually. If you can't build a sawhorse they can be purchased ready made. Good luck, Jim

 

My layout is on hollow doors, [foam on top of them] secured to the sturdy timber framework by long roofing bolts. It's been up for 18 months at least, and is still nice and level.

Mike

 

well honestly i was thinking of the fold out table's you can get from walmart trying to make thsi as easy as possible for my benchwork and to be decently sturdy what yall think the door's on top of the fold out table's the white plastic one's of coudl i jsutp ut thick 2 inch blue of pink foam on top of those thank's zach.

 

i was thinking of the fold out table's you can get from walmart trying to make thsi as easy as possible for my benchwork and to be decently sturdy what yall think the door's on top of the fold out table's the white plastic one's of coudl i jsutp ut thick 2 inch blue of pink foam on top of those thank's zach.


Hmmmm. Dunno about that. I have laid a single HCD layout on a folding 8-ft plastic banquet table temporarily, but I have doubts about the table legs being sturdy enough, mainly because I walked into it a couple times and that gave things a good bounce.

I currently have my HCD laid across a couple of cheap bookcases - gives me extra storage space on the shelves and I didn't have to do any carpentry. In the past, I've laid an HCD on metal shelf brackets drywall screwed into the walls. But that won't do if you can't mess with the walls...

 

well i think im gonna give the foam on the plastic banquet tables' a try what the heckworth a shot right and if it dont' work ill go the bookshelf route i just don't know where i can get bookshelf's for cheap that arent' so frikking high up there useless thank's zach.

 

HCD's are a great way to build a layout. Eric, can't remember his screen name, had one at his house that was mounted to the walls with big L brackets and some 1x2 to extend them. Mine was mounted on saw horses. Both methods had drawbacks and pluses.

Mounting to the wall means you only ever see the layout from one side, but the mounts make sure the layout is solidly mounted and won't move; it also makes lots of space below for storage.

Saw horses are fairly sturdy. I never had much trouble with my layout moving. I bumped it a few times with little result to any rolling stock on the layout. But... saw horses are low. I would figure out how I like to run my trains. For me sitting in a chair is great. Then I would raise the level to a height where reaching things on the layout such as uncoupling isn't too hard. Or else have it at eye level when sitting in a chair and lower when standing for operations.

With a HCD you don't even really need any tools; just glue.

I would also advise that you raise your track level a bit so you can have rivers and gorges below track level. That was the downfall of my last HCD.