#009 04 Tybee Pier - Pier-adigm Shift

Hello and welcome to the I'm With Stupid Show!  Again, your genius blogger has freaked up the model.  Not bad for two days in a row!  Next time you feel that you've done something wrong, just read my blog and you'll feel better.  I'm here for you, man!

Early this morning I snuck down to the train shop and put together another bent and left it to dry.

Later I came back and flipped it over so that I could but the sway braces on.

Using my handy glass top I squeezed Elmer's directly on to the surface.

Carefully I dip both ends of the sway brace into the glue being carful to only get a very small amount onto the board's ends.

Using a very good pair of tweezers (slightly curved points, sharp, precision stainless steel) I lower the brace into place.

...and then I shove the final parts into the assembly jig.

Great!  Right after breakfast the last bent is dry.

They are coming out straight and with the mottled color that I wanted.

Here are the magnificent seven!  The one on the left is Uyl Brenner.

Referencing my drawings I double check the measurements of the small bent against my jig just to make sure they match.  Good!  The left hand side of the jig will be used for making the smaller bents.

Back on the chopper I set up the fence for the dimension and start making sawdust.  We'll only need four of the caps and eight of the sway braces.  All of the pilings are cut and stained.

Here are the small bend top caps.  I'll distress them with the saw on all sides.

After cutting the sway braces with the Northwest Shortline Chopper, I stick them to some Scotch Magic Tapic and paint/stain them CAREFULLY.  I'm using a dry brush technique here to avoid warping.

Here is the test bent.  The boards look off center, but that is just the odd camera angle.  It is amazing how strong these guys are.

With the caps and braces stained we start to assemble the four bents.  This will go quickly.

In about 7 minutes it is braced on both sides and dry.

I put another one together in the jig and while it is drying I'll work on the Pier Wall.  These boards are overhanging and need to be cut off flush.  Normally I use my jeweler's saw, but there is not enough room.

The Zona Saw is very sharp and makes quick work of it.  You have to watch the Zona Saw because it has a top cap along the blade for support.  As you cut something long the cap starts to defect the blade.  That is why I like the jeweler's saw better.

Here we have a nice cut along the end of the wall.  I'll hit it with the palm sander and flatten it out.

I cut this end with the Zona and got the deflection that I talked about.  It leans a bit, so I'll hit it with the sander to level it out.

It is more uneven than the sander can handle, so I'll have to cut some more off.  This time I used a rule to keep the blade straight.  When you do this use a STEEL rule, not an aluminum one as the saw will cut into the aluminum.

Once sanded it is now flush.  I'll come back and touch up the color later.

On the small inside wall, which is hidden by the pier somewhat, I quickly install the boards which were cut on the chop saw.  I was careful not to use too much glue.  Get used to using less and less Elmer's glue.  It is very strong and a little goes a long way, while a lot will ruin the surface of the model.

There!  All done.  Now, while still building bents, we'll finish the long back wall.

All four small bents are now done.  That went quickly!

Since I'm through with the bents I put the jig, the test bents, left over pilings and pieces into a Glad Brand Zipper Bag and labeled it.  This way I know what the jig is, what it can make, some pieces to used to set up saws and a couple of samples.

Good Thing:  My daughter stops by to steal an animal cracker and give me a kiss.

Bad Thing:  energetic daughter doesn't watch where she is walking and knocks the module over with a CRASH.  All of the track supports were destroyed and will have to be replaced.  The luan is damaged as well, so we'll need to do some repairs.  Actually I'm amazed that it took such a shock and didn't explode.  I had not screwed the risers in yet, otherwise it would not have broken at all.  This shows me that the single leg "kick leg" is not enough for the stand along module.

Hey Bob....what should I do?

Since I'm through benting...I'll clean up the work space and prepare for the final assembly stops.

Here is the back pier wall drying with the use of clamps and Rick's Popsicle Sticks.  I still have some glue sneaking out and promise to use even less next time.

WARNING:  DON'T USE THE DRAWING SHOWN HERE AS IT IS INCORRECT.  IT SHOULD BE REVERESED WHEN YOU GLUE THE BENTS ON.  ERROR NUMBER TWO FOR THE GENIUS AT THE WORK BENCH.

Using two print outs (it all won't fit on one page) I pieced the top view drawing on the glass and then covered it with wax paper using some Scotch Tape.

I cut the remaining stained boards (some are only partially stained) and then distressed, painted and stained the untreated sides.  Be sure to get the ends!

Using just a very tiny bit of glue here and there I lightly glued the runners in place just to hold them steady.  We'll need to lift them off the wax paper later.

Using a steel right angle with a soem weight on the bottom I put glue where the bent and runner intersect and glued them into place giving each bent time to dry before placing the others.  If you don't they will fall over like dominoes if you bump them.

It is here that I began thinking about how the bents would look on the front and noticed I HAD BUILD IT BACKWARDS!  Shit.

You have to flip the drawing when you build it upside down.  Now I'm in a pickle.  The bents won't come off.

I took the Zona Saw and cut through the runners.  We'll go ahead and assemble it, then move the smaller pier to the other side.  Crap.  That is not going to look good.

Here is the upside down pier with all the bents installed.  I'll come back tonight and make some sway braces for the sides.  These board by board structures, while very simple to make (when you aren't making mistakes) are VERY impressive and make people go "Wow!  You scratcbuilt that?"  A kit for a piere like this would cost you $70.  As it sits it probably cost me $24.

Edited 01-20-10  The Blogger was smoking weed, per the Blogger's wife.  My cost for this (Miss Slavedriver keeps all the receipts) is more like $60.  I forgot that I paid for the deck boards a long time ago, and forgot a side trip to Hobby Lobby.  Next time, I'll buy a kit! :) 

The bents are nicely colored.

Here you can see the cut.

Almost done!  Just need another hour to put the sway braces on the side, and then another two hours or so for planking the top and adding details (which I won't put on yet.)

We'll keep the top flat for now until we mount it in the water.  You can get some warpage when you pour water around an object so we want a flat surface for the weights we'll need on top.

Ok, not a disaster, but not a contest winner either.  But I'm not after big contest wins, just the 87.5 points I need for a structure in the NMRA AP program.

Don't Work When You Are Tired

My escapes at the hospital last night wore me out.  I tried working in the shop today, then quite and took a nap.  Tonight I tried again and had more issues than I had solutions.  Finally at 11:00 pm I cut off the heater and lights and started to blog.

I took the clamps off the Section Three repair job.  It looks much better but is still not optimal.  I'll be more carefull sawing next time.

The legs are all painted flat black now!  Before you paint your legs be sure to clean the pipe.  It has extruding compounds on it and causes the paint not to stick.

After painting I removed the tape protecting the foot from paint and made sure they turned.

Section Three is ready for landscape!

I put the foam sheets one and two back in place and anchored them with ROUND toothpicks.  Roundies are hard to find, but the square cut toothpicks will break if you try to remove them.  This is a temporary step to keep the layers from sliding while I mark them.

Time to get out the tool tray!  I love my tool tray!  This came from a Christmas sale at Pep Boys and is for autom mechanics.  I bought all they had and got some to our NCI group members.  We all love them!  They adjust high enough that they come right up to the table top.  Mostly I use it for track laying tools, but I'm using it for lots of things now.

The rolling base travels smoothly and the wide/long frame keeps it steady.

The adjustable shaft will make it chair high or 48" table top high.

I bolted a block of wood and made a holder for the power strip and the arm light.  I also keep a bright orange tray for small tools and parts, along with the tool holder's trays. 

The arm light (with a real lightbulb, not a CFL) is easy to position over my workspace on the layout.  This is the ultimate set up for track laying on the layout.

On of my cordless drills is missing!  Where did I put it?

I put a screw in the side of the tray to hold my clip board.

Ok, now down to some real work.  I started marking the foam for track postioning.  The first thing I drew was a center radial.  This turned out to be useless, so don't bother doing it.

Next I marked the lower level track where it exits the section.  I also noted the elevation.

On the right side I measured and marked the other track position for the lower level and its elevation.

Then, using my drawing, I marked the horizontal and vertical one foot lines that correspond to the drawing.  This was much more helpful than measuring from the radial, but still not perfect.

On concrete your feet can develop whole new levels of aches and pains.  I take the time to put down these foam floor mats to make my feet less grouchy.  You can really feel the difference, especially today when the floor is very cold.

Using a 1.5" thick piece of 8' luan plywood (which bends nicely) I pushed in two 12 penny nails and used the luan to make a nice gentle curve with a Sharpee pen.

In my shop I keep some spare turnouts, so I borrowed an Atlas #6 to see how it would look instead of the #5 turnout that I had designed here.  I'm going back to the #5.

The greatest thing for drawing on the foam is a collection of colored Sharpee pens!  They are cheap during back to schools sales, so buy a couple of sets.

Drawing in the pier is critical at this stage because I want to make sure that I don't glue this piece down to the section top.  It must be removable.

I also penned in the ocean scene.  This is too steep and I don't like it, so it may not stay.

I use blue to mark bodies of water.

Well, maybe I will keep it and put some sharp jagged breaker rocks in to support the trackwork.  It is still too narrow and may not look natural.

I'm careful to always identify my lines.  Demarkation lines (like for feet and inches) are always dashed.  The mainline is solid black and always marked as "mainline".

After the mainline and siding trackage is drawn, using a purple pen (I always do elevations in purple, even on my CAD drawings) I put the elevation on the track plan and circle it.

Ok, I'm still not satified with how I am measuring.  So I went back to the computer and reset the drawing to give me 12" lines in green and then added 1" lines in dark grey.  Now I can count and reference each square inch.  Much better!  I went ahead and did all for sections and printed them.

Be sure to mark each layer as I have here.  The section number, layer number and a reference to which way on the section it goes.  If you don't do this, you will mix them up or somebody in your shop will use it for something else.

Time to cut layer three which supports the upper track.  I'm using the 2" leftover from layer one.

Using the Harbor Freight hot knife I cut out layer three and stack it on layers one and two.   Nice!  My cake is getting thicker!

It is cold today in Georgia.  About 30 degrees and dropping outside.  While my friends in Chicago will laugh at me, I'm freezing.  I have the heat on (small kerosene heater) which I seldom have to use except when the temps get into the 20's.  It does a good job of knocking the chill off.  This big cup of hot chocolate from my shop's coffee maker works well, too.  Is that peppermint schnapps that I smell?

@$%@#$%@$% Harbor Freight!  After cut number four the new cutter stopped working.  I tried everything buy she just wouldn't go.  This isn't the first thing I've had to return to them.  Time to cough up the bucks and buy a big cutter.

In the shop I had a new pencil thin cutter, so I got it out of the box and used it.  It's not meant for foam as thick as 2" so it took forever to cut out the section.

Back to the old tried and true serrated edge knife.  It leaves a mess of pink foam pieces laying around, but is quick and very accurate.  Much faster than a hot knife.

I cut the third layer larger than I needed.  You have to do this because once you start shaping the scenery you will cut into the foam.  Start bigger and cut it back.  Its hard to add foam back.

You can get a feel now for the elevation.  There will be some rock and a block retaining wall made with Dr. Ben's Baby Building Blocks along this part of the main line.

Using layer three as a template I cut out layer four in 7/8" foam.

There!  All the foam is cut and fit!

Well, I thought I bought a right hand curved but actually it was a left hand curve!  Great!  That is what I needed.  I don't want to hand lay on this section.

Marking the top section and using the curved turnout as a template I drew in the mainline, the turnout and the 10" turntable.  After measuring the locomotive I forgot that you have to balance it on the turntable so it needs to be longer than I planned (9") so I increased the pit by one inch.

@#$!@#$!  Measure twice.  Measure twice!  I thought the two tracks looked a little too close.  When I went back to the drawing I realized that I had put the upper mainline in the wrong place.  It is several inches to close to the lower main.  Crap.  Now I have to redraw it.   I'm too tired for precision work, so I'll go to bed and start fresh in the morning.

Still, I love how the scene is going together!  It will look and work great!  These small sections are so much easier to work with than a big 4x8 block.

I hate 4x8.