Modules

This web page covers the techniques, construction and tools for making the undercarriage of my TT model railway.

Construction of modules	The structure of the modules, materials and tools employed
Fabrication of modules	Report on the fabrication of the modules including videos

Construction of modules

The three modules of the undercarriage are constructed from ribs of 12 mm plywood. The base plates to support the rails are of 9 mm plywood with 4 mm side panels in some places to prevent sagging.

Fabrication of modules

Sawing ribs

Slide zaagbokken — Photo 1: Now the sawhorses once bought come in handy.

Slide zelfgemaakte werkbank — Photo 2: The same is true for the homemade workbench.

Slide aftekenen met patroonradarwiel — Photo 3: Marking off on the wood where the wood glue should go outside the ribs.

Slide aanbrengen houtlijm — Photo 4: Applying the wood glue to the marked areas.

Paper glue is applied on the ribs because that will allow removal of the glued on paper after it is cut.

Slide Vastrollen van het houtlijm — Photo 6: Rolling down the wood glue so the paper stays put when sawing.

Slide zagen circels met decuopeerzaag — Photo 7: This is how to cut circles with a jigsaw. Round hole saws burned the wood and took too long.

Slide recht zagen langs een aluminiumkoker — Photo 8: Using an aluminum tube, for straight cuts using a jigsaw.

Slide controle maten met rolmaat en tekening — Photo 9: Checking that the measurements match the drawing and then cutting to length.

Slide benamen van de ribben — Photo 10: And finally naming the ribs, because otherwise putting 35 ribs together won't work.

The ribs were drawn on a computer and printed full size. Then they were glued to the 12 mm plywood sheets and cut out.

Checking if the ribs fit

Here I show that the wooden skeleton fits.

Ribs

Holes for tracks

With two parallel tracks through a rib the hole is round and can be drilled with a circle drill with a diameter of 55mm for ease of cutting. This method is only possible with two parallel tracks and if there is enough wood to drill the holes without weakening the ribs. In all other cases several drill holes and saw cuts are used to make holes for tacks through ribs, see the drawing of ribs below.