MiniRails - Modules-Benchwork

Planning a module

The finished module should be sturdy and - on the other hand - lightweight. Normally, these conditions are contradictory and so one has to find a compromise by using suitable materials. I think, nobody wants to carry a 100 pound module or watch the module falling to pieces...

Therefore, I use two different wood sizes for the head and side panels of the module frame. The head ends have to withstand the most wear and tear and are made of 16 mm (0.63 inch) coreboard. The sideframes can be made of 10 mm (0.4 inch) plywood or coreboard since an additional 16 mm - board will be added in the middle of the module.

Here we have the required wood :
First, one head board is glued and screwed to a side panel. The side panael should be flush with the head board. Two or three screws are enough to give it a secure hold. The screw heads should be slightly sunken into the wood.
Now the center board and the second head board are glued and screwed to the assembly. Using an outlet-saw, the head boards and the center board may be "perforated" to save weight and provide for wiring channels.
Now add the second side panel and the baseframe can be...
... stiffened out. I use "legs" made from 80 x 40 x 40 mm (3.15" x 1.57" x 1.57") and screw and glue into the frame´s corners. Two screws diagonally positioned screws are good enough. One screw each goes into the head board and the side panel.
Now it is time to decide how to carry on: 1) standing or 2) sitting.	The first choice means that the legs have to added now; the second choice requires a large workbench. The next assembly steps will add the subroadbed and the basic wriring.
Those who prefer working while being seated can skip this step and come back later.... The legs go onto the side panels from the inside since you can´t reach the head boards once a couple of modules are connected.	Use the corner stiffeners as a guide and clamp the leg to the side panel. Once it is securely fastened, drill two 8 mm (0.315") holes from the outside rigt through the side panel and the leg. The legs should have an adjustable foot in case the floor is not level (experience tells that floors are never level). Drill a hole of 60 mm (2.36") depth and 8 mm (0.315") diameter into the bottom of the leg. I use a drive-in nut with a carriage bolt for this purpose. To comfortably drive the nut into the wood, I screw the carriage bolt onto the nut and drive the whole assembly into the wood with a hammer.
The subroadbed - made of 10 mm plywood - is mounted on top of the frame assembly, flush with the head boards. In order to ease track laying later on, the center lines of the tracks are now pencilled in. Apply a thin layer of white glue to the frame parts where the subroadbed will sit and screw it to the head and center boards. Make sure that the screw heads are sunken in so they won´t interfere with the trackwork. The whole assembly should now be quite sturdy and weighs in at about 10 lbs.
Since the frame is still open, I now wire the basic electric. We need two wires each for the tracks and they have to go from end of the module to the other.	Read more in the wiring chapter...

If you would like to read this page in German language, just click the language icon to the left of the site logo...