Scratchbuilding materials

[jon-monon]

Hey t., I don't get it, what exactly is a willy?

Isn't that great how us humans can feel so good about watchin someone else feel so bad? It kinda balances out. His pain was your pleasure. Violence on TV has no effect, we're not influenced by the stooges, hunt-uh, not us!

 

[t. alexander]

You know, ..a,a, willy

I could handle everything the stooges did except when they pulled Larry's hair, Man that had to hurt.

t.

 

[Bill Stone]

I find a band saw with a fence much better for cutting small stuff than a scroll saw. And, regarding table saws, you don't have to protect your willie.....

But scale lumber isn't that expensive. I prefer to try and plan ahead and have enough of the stuff on hand. (One secret is when I'm buying some for a specific project, I always get at least twice as much as I'll need.)

Bill S

 

[n-scaler-dude]

Bill - I've also thought about using my small benchtop bandsaw for cutting the lumber, but the problem I forsee is the blade thickness. Bandsaw blades are much thicker than scroll saw blades and would waste more material. But I'll certainly give it a try and see if the results are at least comparable to what I got with the scroll saw.

But scale lumber isn't that expensive.

Maybe I haven't looked around as much and haven't found the cheap stuff yet. The stuff I have bought I felt was very expensive. Most of it is $2.00 for 10-12 sticks, 12" long. At those prices, it would be a very expensive trestle.

On the other hand, the non-scale basswood strips from places like Midwest Lumber are reasonable at the same shop I get the expensive "to-scale" strips. Most of it is around .21-.23 for a 24" srtrip. Also, if I wanted to buy a minimum of $150 of the stuff, I can get it direct, at wholesale prices of about .09 a strip. The problem being is that I don't know if I'd ever use that much. Another problem with buying non-scale wood is that the smallest size is usually 1/16" x 1/16".

I would love to find basswood sheets of 1/64" thickness, or smaller.

 

[kettlestack]

Richard, I should think veneer sheets would be about 1/64th" thick. I assume you would want that thickness for cladding structures and such.
They are available in all shades from Beech (light) to Walnut (dark). Although they are all hardwoods it is easy to cut through that thickness.
An arts/craft store like Michael's or The Tall Mouse should have a selection.

Errol

 

[n-scaler-dude]

kettlestack - Thanks for the tip, I'll search something like that out next time I get into town. I also believe there is a wood supplier in town that specializes in hardwood, I'll check there too.

 

[rich maiorano]

was at micheal's and ac moore the other day and they had them sheets didn't think about cutting them down also look around the craft sticks dept too I got some sticks there too rich

 

[n-scaler-dude]

I think we have a Michaels and a Hobby Lobby in town, so I'll have to check both.

 

[jon-monon]

Originally posted by n-scaler-dude
I think we have a Michaels and a Hobby Lobby in town, so I'll have to check both.

NSD and anyone else who has a Hobby Lobby around, I suggest swinging by once in a while because they have free beer and dancin' girls in the model railraoad area. No wait, I mean they have very low prices on the stuff they close out. I have bought building kits and cast metal auto's for under $2 ea. Yes, they do have N scale too.

 

[n-scaler-dude]

Well, back from a long day in the BIG city doing some Christmas shopping.....and a little shopping for my self as well .

Tried Hobby Lobby for wood, but I found out that they are closed on Sundays to allow their employees time to worship. Not a very financially wise decision on their behalf being this close to X-mas, but then it's not my store.

So I went to Michaels where I found a large sheet (12" x 24") of 1/64" thick Birch plywood veneer (about $10). If it works, it'll probably make enough small wood strips to last me an eternity .

Also bought some other misc. supplies, and thought I'd try some Fimo for sculpting small...something's .