[alastairq]

the only problems I've ever encountered using a [thickish] plank is, if supported in the usual way , ie brackets off a shelving system or wall ...then there can be a tendency towards droopiness over time.

whether this is down to heat, or simply, poor quality raw materials is not clear.......maybe it also depends on hte amount of weight the self continuously has to bear?

so maybe some additional support may be advisable? [3 brackets instead of two?]

 

[alastairq]

QUOTE I would suggest that, before you fix anything to it, you place it flat on the floor of the room it will be used in. If it starts to curl up just turn it over and it should straighten itself out. Keep doing this until you get no further movement and then seal it all over with a good quality varnish or oil based paint.

lordy, no wonder I can't get any modelling done........having to turn the baseboard over and over.......and over.......nope...still not straight...turn it over again......

 

[alastairq]

why not ripsaw the shelf into battens, make a frame, and top off with ply or MDFFF?

or create an open fame board?

I obtained, FOC....4 of those metal bookshelf units..all very cheaply made, with shelves secured to legs with plastic pegs.....considered using for 'stacking' of several different small shelf{!} layourts......I wondered about inverting the shelves [the ''trays'' ].....and cutting some 25mm builders insulation I happen to have found [the stuff covered in foil....quite dense foam, it is].......[will they call me ''skippy??''] to fit inside the inverted 'trays'......which then get re-instated on the legs of the unit.....obviously upside-down to original......with the foam as the top surface.........I wonder.........

 

[alastairq]

you mean......you DON'T use 6 inch nails???????

 

[alastairq]

I always found coachbolts useful for securing the cab to a steam loco...one can pass it right through the boiler, with a nice polished wing nut on the smokebox door?

 

[alastairq]

they should work ok..however , with the fluctuating voltage, it may take a bit longer for the house to burn down....metric nails have less resistance than imperial nails.....

 

[alastairq]

the trouble with metric nuts is that the flats are too short............

 

[alastairq]

I believe, what I call a garden shed, canadians call 'home...'''