Scribing wood or scribed wood?

[DianneB]

My 1.5" scale streetcar should have vertical planking. I have made the body from 1/4 Baltic Birch plywood but can't find a way to scribe it that looks right.

Have you scribed wood car sides? How did you do it?

Has anyone looked at dollhouse lumber? Maybe I could sheet over the Birch with dollhouse lumber?

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

[FLSTEAM]

I cheat, I use a CNC router table with an engraving bit.
The router cuts the window and doors while it is at it.

John B.

[Dick_Morris]

I used a flame shaped cutter in a Dremel with a router base. Very tedious and easy to make an error.

I used birch plywood as it has a tight grain without the sap marks in standard plywood. (Avoid plywood with grain that doesn't run parallel to the edge.) To get enough length I cut the plywood across the 4' dimension, used the table saw to cut grooves in the mating edges, and used splined (cross grain for strength) glued in for reinforcement.

[cp4449]

On one of my models, the builder did 1/4 pine plywood. Then he must have taken a utility knife, and a ruler, and scribed the lines every 1/4". They cut at least 1/8", and it still looks good. Very tedious

Another set of plans I have for a wood boxcar calls for the thinnest plywood blade you can get for the table saw, then set the depth to 1/16th, and cut the grooves with the grain 1/2" between the center of the groove.

The other trick I saw was to take the wooden coffee stirs (you can get them various lengths at Smart and Final), and cut off the round ends, and glue them on the plywood. Leave a slight gap between the sticks. There is a new instant glue that will work with wood (Rockler Wood has it). Or you could use Gorilla wood glue. Sets up very well.

All of my stuff is 1 inch scale.

Hope that helps

[chooch]

Have you tried any Craft shops. Maybe something like Popsicle (ice cream) sticks or Tongue depressors ( drug store-medical supplies) , a Cabinet shop for strips of Formica. Rough up the smooth side and glue strips on. Shop might even have a mounting suggestion, glue and, free cutting.
chooch

[chooch]

Dianne B,
I went back to your other "Streetcar" page and read where someone had suggested Door veneer?
Perhaps, I believe this is a "Special Project and time is of the essence? Maybe a small display of restoration in progress to show what the Streetcar group is trying to do. Might help for raising funds.

If only a few scribed lines, Doll house items, ladder, tools etc., and some model, toy people doing various kinds of work. (put a donation bucket nearby--:-)
Jes thinkin`.
chooch

[Dick_Morris]

Another set of plans I have for a wood boxcar calls for the thinnest plywood blade you can get for the table saw, then set the depth to 1/16th, and cut the grooves with the grain 1/2" between the center of the groove.

In an earlier thread on wooden cars the builder ground the teeth of a plywood blade to a "V" shape and used a jig to guide a circular saw.

[jcbrock]

Another trick is to use a table saw, tilt the arbor to 45 degrees, and then elevate the blade to just score the plywood with the v groove made by the corner of the blade. The difficulty of this method is keeping the material flat enough to have a uniform groove depth.

[Oilcan]

Ray Grosser described how he modified a table saw blade to make his scribed sheathing for his "Soo LIne Box Car" article that appeared in the January-February 2014 issue of Live Steam & Outdoor Railroading. The process is pretty easy to groove the MDO that he used for the panels.

Neil

[DianneB]

I just found out about a product called "Skinny Sticks" sold in craft stores. IT is wooden sticks, 3/32 thick, 1/4 wide, and 5-3/4" long so I think I am going to give that a try - just laminate them over the plywood base.

I'll let you know how it works out!

[Kimball McGinley]

I did this on the "aircraft" plywood on my 0-4-0 cab: I used a square and clamps to scribe guide lines with a box cutter. This left v-grooves and raised edges - no good, did not look right.

Then I used an "Exacto saw" (like a miniature hand-held wood saw or small hacksaw) to widen and deepen the grooves into square-edged slots. I then sanded off any of the raised edges that were left. Came out real nice, I think.

[Dick_Morris]

Are 5-1/2" sticks long enough? A product like this that I picked out of an Ebay search might be easier to use. It appears that there are 42 pieces to a bundle, but the quantity isn't as clear as it should be. They also make it in other dimensions.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Midwest-Product ... 258c2d38fb