Thank you for this very useful video. Never heard about Homabed, but will make my own from now on. I have the tools to do it. I am a finish carpenter, so I think I can handle this one (just kidding.) Subscribing too.
Pretty decent video overall but I do have a couple of concerns. First and foremost your original cut width being oversized and then having to trim the width of each half ends up wasting a lot of the original stock, which as you have said is not always easy to find as is not the cheapest material once found. It would be much better to make the first cut width such that once the center bevel cut is made it results in the 2 half base widths adding up to 2" (or whatever roadbed width is desired). Second, as mentioned while a 45 degree shoulder is the commonly available slope for model roadbed, the angle of repose for most common prototype ballast materials is much closer to 60 degrees so a center bevel cut 30 degrees from vertical would yield a more prototypical look. When I have done homemade homabed (in a single piece, not two halves as you have shown) I've also cut the kerfs on the table saw. For three foot long pieces make a fence about 4 feet long that attaches to the saw's miter gauge. (I actually cut the full 4 ft width of a panel so my fence is about 5 ft long.) Attach the fence to the miter gauge such that it is centered on the saw blade, set the saw to 45 degrees and set the height to about 1.5 inches. Pass the fence through the saw to making an angles slot in the fence. (If anything start a bit lower and work up with a few test cuts on an offcut piece of homabed once the fence is fully marked in the next step.) Make a first vertical line on the fence about 1/4" to the right of the highest part of the slot you just cut. From this reference line make parallel lines at the kerf interval to each end of the fence and it is ready to use. Because the kerf of a table saw blade is so much wider than your scroll saw blade kerf you can widen the interval between cuts, I use an interval of about 1 3/4". To start cutting the homabed kerfs stack about 10 pieces, base adjacent to the fence, and align the rightmost edge with the reference line that is closest to the end of the slot in the fence. Push the homabed stack through the saw making the first kerf. Pull the stack safely back past the blade and move the homabed stack one line to the right for the next cut and continue the process. When the right edge of the homabed stack passes the right end of the fence use the marks on the left end of the fence to index the homabed stack for the remainder of the kerf cuts. Once ballasted you don't notice the "segmented" nature of the curves. Once you find a reliable homasote source it is easy to churn out huge amounts of homabed for very economical prices compared to cork. The other nice thing abut making your own homabed is that you can vary the thickness to represent mainline track versus branch or industrial trackage. I'd recommend keeping 1/4" the minimum homabed thickness for branch and industrial trackage and make the mainline homabed 3/8" or so thick. If you want thinner homabed for short lengths of industrial or very light branch lines start with an initial cut about 1/4" narrower than standard and then use a surform to thin the 1/4" high homabed down another 1/16" or so once it is glued down, keeping a vacuum nearby to catch the fuzz the surform makes in this process. Just a few thoughts to build on a good video. Thanks for posting.
I'm grateful for your good suggested alternative methods of construction. All good ideas. I'm a bit confused on the viability of using a table saw for the kerf cuts. Especially if you stack your strips 10-high, the fact that the table saw blade is circular, not straight vertical as with a band saw or scroll saw, I don't know how I'd avoid getting the cuts too deep or too shallow. Unless I tried it, I'm not sure if this is something I need to worry about. I agree that homabed can be made for close to the same price as cork. As you state, when you are doing it yourself, you have the freedom to make the pieces to whatever profile you want, even making a different profile for different sections of the layout. To emphasize a point I made in the video, homasote, I believe, holds up SO much better both initially (as in, holding spikes and nails) and over time (as in, no crumbling/drying out) compared to cork. So, if you can make the homabed yourself, I feel you're much better off in the long run. Thanks again for your good feedback.
@@BobWesneski Bob, sorry for the confusion. When I say stack the homabed pieces, it is not 10 high in front of the fence analagous to your cutting on the scroll saw, but 10 deep in front of the fence, effectively tipping your stack over 90 degrees. Consider kerf cutting a single piece of Homabed. Place the wide base (bottom/underside) of the homabed against the front face of the fence so the point of one side shoulder is firmly against the saw table and the other shoulder edge points up. Of course cutting a single piece at a time would be onerous so now place more pieces in front of this one. I've found that 10 to 12 pieces "ganged up" like this becomes the more or less practical limit due to weight, friction against the saw table and flexibility (weakness) of the freshly kerfed pieces. (I probably should have used the term "ganged" instead of stacked from the beginning). When you look down on the "ganged" homabed you'll see the edges of the shoulders looking somewhat like a bunch of very long planer blades on edge. As long as the "gang" is held firmly against the saw table the kerf cuts will be of consistent height, albeit on a 45 degree angle. I've found that if you build up the gang of homabed one piece at a time they all sit flat against the saw table quite well. Even so it is a good idea to "tamp" them down along their length to make sure they are all in contact with the table surface. If you are particular about the kerf depth consistency you could place a 10-12 inch block of wood on the top of the gang centered over the blade and press against it to keep the homabed firmly against the saw bed. You could even mount such a block to the fence permanently making the process a bit safer yet. I've found that the kerf needs to be at least 3/4 of the way through the flat top face of the homabed for it to bend reasonably well at the 24 - 30 inch radii we commonly use in HO scale. Tighter radii need a closer kerf interval. The fence should be at least an inch higher than the kerf cut depth so it doesn't flex or potentially break when pushing the gang of strips through the saw blade Setting the blade to the right height can take a few iterations but as long as you start low and raise the blade in small increments the slot in the fence is the exact depth that you will cut through the homabed as long as the point of the shoulder on each piece contacts the saw bed. Test run a short length (5-6 kerfs) through to test after each incremental rise of the blade. I hope this corrects any misunderstanding. You are so correct in your assertion that homasote is a vastly superior product to cork or the flexible foams currently used for roadbed. So much so that it justifies tolerating and cleaning up from the ungodly mess that results from working with it. And if you seal it with a paint or varathane before laying the track it becomes quite water/alcohol resistant when wetting the ballast and gluing it with diluted glue/matt medium, as long as you don't go totally overboard. Cheers, Carl.
Nice job on the details of how to. I am curious if u would make this for someone else and sell. I love homosote roadbed and use as well. Unfortunately like u said no one makes this anymore. If u did make and sell this how much would u charge and for how many pieces.
Sorry but I have no plans to make and sell this item to the public. I'm retired and am not anxious to get back into the business world. However, a few months ago I purchased some "layout splines" from Randy Pfeiffer, who is the proprietor of 3rd PlanIt. Randy wrote and maintains the referenced software but he also cuts custom track subroadbed on CNC machinery. While working with him on the "layout splines" that I eventually ordered, I told him about this video and the overall process. Since he already has the machinery and a working business, and since at least one other person had asked him about homabed recently, he seemed interested in offering to make the stuff on a commercial basis. I contacted him after I read your comment to see if he'd moved forward on the idea but I've not heard back from him. I suggest you go to his website and contact him to see if he's willing to make some for you.
