40 years ago I bought a Hornby Dublo outfit for my 6 year old son and I must say I had a lot of fun, woops,  he had a lot of fun with it. I, in my dotage, cannot remember what happened to it but, in what my wife calls my 4th childhood, I am having another go, but in n gauge this time. I have some track, a loco, a controller and have made a few card models but have not yet decided on what sort of timber to use for the baseboard. Now I have to admit that I thought a bus was what I was going to add to my layout along with the cars and a dropper is what I use to put olive oil in my ears, so I would like to thank all the contributors to this forum for all the information that is gradually filtering in to what is left of my brain.
To get to the point, when I start wiring up my track, is it a good idea to first buy some wire strippers as using a Stanley knife to strip the insulation from this multitude of wiring is likely to entail a visit to A & E? If wire strippers are a good idea  can anyone recommend a particular make? I would be most grateful as I am rather fond of my fingers, one part of me that still works reasonably well. Thanks. Mike.

Quote from: trelevra on May 17, 2013, 08:56:01 PM
40 years ago I bought a Hornby Dublo outfit for my 6 year old son and I must say I had a lot of fun, woops,  he had a lot of fun with it. I, in my dotage, cannot remember what happened to it but, in what my wife calls my 4th childhood, I am having another go, but in n gauge this time. I have some track, a loco, a controller and have made a few card models but have not yet decided on what sort of timber to use for the baseboard. Now I have to admit that I thought a bus was what I was going to add to my layout along with the cars and a dropper is what I use to put olive oil in my ears, so I would like to thank all the contributors to this forum for all the information that is gradually filtering in to what is left of my brain.
To get to the point, when I start wiring up my track, is it a good idea to first buy some wire strippers as using a Stanley knife to strip the insulation from this multitude of wiring is likely to entail a visit to A & E? If wire strippers are a good idea  can anyone recommend a particular make? I would be most grateful as I am rather fond of my fingers, one part of me that still works reasonably well. Thanks. Mike.

Hi there Mike nice to know you are in your 4th childhood and not your 7 year itch  , best timber for a baseboard is 2x1 Pine frame, 5 Ply top and Sundeala over the top of that, sadly we cant get Sundeala Downunder.

Any elcheapo shop usually sells reasonable wire strippers but some of the other lads may offer better advice, I also value my fingers that is why I have used my teeth as wire srippers for over 40 years.

By the way Welcome to the forum.

Cheers Dave. The 7 year itch ! Now what is that? I have a vague recollection of the phrase but that would have been 45 years ago , I think !
Regards, Mike

i bought a pair of these from a recent exhibition, only paid £6 for them though and cracking bit of kit.

http://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/shopexd.asp?id=22715

Hi Mike, I've had many pairs of wire strippers over the years but more often than not just end up using the 'blade' section on a pair of longnose pliers. I've found with practice I can just put the right amount of pressure on by 'feel' to pull the plastic away and leave the copper intact.

But that's just me. That one bigbob is recommending looks pretty good.

Cheers, George.

Welcome Mike. I have some el cheapo wire strippers, cannot stand them. Know what you mean about the Stanley knife and A&E, but so far I have avoided that, although I too am fast approaching dotage. I use the Stanley knife, with the wire pressed against a cutting board and I gently rotate the wire so that I get an incision all the way round. Normally you don't even have to cut through the plastic all the way round, but at least score it and then you'll find the 'cut bit' slides off easily.
Dave, not sure what Sundeala is, but I use foamular, 2 lots of 1" thick, glued together, placed over a frame. it makes a great base and is readily available in Aus. Cheers, Bill.

Oh, I forgot to welcome you to the forum, Mike. Welcome! You'll find lots of help on here. The search function is very useful.

Regarding baseboards, like longbridge, I too use 2x1 pine for the frame and 5 ply on top. I never bothered with the Sundeala on the top, though. I do use cork underlay for the track, though.

Once again, welcome to the forum!

Thanks, everybody. Replies much appreciated. Up and at 'em !

Hi Mike, I use a pair of side cutters, similar to the one that Bob recommended. If you point the hollow in the jaws away from the cable end and grip them gently while pulling, you cut through the insulation and not the copper. I have also used my teeth for the thinner wires and had to explain to one or two dentists what the notch in my front teeth was.
Welcome to the forum, we are not all mad, just most of us.

Hello Mike and welcome back to the hobby from another "born again newbie". More basic than any of the wire cutting methods mentioned above is a pair of good scissors. You can ease a nick into the plastic covering, working your way around in a circle to get almost as far down as the wire, and then pull off the plastic cover pretty easily. It's not exactly professional but it has always worked for me

As for baseboards, I read somewhere that MDF was a good material, as long as it is buttressed underneath. It's soft enough to drill for wiring, absorbs some of the train noise, but is still solid enough (with the buttressing) to provide a firm base. I haven't tried it yet, though (or anything else, for that matter).

I am always surprised at how good the Americans are at railway modelling. I genuinely believe that during the 70's and early 80's the modellers there were streets ahead of the British when it came to scenery on model railways.

There have been many N gauge layouts described in their literature that use really lightweight baseboard structures such as polystyrene foamboard!

I'm not sure of how they would go with fire regulations, but basically when I see these layouts, I realise how much I over-engineered my own layout (supported on 4x2 legs!!) N scale layouts do not need the support that, say O gauge ones do.

Anyway, Mike, it's great to see you gettin' into it again. As you say, "Up and at 'em!" 

The foamboard used in US is not standard white expanded polystyrene but is a dense board used for housing insulation and similar. It is a great medium as a baseboard and for building up hills etc. You can carve it out for roads, valleys etc as well. Cheers, Bill.

Hi Mike

I've used 6mm ply as my baseboard with a 2x1 planed supporting frame below. The ply was varnished both sides and edges to make it 'waterproof' (Plenty of moisture applied when doing scenic stuff).

The insulation foam mentioned is great for building the terrain.

Have fun with your build and please keep us posted.

Dave G

Hi Mike and 

There is always a danger of nicking some of the strands if you use any sort of cutting blade to strip wire ends which will both weaken the wire and reduce its current carryi9ng capabilities. I use an automatic wire stripper very similar to this one http://www.maplin.co.uk/automatic-wire-stripper-45237 which accommodates various sizes of wire and strips cleanly every time.

If you want a better quality one then this one would be a good choice  http://www.rapidonline.com/Tools-Equipment/Draper-0-5mm-2mm-Diameter-Automatic-Wire-Stripper-310984

For baseboards I have always used 6mm plywood both for the framing and the tops. I cut the ply into 100mm wide strips and form an open grid at between 250mm & 300mm centres using halving joints. Plywood is far more stable than softwood, particularly the stuff you get from DIY centres which does have a tendency to twist and warp. I give the frame and tops a couple of coats of varnish to seal it so that it is not affected by changes in humidity or any water/glue being splashed arpund when you are ballasting or building scenery.

Thanks again for all your advice re baseboards and wire strippers. I did have some apprehension about stripping wire with any sort of blade as the wire will be very small. Further to that has anyone any experience of the blue snap on cable scotch lock gizmos I see advertised? Seems a good idea if you can advise me that they would be suitable as no knives would be involved and my fingers would stay intact.