My (eventual) 1/16th Machine shop

[lab-dad]

I would like to start on the walls and flooring for my machine shop.
I need to get going as the walls will take a couple thousand bricks..

Floor;

I am using the Railtown/Sierra Valley shop as major inspiration.
I have the Western Scale book on the subject.

From what i have gathered and seen it looks like concrete.
Would you guys agree?
If so i will add the wooden grids around the machines as well.

Would there be expansion joints in a floor of this size?
Or would it be one big slab?
Expansion joints would be nice so I could do the floor in sections.
Not planning on actual concrete, I was going to use MDF painted to look like concrete.

Walls;
The walls I have planned are brick up to the window sills (4 scale feet high).
Post & Beam (like SVRR) covered with corrugated (using Unc's artwork & paper).
The bricks would "wrap" the 8" square posts set on 8 foot centers.
Flemish bond for the bricks.

The plan is to only do the "back half" of the shop so the machines are more visible.
And to reduce the overall size.
Doing this the building would be 16" deep and somewhere between 36 and 48" long.

Thoughts, suggestions, concerns greatly appreciated.
-Marty

[mad gerald]

Marty,

I would like to start on the walls and flooring for my machine shop.
I need to get going as the walls will take a couple thousand bricks..

... as a new "follower" of the 1/16 scale stuff I'd follow your building report with interest ...

I am using the Railtown/Sierra Valley shop as major inspiration.
I have the Western Scale book on the subject.

... but I guess we continental natives are hardly familiar with the prototype ... ... would you mind to give us some impression (pic/link) of your prototype?

From what i have gathered and seen it looks like concrete.
Would you guys agree?

... if this I found matches your prototype, I'd assume the floor is of (or at least covered with) wooden planks ...? But in case it is concrete, I'd opt for expansion joints ...

Thoughts, suggestions, concerns greatly appreciated.

Cheers

[Design-HSB]

Hello Marty

In many machine shops wooden pavement was moved.

The wooden blocks are the interface with the fibers still shows up.

[shropshire lad]

I would like to start on the walls and flooring for my machine shop.
I need to get going as the walls will take a couple thousand bricks..

Floor;

I am using the Railtown/Sierra Valley shop as major inspiration.
I have the Western Scale book on the subject.

From what i have gathered and seen it looks like concrete.
Would you guys agree?
If so i will add the wooden grids around the machines as well.

Would there be expansion joints in a floor of this size?
Or would it be one big slab?
Expansion joints would be nice so I could do the floor in sections.
Not planning on actual concrete, I was going to use MDF painted to look like concrete.

Walls;
The walls I have planned are brick up to the window sills (4 scale feet high).
Post & Beam (like SVRR) covered with corrugated (using Unc's artwork & paper).
The bricks would "wrap" the 8" square posts set on 8 foot centers.
Flemish bond for the bricks.

The plan is to only do the "back half" of the shop so the machines are more visible.
And to reduce the overall size.
Doing this the building would be 16" deep and somewhere between 36 and 48" long.

Thoughts, suggestions, concerns greatly appreciated.
-Marty

  Right then , Young Marty , it looks as if you need taking in hand and guided to the right way of doing things .

Firstly , you spend weeks and months of your life creating miniature masterpieces and you then say you are going to put them on a diorama where you use painted MDF to represent concrete . What are you thinking of , fer fex sake ? Are you trying to tell us that you can make MDF look like concrete ,IN 1/16TH SCALE , just by slapping a bit of paint on it . Well , if you can , you take the crown of " World's Greatest Modeller " away from Marc !

  There have been various discussions on this Forum on how to represent concrete in scales much smaller than the one you are working in so there really is no excuse . In addition Mic Greenberg produced a Tip Sheet devoted to making concrete in O scale so if you don't have it let me know and I'll sort you out .

  Secondly , large areas of concrete  are usually divided up into bays with expansion joints between them . I would guess that the bays would be about ten to twelve feet wide so that the concrete can be easily tamped . They wouldn't want to be much more than twenty feet in length . This is by no means a definitive answer but sort of guesswork on my part .

   If you did see the light and not paint bits of MDF to represent concrete you could cast all the bays on your workbench and glue them down on the diorama with stripwood between them to represent the expansion joints .

Your brickworks ideas sound fine so let me know when you get to the arch stage and we'll talk further .


  Nick

Painted MDF ? Pah , so much to learn , so little time .

[finescalerr]

Nick, have you ever considered producing a comedy show ... written by and starring yourself? -- Russ

[SandiaPaul]

Marty,

That is going to be one BIG model!

Floors could be wood or concrete. Even masonry buildings could have wood floors though, many did.

Here are some shots my wife took at Edison's labs in East Orange, NJ. Start with this one and then go one from there.  This is one very well preserved shop and does a good job of looking very original. In fact not much has been done to it. This is a masonry building(with nice arched windows) with wood floors.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vilseskogen/7750171184/in/set-72157611971332245/

The antique forum on the Practical Machinist forum also has a lot of good old pics, though you have to hunt around a lot.
I'm sure you know the Denver Library photo collection, lots of good stuff there too. Search terms like lathe, milling machine and of course machine shop bring up lots of good stuff.

Keep us posted!

Paul

[lab-dad]

Thanks guys!
So nice to have intelligent and interested people to bounce ideas off of!

I have received lots (of good) input from my questions!
I hope I have not set my self up for letting you all down!
After reading all the answers i have received I think I will go with wood over concrete.
I think it will be the most pleasing and accurate.

As far as making the concrete out of concrete all I can say is why?
I would think the concrete or plaster would be quite heavy and fragile.
Since 90% of the floor will be covered by wood I really dont see a reason.
Remember we are talking about a lot of square feet - not some dinky 1:48 building!

I made 72 bricks last night so I am at the least on my way!...........

Marty

[Gordon Ferguson]

Can't wait to see you move the finished module around

I did ask Diorama Debris if they would make a 1/16 brick mould in a decent bond pattern, maybe if you send a request in as well it will happen ........ Would speed up your wall production no end !

If Stuart aka Barney makes the same request maybe three of us will equal one request from Nick .... He appears to have Louise of DD eating out of his hand, what he asks for he gets

[SandiaPaul]

Marty,

MDF was mentioned...if you go with that for some structure in this large model note that they make a "lightweight" version of it.  Only a good lumberyard type place would stock it though.

It is as strong and about 1/2(I think) the weight, I usually use it over the back killing regular stuff.

Best,

Paul

[Barney]

LEGO blocks
Anonymous

[SandiaPaul]

I can't help myself!

More good reference images here:

http://quincysmelter.wordpress.com/category/machines-of-the-smelter/

Truth be told, I have been thinking about a project like this for....20 years or more, so its exciting to me to someone actually DOING it and not thinking it.

Paul

[shropshire lad]

He appears to have Louise of DD eating out of his hand, what he asks for he gets

  Not everything .

[k27rgs]

regards to all.     Mario ( Australia )


    http://www.modvid.com.au/html/body_railtown__2005.html

[lab-dad]

Here is the best answer I have received;

If this were a shop long ago before the local Ready-Mix batch plant then pads were poured only as required. Cement was heavy and expensive to transport (look at how little could be loaded in boxcars for the Hetch Hetchy Project etc). Dirt floor was, and still is cheap and fire-resistant, and only needed to be graded. Homes used to sit on the dirt (mud-sills), then of recent  pier, perimeter and slab foundations. Why concrete pad under machines? A lathe for example you would shim under the legs/corners to precisely level the ways at the headstock and tailstock to ensure no twist to the ways, otherwise you would turn tapers. Similar alignment requirement for other machines. So not so much level as an end but as a means to precisely align machine functions. So now you know the bone-headed move would be to have a machine straddle expansion joints in a floor. Another perspective for individual pads under each machine: if all machines are on a single slab you transmit vibrations from one machine to another and it shows up in poor surface finish quality.

Really simplified, but hope this helps,

Mike Musal


So.............
The plan now is to use the MDF as the base (dirt floor).
Then pour concrete (plaster) in place for the machines.
Then lay the rails and wood planking which will hide the MDF
The wood will but up to the machine slabs for a nice level floor.

Now back to making bricks and machines!
Pictures eventually.

-Mj