Sunday January 23, 2022

Jim Donovan · January 23, 2022, 07:53:21 AM

Start of another week. I had plans to go to Massachusetts for the show this week but COVID, airline unpredictability, and bad weather make a lousy combination. Things sure look screwed up this year. That said life is still good and back to the modeling bench.

Hope everyone has a great week.

Jim D

MAP · January 23, 2022, 09:08:19 AM

Good morning! A cool start to the day here. Nothing a cup of coffee can't fix. I'll be heading to the show since it's about an hour drive away. I'll be masked up to be on the safe side. Not that I need anything, but it'll be good to hit a show.

S&S RR · January 23, 2022, 09:24:33 AM

Good morning, again. I'm heading into the train room. I hope everyone has a great day. From the F&SM:

ReadingBob · January 23, 2022, 09:52:37 AM

Good Morning all!

Think I'll sit at the workbench and watch some football today.

Have a great one!

PRR Modeler · January 23, 2022, 10:06:09 AM

Good Morning All,

Been working on pet chores already. Some train room time today.

I hope everyone has a good day.

GPdemayo · January 23, 2022, 10:07:58 AM

Present

MartyO · January 23, 2022, 10:17:33 AM

Morning

Sigh! More snow.

Zephyrus52246 · January 23, 2022, 10:55:43 AM

Morning, all.

Jeff

Raymo · January 23, 2022, 11:40:14 AM

Morning. Cleaning up projects on the bench between loads of laundry this morning so I can concentrate on my challenge build. I'm headed to Springfield too, but I'm thinking it's going to be alot smaller than previous years.

jerryrbeach · January 23, 2022, 12:12:46 PM

Good afternoon.

Late check in as I made a trip to Lowe's this morning to pick up some supplies for my layout. I was appalled at the complete garbage on hand in the rack of 1x4 pine boards. IMO they were so bad they were unusable. I ended up buying some 1x3 lumber instead and finding four decent eight foot boards took some serious work digging through the rack. I had wanted to get one ten foot long board but that was impossible. I'll have more waste this way, but it is what it is. A shoutout to my friend Jim (whiskeyriver) who provided the gift card to pay for the lumber, wire, caulk, etc., that I bought.

I hope to lay track on one industrial spur before watching some football later this afternoon. Everyone have a safe and productive day!

S&S RR · January 23, 2022, 12:34:39 PM

Quote from: jerryrbeach on January 23, 2022, 12:12:46 PM
Good afternoon.

Late check in as I made a trip to Lowe's this morning to pick up some supplies for my layout. I was appalled at the complete garbage on hand in the rack of 1x4 pine boards. IMO they were so bad they were unusable. I ended up buying some 1x3 lumber instead and finding four decent eight foot boards took some serious work digging through the rack. I had wanted to get one ten foot long board but that was impossible. I'll have more waste this way, but it is what it is. A shoutout to my friend Jim (whiskeyriver) who provided the gift card to pay for the lumber, wire, caulk, etc., that I bought.

I hope to lay track on one industrial spur before watching some football later this afternoon. Everyone have a safe and productive day!

Jerry

I had the same experience when I went to the lumber stores around here, this week. I actually went to three of them that are within 4 miles of my house and came back with nothing. The quality was as you described and the price was three times what it was 2 years ago when I build the addition to my layout. I was look for 1x2, 1x3, and 1x4 pine to trim out the next big area on my layout. My solution was to rip a 2x10 on my table saw that I had in the garage. It was left over from my siding job on the cabin 9 years ago. It took me a half hour to get the lumber I needed and zero out of pocket. I inventoried my lumber stash and I will be doing a lot more of this until things get back to normal.

deemery · January 23, 2022, 01:45:24 PM

Apparently, plywood prices have come back down. I'm getting one more set of built-in bookcases for the attic library. The price for 3/4 oak is about what it was a couple of years ago. 1/4 was still more expensive, but not 3x, like it was last year.

Maybe the right answer is to make your own 1x4 from plywood :-( More work, but stronger result.

dave

jerryrbeach · January 23, 2022, 01:56:05 PM

Quote from: S&S RR on January 23, 2022, 12:34:39 PM
Quote from: jerryrbeach on January 23, 2022, 12:12:46 PM
Good afternoon.

Late check in as I made a trip to Lowe's this morning to pick up some supplies for my layout. I was appalled at the complete garbage on hand in the rack of 1x4 pine boards. IMO they were so bad they were unusable. I ended up buying some 1x3 lumber instead and finding four decent eight foot boards took some serious work digging through the rack. I had wanted to get one ten foot long board but that was impossible. I'll have more waste this way, but it is what it is. A shoutout to my friend Jim (whiskeyriver) who provided the gift card to pay for the lumber, wire, caulk, etc., that I bought.

I hope to lay track on one industrial spur before watching some football later this afternoon. Everyone have a safe and productive day!

Jerry

I had the same experience when I went to the lumber stores around here, this week. I actually went to three of them that are within 4 miles of my house and came back with nothing. The quality was as you described and the price was three times what it was 2 years ago when I build the addition to my layout. I was look for 1x2, 1x3, and 1x4 pine to trim out the next big area on my layout. My solution was to rip a 2x10 on my table saw that I had in the garage. It was left over from my siding job on the cabin 9 years ago. It took me a half hour to get the lumber I needed and zero out of pocket. I inventoried my lumber stash and I will be doing a lot more of this until things get back to normal.

John,

I started the layout with 1x4 lumber and by buying 16' boards I found some pretty decent quality. I used my battery powered circ saw to cut them slightly overlength in the parking lot. Once I got home I cut them to the exact length with my miter saw. When I went back a year later not only had the price increased but the quality declined. I bought a sheet of 3/4" plywood and ripped that to match the width of the 1x4's I had used when I started. Right now I am adding some narrow shelves to the edges of the layout in a few places, so the 1x3's are sufficiently strong. The eight footers I bought were $5.52 each, something I didn't find excessive given where prices were a year ago. I often count my blessings that I didn't have to buy any lumber when prices were peaking (and then some).

jerryrbeach · January 23, 2022, 02:04:13 PM

Quote from: deemery on January 23, 2022, 01:45:24 PM
Apparently, plywood prices have come back down. I'm getting one more set of built-in bookcases for the attic library. The price for 3/4 oak is about what it was a couple of years ago. 1/4 was still more expensive, but not 3x, like it was last year.

Maybe the right answer is to make your own 1x4 from plywood :-( More work, but stronger result.

dave

Dave,

My local Lowe's is getting $62 for a sheet of 3/4" plywood sheathing. IIRC, I paid around $40 when I bought and ripped a sheet to add more benchwork to my layout two years ago. IMO even at $62, if you have the ability to rip this into the size boards you need, it is far less expensive than buying dimensional lumber. Not to mention, the quality is far superior. I only needed a few pieces to add some narrow shelves to my existing benchwork so buying a sheet of plywood would have been massive overkill. Hence, buying the 1x3's today.