Interesting idea. A sawzall with a long dull blade could do the same thing. I would be afraid of a newer blade grabbing the wood. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I bet a serrated knife will likely do just fine. A fairly thin, flexible one would be best. That reminds me... we need a new electric knife, but I probably ought to save the blades for just such a use. Held in a pair of vise-grips, no doubt! A sawzall would be like bringing an artillery piece to a knife fight! Collateral damage could be significant.
You only live once! And those risers would only live once too. Hahaha. In my tool chest is an oscillating saw. That has worked well for rough shaping, but it tests the glues strength at times. Most people don’t have one of them though. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My oscillating saw is kept in a tin box that is two feet long. That thing would a bit much even for an O gauge setup. I used it to cut openings in the side of houses to add on a room.
I use a stiff back saw and / or a short wood saw for 'ripping' foam. For smaller pieces I use a long bladed box knife.
@Grey One - Funny, I was thinking about using my stiff back saw or one of my wood saws. Just haven't gotten around to it yet.
I think there is some confusion in terminology for power saws. A reciprocating saw (e.g. Sawzall) is a heavy duty power saw for demolition and construction. They make quick work of roofing, sheathing and framing cuts. Not as accurate or smooth cutting as a circular saw, but with a long enough blade can cut all the way through drywall, studs, wiring, plumbing, and exterior sheathing in one go. Their use in model railroading would be limited to very coarse work and/or demolition. An oscillating saw (or multi-tool) is a much smaller, slower, lower-powered (often cordless) tool that can be used for finer cuts, both flush and plunge, as well as sanding and scraping, with different attachments/blades. They are capable of much finer cuts than a reciprocating saw, and can be useful on model railroads.
@Doorgunnerjgs Great! You found a 'round-to-it'. ☻ Glad I could help. FWIW: My layout is in the living room and I don't have a workshop so my construction area is the living room itself and an adjoining hallway. My only power tool is my drill / screwdriver.
I have one from the union. But it's much simpler. A stainless steel plug the size of a silver dollar with O2IT stamped on both sides. For finally getting a job done and right.
Latest view. A lot of cleanup to do and then transfer plan to table with whatever modification will be necessary.
Actually working on this again after a four month hiatus. Doesn't look like much but have finished getting rid of all risers that I anticipate needed taking out. Board is cleaned and remaining riser material will only be removed where it might interfere with new riser application. Next step is transferring plan to table top.
Eons from now, archeologists will discover the remains of the ancient model railroad buried underneath your model railroad, and hypothesize about the causes of the death of the earlier model railroad... Climate change, societal upheaval, alien attack, meteorite impact, who knows? Or maybe they'll recall that some artists simply reused their old canvases for new paintings, just to save money...
Decided to join risers together to form longer "snakes" so as to make smoother transitions and curves. First set was two 2' sections, and then joining two of them into 8' sections. Will glue both of them to the board and then fit the final section. I used crossed pins to hold the sections while glue dried.
Ready for gluing, got the lines drawn for the oval section, once the two end sections are glued down, will measure the inset portion and cut and glue the remaining section. Got the Woodland Scenics foam trackbed today from Amazon, so ready to proceed with all my usual haste (lol).