Start again? Baseboards need sturdy legs

Hi All.   With my main layout? Consisting of Four individual boards, clamped together, thinking "Big with Grandiose Plans" I thought that it could be portable( rather than screwing to the wall ) well connected "Electrically"baseboard to baseboard, the American way, and with Dowels at the ends . Using Clamps underneath the Baseboard . But, the legs were very Wobbly, after spending a lot of time and money fitting folding leg brackets ( from a famous factory) send PM for details?
Every time I went near it, everything shuddered so back to square one,
so I set about cutting up a length of 2 x 2 and 2 x 1 to make slot in supports, I offered up the leg, with a block clamped in the corner, perfect, screwed the block in place( glue is too permanent ) and left it while I walked to the Allotment, but to my surprise, when I returned, the leg will not go in without a lot of effort. Do I trim the leg to fit or start again, if I make it too loose it will wobble and require a bolt and nut and washer:???:
     all the best. Kevin

No idea Kevin, my woodwork is all (not very good, won't pass his 'o' level) schoolboy standard.

Is this any help ?

http://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/Layout%20building.html

(Scroll down to Legs)



Ed

Hi Ed. thank you for your reply, I will peruse that all the best. Kevin

I just built some boards Kevin:

http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=14385&forum_id=5

For locating the ends, I recommend the C&L steel dowels as I discuss.

For construction, I go with plywood, again this is discussed.

I refuse to use a circular saw - they frighten me to death.  My only concession is to use a jigsaw. 

John

Hi John.  Thank you for your reply. I sorted out the Dowels originally,
Thank you, But I went wrong with the legs, which made the baseboards unsteady, and when I adopted the slot in idea, it was great before I went out and it only became a problem later. all the best. Kevin

Hi Kevin
I also did not want to screw to the wall - my walls are brick. We opted for some hammer together shelving from the local hardware store. No screwing or gluing and a good uniform height. According to the manufacturer each shelf holds 300kg but that was not really required in n gauge.
By spacing them around under the baseboards we also gained a lot of storage for boxes of "important stuff" that should not be thrown out plus paint tins, tools etc.
Andrew

Hi Andrew.  Thank you for your reply. That does seem to be a very good idea. But as my baseboards were already made, although unsteady, I have followed " Ed's" suggestion , and looked at Brian Lamberts ideas, and he does seem to be a clever chap. As for your idea with Storage, that would be very bad for me "More space to fill = More Rubbish" and I am trying very hard to get rid of a Mountain of rubbish already.
       all the best. Kevin

Hi Kevin,

So you have cut wood, exposed new surfaces, clamped to fit, and of course it swells up. Come the winter it will probably shrink. Did you buy cheap soft wood or the much more expensive kiln-dried stuff? Welcome to the club.

It needs to be a sliding friction fit (the ends need to be angled very slightly, around 1/32", narrow at the top, use thin wood shims if necessary to lock in place). Some #80/#150 paper is all you need to make the taper. You will also need leveling bolts/feet on the bottoms of the legs unless you have a perfectly level floor.

Nigel

Hi Nigel             Thank you for your reply, you know the "drill". The folding arrangement seemed perfect? but it was unsteady.As cheap as the "Lumber/ Timber" was, I have recycled it, I stripped the legs of fittings, and I have now inverted them and fitted blocks at the corners, which I should have done in the first instant. next step refit the castors and get on with the second baseboard ad infinitum.                                             all the best  Kevin