# Help me choose the best material for a toggle switch control panel



## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

I'm about ready to build a switch panel for the toggles that will control my turnouts.

Other than 1/8" Luan, what are some good materials? Perhaps Masonite? I'm ruling out anything metal since that would lend itself to electrical shorts.

I'm wanting to mod podge a printout of my layout onto a flat thin surface, and insert the toggles wherever the turnouts are. So I'm looking for stiff, thin product that will be a good choice. I know I could do 1/8" Luan. But, I'm wondering if something like Masonite might be a better choice, as it seems to be very rigid.

I have my layout printed on a 11"x14" sheet of paper. So I need the piece of Luan/Masonite/what-have-you to be a little larger than that. I plan to trim it out nicely.

I need to drill 1/4" holes for the toggles. And I also want to cut out a rectangle to mount the NCE power module flush with the surface. And, I want to mount (probably glue) terminal strips on the back side to facilitate wiring.

1) Would Masonite be a good choice? Worried about mounting the toggles onto it (and having it be sturdy) since it's basically a form of press board. Also worried about it being a good substrate for mod podge to stick to it. Or should I just plan to use a nice piece of cabinet grade 1/8" plywood?


----------



## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

I should have added that the layout is in my basement which is very dry. We run 3 dehumidifiers down there. I'm not too worried about the wood expanding and contracting due to changes in humidity. My wife has about half the basement as her crafting area. I have some space on the other end. It's clean, dry and well lit.


----------



## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

I used a dark fiber board that I had around the house. 
I don't think it was even 1/4" thick.
Not sure if it was Masonite or some other brand. In fact,
I made three separate turnout control panels, each handling
the chores of a specific area. The material was stable and can be drilled
and painted easily. 

Don


----------



## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

I have a piece of something that resembles Masonite that my wife has had in her stash for years. It has chalkboard paint on one side. The other is unfinished. It's even the right size. I suppose if paint stuck to the one side, that mod podge would work on the other.


----------



## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

Plexiglas is always an option. It takes paint very well and doesn't need to be sanded or sealed to hide wood grain.


----------



## J.Albert1949 (Feb 3, 2018)

I was thinking of 1/4" birch plywood. This is usually nicely-finished, and thick enough to be solid, yet not "too thick".
You might be able to find smaller pieces at a Lowe's or Home Depot.

Unless it's going to be a small track plan, you might consider a little larger than 11x14". Not that much larger, just a little...


----------



## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

I used ¼” Masonite in the mid 80s. Leftover pieces from a kitchen redo. Worked well. I laid out the track with pin stripe tape. I’m currently using ¼” veneer oak leftover pieces. Mine are crude compared to what you are doing, but I thought I would pipe in anyway.


----------



## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

J.Albert1949 said:


> I was thinking of 1/4" birch plywood. This is usually nicely-finished, and thick enough to be solid, yet not "too thick".
> You might be able to find smaller pieces at a Lowe's or Home Depot.
> 
> Unless it's going to be a small track plan, you might consider a little larger than 11x14". Not that much larger, just a little...


I may go larger, but I want this to look nice, so... ideally, it will be on one piece of paper, and the largest piece of paper I can print on is 11x14. I know I can go larger if I go to a Staples, or somewhere like that that has a plotter. Maybe a sign shop? Trying to make something that looks nice without hiring a professional to do it, LOL!


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I have a bunch of Lexan, so that's what I'll be using for any significant sized panel. For small panels with a couple of switches on them, I've been using 1/16" fiberglass sheet.


----------



## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

I don't want clear, but had never though of painting plexiglass or lexan.

I'm a week or so away from starting to build it, so plenty of time to come to a decision.


----------



## Severn (May 13, 2016)

Well I don't really know. But I'll suggest another step -- mock it up with cardboard first. To what degree is up to you ...


----------



## Mixed Freight (Aug 31, 2019)

Here's a simple little panel on my O-gauge layout.............................










It's a piece of 1/8" masonite, 6" x 12". Painted a light beige with spray paint. After drying, cut thin strips of masking tape, then taped off my track plan. Painted again with a hunter green spray paint. When dry, peeled off the tape, then drilled holes for the DPDTCO electrical switches, allowing for two throttle block control.

This is but one of many simple ways to make a panel. Let there be no doubt about it, I like simple. It doesn't hurt near as much when I'm trying to think.


----------



## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

Mixed Freight said:


> Here's a simple little panel on my O-gauge layout.............................
> 
> View attachment 571226
> 
> ...


That is exactly the concept I'm going for except I want to use a printout of my track plan from AnyRail pasted to the top. Then drill holes for the toggles in all the right spots.

Thanks for posting that!


----------



## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

Hardware stores sell really nice plastic signs for advertising your garage sale, use them, may be able to find "Used" ones. Make your track pattern using strip styrene 0.060 x 0.250". Spray the whole thing with a nice black then paint the top of the styrene strips using paint pens (or what ever). Nice looking 3d panel.


----------



## Dennis461 (Jan 5, 2018)

An aluminum road sign is best. Careful design will prevent shorts.


----------



## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

I think an Al sign would be a big pain, to easy to short something out


----------



## kilowatt62 (Aug 18, 2019)

Since you want to paste a paper printout onto the surface, I say plexiglass as thin as you can find it. Clean holes easy to achieve for small toggles too. Not so much so with wood or even masonite. 
Keep in mind though that, plexi is still expensive right now due to the pandemic. Might want to do a temporary mach up or two with wood scraps till things get to where your satisfied with design. Then transfer the final liking to plexi when find a fair price. 

Scott


----------



## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Thin cabinet grade plywood, hardboard, masonite, even thin MDF....they would all do the trick. Some might be better painted, like the MDF....your choice. You could seal the MDF, even apply a thin gloss coat with gloss medium if you want a smooth surface on which to bond a template or a decal.


----------



## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

I'm going to try the piece of hardboard that my wife had in her stash. It's the perfect size. One side is already painted with chalkboard paint, and is really smooth. Just need to figure out what color I want the board. I also need to get a better printout of my layout. Right now, the track is a bit hard to see. But Anyrail allows you to add a roadbed, which makes the whole track area a bit wider and bolder.

I'll take some pics of the build process when I get to it. Next step is to determine how to trim it out.


----------



## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

I've found that when drilling holes in Lexan or plexiglass or plastic signs the using a small drill size that's just big enough to get my hand tapered ream in, makes fro real nice round holes no breakage!. With plastic you don't want to spend a lot of time trying to drill big holes as they will gum ups and distort in elongated holes that fit nothing.


----------



## DonW (Mar 25, 2012)

They do make specializes drill bits which make huge difference when drilling plastics.


----------



## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

What type of bit would be best to make a clean hole in Masonite to insert a toggle switch?


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Lexan is much easier to drill than plexiglass, plexi is very prone to cracking.


----------



## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

Good to know!

I'm getting ready to give my piece of hardboard a light sanding. I'll post pics when I'm done here in about 15-20 minutes.

Edit:
Here is a picture of the scrap piece of hardboard with an 11"x14" piece of paper with my layout printed on it

The side you see is finished In chalkboard paint. The other side is unfinished, but very smooth. I'm going to paint the other side and use it for the top. I'll leave the back side as is, which will make it easy to label all the turnouts so I can connect the right wires to the right turnout. I'll probably go to a Staples and have the layout printed on a larger sheet o f paper.

I am contemplating how to trim it. I'm thinking about getting pre-made pieces of drawer sides that have the channel already cut into them. Rip them down to about a 2-3" width. That would make a pretty stiff console.


----------



## scenicsRme (Aug 19, 2020)

First, for those following along: There are two types of "masonite" (brand name for tempered hardboard) Tempered and Untempered. The tempered has been impregnated with a sealer and hot pressed to cure. It is significantly stiffer and moisture resistant. Is is distinguished by it's darker chocolate color and often has a textured back. Untempered hardboard is softer. more flexible, can be wet bent, and is much cheaper. It usually has a tan color and smooth on both sides. You can also get melamine coated board which has a smooth white surface from a plastic coating that has been applied and is sometimes referred to as "white board" when used with special wipe off markers to make drawing boards , temporary signs and note boards. The melamine coating is waterproof so anyy residual marker residue can be washed off as well. All can be painted and easily cut with hand or power saws, drills, etc.
A simple clean finish for the edge is 1/2"x1/2" wood L molding, sectional metal picture frames from Michaels or an art supply, or the slip over thin plastic trim from your favorite DIY store where you bought the panel.
The best bit to use for drilling round holes in thin materials is a self starting step bit. Looks a "bit" sorry for the pun like a stepped metal xmas tree with a pie cut out of it. A little pricey at first ~ 20.00+ for a quality one, but it takes the place of a whole box of larger sized drills. Each step is one size larger hole. They come in a couple different hole size ranges and number of steps. Irwin makes some of the best, but cheaper ones from ebay, China or Harbor Freight work OK on wood and plastic. Easiest to use in a drill press, but can be sucessfully used in a hand drill. just use a ned speed and don't push hard so you can stop and check size on each step. if you push hard on soft material, run at a high speed you may suddenly end up with the largest size hole the bit can make, want it that size or not. Step bits are about the only way to get a round hole in thin sheet metal without catching or tearing out a ragged hole. A backer block also helps.


JeffHurl said:


> Good to know!
> 
> I'm getting ready to give my piece of hardboard a light sanding. I'll post pics when I'm done here in about 15-20 minutes.
> 
> ...


Interesting track plan. 2 separate loops? Why did you choose to not connect them? If that's the case for the control panel I would separate it into 2 individual track plans for clarity and so 2 operators can each control their loop. A track plan on a control panel is usually just a simplified compressed diagram of the route, not a scale model, that wastes a lot of space on the board.


----------



## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

Thanks for the education of hard boards!

Regarding the track plans, the blue inner loops are elevated, and will be up in the mountains with a double bridge connecting the 2 sides.

I was originally going to connect the 2 different levels with a couple grades, but decided against it.

By the way... I bought a 12V 5 amp wall wart to power the CDU for my turnout switches (
PL10s), but it lacked sufficient power. Worked fine when I used the constant 12V DC outputs from my old DC transformer though.


----------



## Steven Johnson (Feb 23, 2021)

JeffHurl said:


> I'm about ready to build a switch panel for the toggles that will control my turnouts.
> 
> Other than 1/8" Luan, what are some good materials? Perhaps Masonite? I'm ruling out anything metal since that would lend itself to electrical shorts.
> 
> ...


You don't indicate the size of your layout or the number of toggles you intend to put on the panel. The size of a piece of copy paper sounds very small unless your layout is small and the number of toggles is low. Make the panel large enough to accommodate all the toggles comfortably. Don't worry about the schematic being a perfect sized copy of your layout. Close enough will do. You can use tape for the schematic but I have used Masonite and painted it all one color. Then I taped off the schematic of my layout and painted a new color over the tape and then peeled off the tape. Then you can drill your holes for the toggles in all the right places.

You will find that a small frame will be necessary for the panel to make it rigid. I mounted a subframe to the edge of the layout. I them attached the control panel, with its frame, to the subframe with a piano hinge so it would open out toward me. It made it easier to do the drilling and wiring rather than sitting under the layout all the time.


----------



## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

When I was drilling a lot of Plexi-glass more than a decade ago, I always made certain the work piece was clamped securely to the work surface using a piece of wood on top and underneath the material. Clamp as close the the area to be drilled with moderate pressure. Make absolutely certain in cannot move, but do not over-tighten the clamps.

Drill using a plastic purpose bit on slow speed with light pressure. If the material is melting you're either drilling too fast or using too much pressure. Drill a bit and back off to clear the flutes. Repeat as neccessary.

The most critical time is just before and during break-through. This is when it is most apt to crack if a flute catches the side of the work piece. Use moderate speed and very light pressure. Do not allow the bit to pull itself through the work. 

This is best done in a drill press, but I drilled tens of holes by hand before finally buying a drill press. It made a big difference.


----------



## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

I didn't use any plexiglass or lexan... Just self stick clear shelf liner. The switchboard is coming along nicely. I have all but 2 of my turnouts operating remotely with the toggles installed. 2 switches are dead... Not sure if the PL10 itself is toast, or if the wiring lost continuity.

I'll figure it out tomorrow. I ended printing my layout on poster size paper (16"x20") at Office Depot. Then used spray adhesive to lay the paper onto the board. Then topped it off on top with the clear shelf liner.

Edit to add:. Man, wiring takes a lot of time.


----------



## JeffHurl (Apr 22, 2021)

I think it came out nice. Space on the right to set the handheld controller.


----------



## kilowatt62 (Aug 18, 2019)

Jeff, 
That panel looks darn good to me man. So much so that, I may borrow an idea or two for my own panel in the future. (New build start somewhere in mid 2022). 
Foam board work is starting to take shape too. I’ll be following to see how it all works out. 
“Good on ya mate.” 🤙

Scott


----------

