# Diagram for cutting turnout cork



## HardcoreABN (Jan 6, 2013)

I have spent about an hour working on making my own cork for turnouts, only to stop in frustration. I know they sell them pre-cut, but for the price of them I don't think so. Anyone have a diagram for making it?


----------



## txdyna65 (Aug 17, 2012)

I bought a sheet of cork in the same size, then traced my turnouts on it and added the width along it then cut it out. After I cut them out I used a rough file/rasp and sloped the edges like the regular cork has. Will try to get a pic if you are interested, it worked out real well for me.


----------



## HardcoreABN (Jan 6, 2013)

sure, would love to take a look at it


----------



## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

I am also cutting some cork today. Just cutting in 35mm wide strips and at various lengths from 900 - 1200mm.

Not sure what I'll do when I get to turnouts... For best use of resources, maybe I'll just cut one of the straight lengths at an angle and just shim it up or something. it will be ballasted in the end so doesnt matter if it looks like balls as long as its functional.

Edit. 
My cork sheet is 3mm thick. so theres not really enough thickness to put a good bevel on the edge.
The 35mm width is only slightly wider than the track ties/sleepers, so additional ballast will be required for the right effect.

Sorry for the metric, you'll work it out though


----------



## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

This what I was doing today, did a couple of turnouts like this.


----------



## txdyna65 (Aug 17, 2012)

Here are pics of how I did it. In pic 1 shows the turnout on a sheet of cork. Pic 2 shows where I traced the turnout, I then moved it over 1/4 inch and retraced it, leaving the other side straight, Im not worried about the black marks, ballast will eventually cover that. In pic 3 I have cut it out and then used the rasp in the picture to bevel the edges into a slope. When it was warm and I could work outside I used a dremel with a sanding wheel to do the same thing, but its cold and I was indoors and used the rasp/file to do the same thing. The dremel is faster, but very messy. Im sure there are many ways to do this, this is just how I did it and it worked out very well. I did 19 of these for my layout. Hope this helps.


----------



## NumberOne (Sep 19, 2012)

Don't have pics, but this is how I'd do it. Put a layer of paper underneath the cork, and pin the cork down. Follow the track as you go to the first turnout, following the outside edges and leaving the inside edges open for now. Then remove the track and use a marker to mark the paper with the new edge of the inside cork. The paper can then be used to guide cutting the inside edge of the other edges, so that way you are only cutting the cork at a right angle and you are preserving the existing beveled edge. Plus, the hand-cut tapered pieces are "hidden" underneath the track centerline and are more easily covered up by ballasting.

-Mark


----------

