[Ade]

Hi
Have been thinking about a routed track for a while now and as the current setup is now starting to become a little boring now seems a good time to start.

The table size I have to play with is 12ftx6ft and it will all be done on a single level,the only thing decided so far as regards to track design is that the pit area will have to be along the back straight and it must be long as I wish to have plenty of garage space.

The cars will only be scalextric and running mag free is a added bonus of going copper tape route as with them throttle control is none existent,so need to find a suitable paint for the tyres to have some sort of grip as they will be kept standard.

The track will be digital and it is my intention to sink the digital track sections into the mdf,including the pb..

I have had a quick look for layouts based on my available track size and drew a blank,so if anyone knows of any on here a link to some pics would be great.

 

[loosesalute]

Good luck with the build Ade...I`m sure it`ll turn out great!
Cheers.
Kev.

 

[Flange]

Mb slot will be bringing out a ready to fit together bits range thats made from wood soon I think .

 

[Ade]

hi
couple of quick question for all you experienced track routers out there,Does the diameter of the cutter need to be 3mm and what is a good make of self adhesive copper tape to use,i willl be powering the digital flippers by of board psu method.

 

[staglinger]

Hi Ade
Hope with your skills your be doing it all freehand I hope .
I have been thinking down those lines too,
only so to make look and feel more real.
Why all on one level then?
regards ade

 

[300SLR]

The router needs to be guided to cut the slot.
The most highly skilled track builders use a guided router and its even more important for the less skilled.
Trying to route slots freehand at best produces an inferior track.

 

[aerodynamic]

3mm is the right size (i.e. 1/8") or near enough. Freehanded routing is almost impossible as the router develops a will of its own, but there are several ways of guiding it so that you can have a completely free-form layout. There are kits available to help with this (I think they're made in the US), but you can probably source the necessary components over here.

 

[Chicanery]

QUOTE (bigbird @ 30 Aug 2011, 21:09) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>hi
couple of quick question for all you experienced track routers out there,Does the diameter of the cutter need to be 3mm and what is a good make of self adhesive copper tape to use,i willl be powering the digital flippers by of board psu method.

I'm currently making my [first] wooden circuit - I'm using a 1100w router (from Argos, but it seems ok!) with a 3.2mm router bit (£9 from B&Q).
Lowest power setting and ease it gently along - seems to work.
It's not finished routing yet, but so far my 'test car', when pushed gently with 'finger power', doesn't seem to have any problems with the width.
I'm sure you are aware, but MDF dust is not healthy, so get a good extract system for the dust and wear a mouth mask/filter.

As for copper tape, when I copper taped my plastitrack, I used 3/16 Venture tape from:
http://www.trinitystainedglass.co.uk/copper-foil.asp

Used the track regularly for 2 years and never had a problem with it, tape wise. One or two joins were problematic (elvation changes giving stress tears), but applying a couple of extra strips over the join cured it.
Tape is supplied in rolls of 100yds
For this track, I've ordered 7/32.

It's not carbon backed (conductive) so with any overlays (i.e. breakages) when laying on my plastitrack, I made small cuts in the tape along the join and burnished well.

N.B. Trinity Glass will not accept a credit card mail order; cheque only so allow for the delay this will cause.

Hope this helps.

... and yes, routing freehand is really not a good idea unless you want your straights and curvy bits to have wobbles in them.

If anyone can suggest a good paint to use, I'd be all ears.

 

[Ade]

hi
thanks for the info chaps,Off to B&Q for the router bits tomorrow,as already mentioned this will be for scaley cars with standard tyres so wich is a paint that will offer good grip,is it going to be standard matt emulsion or one of the sandtex ones.

not looking for mega grip levels,throttle control round the corners is what i would prefer.

 

[Chicanery]

Just spotted a bit of mis-information in my earlier post about the Cu tape.

The Venture tape from Trinity is supplied in rolls of 36yds, not 100yds as I said.
Derrr.

If you're still after some advice on track painting, I've asked a similar question here:
http://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=57616

Cheers
Alan

 

[Ade]

hi
spent some time this weekend taking the old scaley layout up and boxing up the parts that are going to be re used and selling ones that are not..

Will be getting cutters tomorrow and placing order for the mdf sheets wich will need to be 12mm.I will also be joining the boards together with 4mm birch ply tounge..

The router fences i will be making myself along with a few new router bases..

The empty table (see pic) is 12 ft x 6 ft and i will be taking about 18 inches off the end near the window as this has always proved troublesome as regards reaching that section of layout...

 

[staglinger]

[quote name='300SLR' date='31 Aug 2011, 08:09' post='642883']
The router needs to be guided to cut the slot.
The most highly skilled track builders use a guided router and its even more important for the less skilled.
Trying to route slots freehand at best produces an inferior track.
[/quote

Hi if I couldnt use a router freehand and follow a line I would have to sell all my tools and get another job.
regards ade

 

[johnsxr8]

My advice would be if you are going to drop in powerbase and pit pro ect in the track to separate the powerbase from the track and just insert the track piece as it is nearly impossible to stop mdf and bog dust getting inside the pb i had that problem when inserting mine but have changed to the APB and separated this time so no dust got into my powerbase, i also use a low sheen interior paint and find the grip to be great and alot of my scaley cars drive imo better on my wood track without mags and more enjoyable than the old plastic track, the stock rubber tyre work ok but sometimes work better if you try and soften them with some oil and true them, but i make my own urethanes which provide excellent grip and cost bout $1 per tyre. I was unsure before i went to wood but now i am glad that i did and will never go back to plastic

Cheers John

 

[Ade]

hi
good point about the mdf dust entering parts they should not,i dont really want to mess about with the pb so a coat of pva solution should put a stop to dust once the cut outs has been finalized for the digital sections.

Also managed to get hold of some 3.2mm trend router bits,not bad value either at under £9 each,just need to remember to order mdf wich hopefully should arrive for this saturday.

Colour scheme for the tyres and track markings will be the same as used at spa,yellow and orange.

Other things on the shopping list are 4 more scaley pit garages and 2 pit entrances as the one i had in old layout was the wrong hand and did not want to do surgery to swap them round.

 

[Ade]

hi
progress is a little slow,mainly because i am planning this out so it comes out right first time.

I now have the sheets of mdf and the ply tounge wich i have machined the slots into the edge of the mdf so that when they are butted up they will sit perfectly flush.

Just need a hand up the stairs with them now and the real routing can begin,i have all the parts to hand to make my own router fences.

One question i do have is this,i will be sinking the pb into the board(pb removed from track) and if i use tape with a conductive backing will it carry current the whole length of the track???,the board size is approx 12x6 ft and there will be some scenic elements to it.

 

[Ade]

hi
have made a start at last after the boards were lifted upstairs,first to do is the pit entrance,as i could not sell the clc even at silly money decided to use one of them for a custom pit entrance and saved quite a bit of cash into the bargain as the official scaley ones are well expensive now.

Here is a pic of the first piece to be sunk into the board...

 

[MrFlippant]

Why not cut away more plastic? When I do my digital test track (someday), I'm planning to cut away as much plastic from the original LC as I can, leaving only what is necessary to hold the flipper, the solenoids, and the sensors, possibly not even the plastic around the sensors. That way, I have complete control over the shape of the slot leading all the way to, and away from the flipper.

 

[Ade]

hi
i was happy with the shape that was left and cutting it this way means there is still some of the plastic rib left underneath so the section will not sink or move when a car passes over it.

Once it's all fitted and painted it will be virtually invisible,this will also need the solenoids reversing so a lane change will put you into the pitlane.

Will also be cutting the xlc down to get rid of the slight bend as you rejoin the opposite lane,best place to cut appears to be just after the plastic crossroads.....

 

[Ade]

hi
i have been on the phone today to trinity glass to ask about there coppertape.

There website does not show a tape with conductive backing and speaking to the helpfull receptionist she did not know about it either.

So could anyone tell me where i can get coppertape with the required backing in 7/32 size.??

 

[Madmini]

Ebay is where I have bought most of my tape from