[JEXY1]

A bit of help please.

We have just built a new bridge section for our club circuit (4 lane Ninco) and i'm tinking of fixing it down to the ply bridge and base board.

The reason behind this is track tends to raise at the joints just enough to lift the cars out of the slot (not all the time, but more than i would like).

I had thought of hot gun glue, but thought i would see if you had any better suggestions?

many thanks

Gareth

 

[Doug]

Silicone sealant in blobs under the track works. You can still remove the track from the board later if you wish with a putty knife. Weight down the track with some old phone directories.

 

[Mr.M]

No!!

The bridge is done?? You are winding me up, right??

Surely not!! THE bridge!!! Can't be, no!!

Mr.M

p.s. This is a wind up, isn't it!

 

[Mecoprop]

I don't think it's a wind up - it's the answer I would have given too.

 

[JEXY1]

Yes i know it's taken a while, think of it as your birthday present!

Now get off this tread and let someone with a constructive responce answer!

See you Wednesday

Gareth

 

[JEXY1]

Hot gun glue or just your off the shelf bathroom silicon sealer?
gareth

 

[Tropi]

Silicone caulking seems to be a very common USA method for holding track down 'semi-permanently'. I haven't tried it yet, so am not sure of what grade of sealant should be used. This stuff is pretty expensive so I would suggest starting out with a small tube of the cheapest you can find!

Another point: rather than putting blobs under the track, where it is out of sight, I believe they run a very thin bead along the outer bottom edges of the track, forming a neat line and ensuring minimal possibility of the section warping. Again, no first-hand experience to date, but it sounds sensible and economical. Hopefully someone with actual hands-on will comment.

 

[dreinecke]

Ok, ok, it was me that did that. I use the absolute cheapest silicone or latex caulk you can get. Here in the USA, a cheap brand is about a dollar a tube. I put small dabs on the bottom side of the slot. Use a heavy object like a book to hold it until it sets. The good news is that it is easily removeable.

 

[Swissracer]

A hot glue gun, whilst the price of a couple of larger tubes itself initially, is the way to go.

I have laid over 60 feet of 4 lane track using this method and the reason it is better than silicon? Time.

Hot glue sets in an instant and is as pliable as silicon.

Plus you can use hot glue on cars and any other slot project you can think of actually.

 

[Doug]

I've actually been testing reasonably low cost silicone caulking recently on some spare track to see how it adheres to my plywood. I thought that it may be of use for borders too. Takes too long to dry though and it retracts when it does.

I'll try the hot glue tomorrow. I've had the gun out today making Yagi antennas out of Pringles cans.