Hi Everyone,
I thought I'd share what is my first experience in making a wooden track, after driving on some SCX plastic for a short time I met some of the guys from Auslot in Victoria which started this obsession in building my own track. My intention from the outset was to CNC route the track because I had no confidence with a router.
Im not too bad with CAD so I set about drawing various variations and combinations of layouts that was originally intended to fit a space 4800x1200. Well I failed miserably I ended up with this at 5300x1900. I set the lanes at 100mm apart with a 120mm edge all the way around the outside. I was looking for a fast track with some subtle changes of elevations that would make it somewhat interesting.
![]()
![]()
Picked up the track from the place I gave the CNC work to do, on the morning with a bit of wind and rain threatening I made the dash across.
All morning a few spots of rain nothing more and traffic on stud road was bumper to bumper, cant tell you how glad I was to be home in one piece and more important the track still where I strapped it all down!
![]()
6 Pieces of 12mm MDF layed out, 19 meters of track to play with. I'm really happy with the cuts, clean as a whistle and line up well from what I have seen so far all the joins are at tangency points from line to arc. First things first I now need to build a table.
![]()
So off to the hardware store to buy whats needed. Dragged the triton saw out from the corner of the garage along with a drill and some glue and set about building the first part of the table. Its been a while since I have worked with wood so I have to say it was almost therapeutic.
![]()
![]()
Hadn't managed to get much done in the last few days, but I did manage to knock up the first of the outriggers which will support the end of the track. Didn't have enough hands so I grabbed one of my tie downs to create a third hand. Adding that 45° brace sure give the outrigger some strength. There will be 3 of these at each end, which will allow me to then contour the outer edge of the table to the track which I hope will give a nice finish to the overall project.
![]()
![]()
![]()
Another day not to much done partially due to Bathurst was on, but I did get enough done to reveal what the track might look like when finished. Screwed down all the lower sections of the track and slipped in some packers to gain some elevation in the areas required. Its amazing how much the whole feel of the track changed with a three dimensional feel to it. Checked out the clearance under the bridge, heaps of room to fish out a wayward car. Other than that I had a look at that the overpass didn't obscure drivers views too much which I think has worked out well.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
There is so much still to do, and so many questions to ask, thanks to all who have helped me so far! Once I have the elevations fully sorted its time to paint the surface with Ferrodor and then tape & wire it before I start closing in the required sections. I have a theme in mind for this track but I will leave that for later.
Cheers Rob
I thought I'd share what is my first experience in making a wooden track, after driving on some SCX plastic for a short time I met some of the guys from Auslot in Victoria which started this obsession in building my own track. My intention from the outset was to CNC route the track because I had no confidence with a router.
Im not too bad with CAD so I set about drawing various variations and combinations of layouts that was originally intended to fit a space 4800x1200. Well I failed miserably I ended up with this at 5300x1900. I set the lanes at 100mm apart with a 120mm edge all the way around the outside. I was looking for a fast track with some subtle changes of elevations that would make it somewhat interesting.
Picked up the track from the place I gave the CNC work to do, on the morning with a bit of wind and rain threatening I made the dash across.
All morning a few spots of rain nothing more and traffic on stud road was bumper to bumper, cant tell you how glad I was to be home in one piece and more important the track still where I strapped it all down!
6 Pieces of 12mm MDF layed out, 19 meters of track to play with. I'm really happy with the cuts, clean as a whistle and line up well from what I have seen so far all the joins are at tangency points from line to arc. First things first I now need to build a table.
So off to the hardware store to buy whats needed. Dragged the triton saw out from the corner of the garage along with a drill and some glue and set about building the first part of the table. Its been a while since I have worked with wood so I have to say it was almost therapeutic.
Hadn't managed to get much done in the last few days, but I did manage to knock up the first of the outriggers which will support the end of the track. Didn't have enough hands so I grabbed one of my tie downs to create a third hand. Adding that 45° brace sure give the outrigger some strength. There will be 3 of these at each end, which will allow me to then contour the outer edge of the table to the track which I hope will give a nice finish to the overall project.
Another day not to much done partially due to Bathurst was on, but I did get enough done to reveal what the track might look like when finished. Screwed down all the lower sections of the track and slipped in some packers to gain some elevation in the areas required. Its amazing how much the whole feel of the track changed with a three dimensional feel to it. Checked out the clearance under the bridge, heaps of room to fish out a wayward car. Other than that I had a look at that the overpass didn't obscure drivers views too much which I think has worked out well.
There is so much still to do, and so many questions to ask, thanks to all who have helped me so far! Once I have the elevations fully sorted its time to paint the surface with Ferrodor and then tape & wire it before I start closing in the required sections. I have a theme in mind for this track but I will leave that for later.
Cheers Rob
![](http://www.slotforum.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="<_<)
