[bastumannen]

Hi all!
I've finally started building my second routed track, and I'll try to keep you guys posted along the way. I haven't made that much progress this far but just to give you something This is what I've come up with so far:

And we're still a long way away from this, but it's roling at least

 

[Freddy]

Hey, it's only a start but you've made great progress. Very nice work so far.

 

[bastumannen]

ok, I've finally made some more progress on my track

. A lot of fiddling was needed to get the banking right for the corners with all those elevation changes going on through them, but the 10mm MDF is very flexible and you just have to screw it down to shape it the way you want. Here are some pictures of where I am at the moment:

Only three more sections to clamp down... And then I have to take them all off again to do the routing, that's why I've saved the centrepoints in most corners. I did it in this order to make sure it all will when i put it together finally, I didn't dare rout it first only to find out that the slots didn't match up after clamping the sheets down. There's a lot of bending of these sheets and I find it very hard calculating exactly how they would shape up. Total elevation difference is 260mm and length is about 14.5m.

 

[Freddy]

I was wondering when I would hear more news about the track. You've made some great progress so far. You've got the basic shape sorted out. What's next?

 

[CoolScientist]

Tres Bien....... Amazing - superb. I really like what i'm seeing here. I dont have the courage to route a track, but it seems you have what I'm lacking and the woodworking skills to suit.

Looks tremendous - cant wait to see more.

CoolS

 

[bennett69]

Good work

yep the hardest part with muliple elevation changes is the joins on routiing their will be minor differentail but a nice sharp 1" chisel helps and slot cars are extremly forgiving

ps use the hover hose and tape when routing

 

[Eno Dog]

Well when I first saw the track map I didn't think it looked much chop 'cause I'm used to working in two dimensions & the picture obviously confused me 'cause it looks brilliant in the photographs!

After looking at the Sweden / Melbourne thing on your nameplate I've been busily looking out the doors of the shed - or looking for a VB can sitting about 'cause it'll be much easier to come over for a play from Glen Waverley if you're in Melbourne.. (Hey guys - like the way I seamlessly invited myself to Bastumannen's house??

)

Anyhow - that looks bloody brilliant - keep us posted with the pics. I can see myself going "wood" myself as soon as I get space.. (although Mrs the Wonderdog will probably crucify me if I don't use the plastic track first - at least for a while..)

 

[Freddy]

I'm also from Melbourne, Australia and I know Bastumannen very well. If you want to see him you'll have to wait around a year. He's currently in Sweden. He should be back in Melbourne around March/April next year. Maybe if you see him then I might come too. We'll see.

 

[bastumannen]

Hehe. Like Fwick said, I'll have to dissapoint you there Eno, since I'm in Sweden now, but I'll be in Melbourne for April next year at least

. I usually hang around Ged's place when there, and it would be great to meet for beer and slotcars. The plan is to move to Melbourne more permanently in a couple of years when I'm done with my education here. Already missing the VB...

Bennet69, hose and tape? I'm planning on doing the routing in the carport so I probably won't bother with catching the dust, but if you've got a great setup I'm all ears

 

[Freddy]

Hey your birthday's coming up Bastumannen. Maybe I can send you some VB's as a present. But I think Eno Dog will have the same idea after reading these few posts! Good luck with your track.

 

[EddScott]

Theres some cracking woodworking skill in those pics.

Well done!

 

[Swissracer]

Well, there's my excuse for a trip to Sweden sorted out, now if I can persuade her indoors I NEED to try that track and NEED an extra bag for the VB......
Toby, whens the opening day?

Eno - Does my shameless self invite match yours?

 

[bastumannen]

VBs are always welcome

. I don't mind the shameless invites, would be great if you guys came around

(I hope all in our household agree

). I've got no idea when the "opening" will be, but if I had it my way I'd be there building on it night and day... unfortunately there are those other things to do too. I'm hoping to get a couple of days in this coming weekend. And to then get done with the fiddly bits of getting the remaining three sheets clamped down and getting the two halves fitting perfectly together. Then there is the routing which will take a fair while with all those different radii... I've managed to finally find a 3mm router bit (8mm shank) from a place (Maskinboden.se) locally. Next thing to buy is coppertape, does anyone know a good and cheap place for this. I heard that Pendle sells it, but I didn't find it on their site. Last time I used tape bought from a lead light window shop in Melbourne. That worked well and was about 5mm wide, and it had good adhesive but I have no idea what brand it was so it doesn't help me now. Are there any brands to be avoided, or do I just get the first thing that I find here? I take it most of them come in about 30m rolls, so I'll need about three of those.
For all of you guys out there hesitating to give trackbuilding a go, just do it! It's not at all that difficult and it's great fun building and you learn a lot as you go along and you get great pleasure seeing the track take shape, and best of all is that there are no limits to what you can build, any radii, any degree turn, any banking, any number of lanes, any lane spacing, so all in all you're the master of the design. Another benefit is that it'll probably become cheaper than buying plastic track too

. In my case I couldn't have squeesed as much track and lap length in the given area using plastic either, and another benefit is that you won't even have to remove the magnets from your new cars

and it's so smooooth to drive on wood too. As you see I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture, so if you're thinking of it, just do it

 

[reel55]

WOW
Looks like its going to be a fun and challenging track
Way to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

reel55

 

[Freddy]

Is it just me or do slotforum members become more popular if they're building a track???

 

[Eno Dog]

..only if they're going to build a track near your house (el bugger..

)

It's looking brilliant anyways. I tend to trot along to Ged's on occasion (well - once so far) so I'll see you there next year BM. FW we'll have to drink beer & race once I get organised at home!! (or just drink beer..

)

There was some fine shamelessness in there gentlemen - keep it up!!

 

[Freddy]

If only bastumannen could be in Melbourne now.......

And by the way Eno Dog I'd be able to race but I wouldn't quite be able to drink beer. I am underage. Check my profile. It's all true. Sorry to disappoint you. Can't wait until next year.

Anyway what's new with the track Bastumannen?

 

[bastumannen]

Well I'd have to dissapoint you there Fwick, as nothing has happened since the weekend, but like I said I hope I'll get some good time in during the coming weekend, but we have an awful lot of stuff going on at uni this time of year, so don't count on masses being done. I work on the track at my parents place that is about 16Km (just undert 30min by bike) away, so I tend to hop on my bike and ride out there whenever I have a bit of time. It'll be interesting to see how it fits in the flat later on... I've done some careful meassuring, so it should be right

. The transportation will be a bit of a nut to crack to. I hope I can borrow a van or something from my summer work, but otherwise it'll have to be two slow cruises with one half at a time placed carefully on the roof rack...

.

The beer'n slots invite sounds great

. A shame it's a whole year still... But of course, should you happen to find yourself around south of Sweden before then

 

[P3GA]

Great job with the track, it's work like this that makes me want to get off my tail & build my own..out of curiosity, what program did you use to come up with the trackplan & 3D rendering, and what are the dimensions of the table you've built?

Thank and good luck!
Phil

 

[bastumannen]

Glad you like it! It's great fun working on it too

. The program used for the trackplan and rendering is Pro Engineer, a CAD program (perhaps a bit overkill, but it has great fetures). The meassurements are: Length 4114mm, width 1400mm and 1000mm on the far left. Lane length about 14,6m. I've managed to secure all the sections now and that took a while, especially getting the precision cuts right. I hoped to have been able to start some routing too, but I'm currently very busy with uni stuff so it might have to wait til the start of June

when the exams are over. I've taken some more pics too, and I'll try to post them later.