[Mr Modifier]

Try a local builders merchant. They should be cheaper than B&Q for sheet materials and often deliver for free or a nominal fuel surcharge.

 

[FishyDelishy]

QUOTE (GRUNZ @ 14 Jan 2015, 18:56) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>just an idea...but instead of spending the money on the table, have you thought about keeping it as a rug track? if you remove the filing cabinets, the drivers have plenty of room to move around and marshalling the track. you need to build some borders though: I suggest using foam board for that. It is very cheap compared to scaley borders and very easy to fix on carpet using pins. Have a look at the RATC link in my signature for some ideas.

We've been running our 4 lane analogue in the meeting room next door on the carpet since early December, it's ok, but having to bend over the track to reach de slotted cars awkward. If it's on a table it's much easier to reach across. Also we want something a bit more professional and permanent. We want to do some very basic scenary building flyovers and adding grass etc.

QUOTE (Davefevs @ 14 Jan 2015, 19:43) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Could you not buy in B&Q and then get the, to cut into smaller boards for transportation.....they cut for free. That's what I did. You could join them together afterwards???? £25 is a killer!

Possibly, I got rid of my estate car which was great for transporting stuff and bought a Golf GTi which is more fun to drive but useless for transporting anything, the back seats don't even fold flat. My wife had a Honda Civic which had excellent flat folding seats and huge boot, however we just swapped that to a Mini which can take two shopping bags in the boot! So I'm a bit stuffed on the transport front now.

QUOTE (Mr Modifier @ 14 Jan 2015, 20:50) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Try a local builders merchant. They should be cheaper than B&Q for sheet materials and often deliver for free or a nominal fuel surcharge.

We've submitted a request for a quote to the local Travis Perkins today, I'm hoping the price is good and they delivery cheap/free as it's only a mile or two from the office.

 

[RACING LINE]

When you bring the board in, lay it flat and weigh it down so that it can dry out and adjust to the room temp and humidity without warping.

 

[FishyDelishy]

QUOTE (RacingSnake @ 15 Jan 2015, 13:10) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>When you bring the board in, lay it flat and weigh it down so that it can dry out and adjust to the room temp and humidity without warping.

Thanks for the tip, hadn't thought of that.

£46 from Travis Perkins although I don't think that includes delivery, the quote didn't say either way despite specifically asking for it

 

[FishyDelishy]

QUOTE (Davefevs @ 14 Jan 2015, 19:43) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Could you not buy in B&Q and then get the, to cut into smaller boards for transportation.....they cut for free. That's what I did. You could join them together afterwards???? £25 is a killer!

Did a bit more thinking after your suggestion. I was going to get the three 2440x1220 boards cut to 1800x1170 so side by side they would create a table of 3510mmx1800mm.

I realised if I get each board cut in half again to 900mm x 1170mm they should fit in my car with the seats down. We were planning on six sets of drawers to act as legs so there would be one under each board. I'll go to my local B&Q on Saturday morning and see what it will cost for 9 cuts.

I had a little test run using our 1990s analogue Jaguar XJ220s today using Yascart connected to the RMS. Lap times were 9 to 10 seconds which is good. I wanted a tricky circuit where lap times were greater than 8 seconds. It's quite fun to drive although without borders to drift it's hard to keep the back wheels on the track.

 

[Davefevs]

My b&q in Brizzle had a sign saying 'free cutting' as long as no smaller than 300mm. I bought two 2400x1200 and had them cut into:

- board 1 - 900, 900 and 600
- board 2 - 600, 600, 300 and 300

Thought I'd keep some spare ply to make some borders / run offs.....although my DIY skills are that of an office worker &#128540;. Got some reflective chequer tape too!!

I've got a VW Sharan and they just stood upright slid along the middle row. I've also got a Golf, but think 1200 might be too wide....and no chance if a 3 door. Worth trying though. I bought some cheapo latches off eBay to pull the boards together.

 

[FishyDelishy]

QUOTE (Davefevs @ 16 Jan 2015, 00:07) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>My b&q in Brizzle had a sign saying 'free cutting' as long as no smaller than 300mm. I bought two 2400x1200 and had them cut into:

- board 1 - 900, 900 and 600
- board 2 - 600, 600, 300 and 300

Thought I'd keep some spare ply to make some borders / run offs.....although my DIY skills are that of an office worker &#128540;. Got some reflective chequer tape too!!

I've got a VW Sharan and they just stood upright slid along the middle row. I've also got a Golf, but think 1200 might be too wide....and no chance if a 3 door. Worth trying though. I bought some cheapo latches off eBay to pull the boards together.

I'm off to my local B&Q mini warehouse tomorrow morning to see if I can get the boards I need. I just measure the boot of the car and If I get the boards cut to 900mm x 1170mm they will fit with the seats down.

Out of interest, what type of wood did you buy from B&Q for your main boards?

 

[Davefevs]

9mm plywood...was about £25 a board. I had to keep it thin, so that I can stack on top of each other to go under my sons bed.

 

[FishyDelishy]

My budget won't stretch to plywood unfortunately.

I'm torn between 9mm MDF at £15 a sheet or 11mm OSB at £16.23 a sheet.

Does anyone know which would be better as the base boards for our track before I head off to B&Q today and buy some.

 

[Ade]

Hi
Go for the mdf,it won't splinter into your hands,just paint both sides to seal it ...

 

[staglinger]

MDF MDF MDF

 

[FishyDelishy]

Will 9mm MDF be rigid enough? Each piece will have it's own set of drawers underneath to support it, I'm assuming 9mm MDF won't be flexible in a piece about 2 feet long?

 

[FishyDelishy]

Well I took the plunge and bought the 9mm MDF, when I was in B&Q it seems more rigid than the 11mm OSB so that made up my mind.

It's all been cut into 6 pieces each 900mm x 1170mm so when laid out we will have a table of 3.51m x 1.8m or 11.5ft x 6ft in old money.

Do I really need to paint and seal it? It will be in office, temperature varies from around 10-15c at night to maybe 20-25c in the day depending on the air conditioning. If so, what sort of paint do I have to use?

 

[Ade]

Hi
Ok I forgot you mentioned it was indoors so its not as important but something I would still do as it will also stop it releasing dust as well as stabilise it

Ideally you should use proper mdf primer as this does not de bond the glues used in the manufacture ,using a stock primer see's it whisker up a bit.

 

[Davefevs]

QUOTE (FishyDelishy @ 17 Jan 2015, 13:14) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Well I took the plunge and bought the 9mm MDF, when I was in B&Q it seems more rigid than the 11mm OSB so that made up my mind.

It's all been cut into 6 pieces each 900mm x 1170mm so when laid out we will have a table of 3.51m x 1.8m or 11.5ft x 6ft in old money.

Do I really need to paint and seal it? It will be in office, temperature varies from around 10-15c at night to maybe 20-25c in the day depending on the air conditioning. If so, what sort of paint do I have to use?

Did they cut for free?

Guess you got it all in the golf?

 

[FishyDelishy]

QUOTE (Davefevs @ 17 Jan 2015, 19:00) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Did they cut for free?

Guess you got it all in the golf?

Yes, the guy in the Guildford store was really helpful. I didn't get charged for any of the cuts so I paid £15 a sheet.

They went in the Golf fine with the seats down, though they slide around a bit. Didn't help when some muppet pulled out of junction in front of me making me hit the brakes hard.

I bought a roll of 2mm flooring underlay to put under the track to raise it to the height of the digital pieces, that was £10.

I couldn't find any foam insulation small enough to use as tyres for my tyres walls though, don't know where I'll get them.

I've spent the afternoon working on the track design. On Friday we had a quick test run of the track, the first complaint about the digital was that it didn't feel or smell (that controller smell) like scalextric from childhood. So, I really think the analogue powerbase and cars are going to get the most use, especially in the early days.

I really want to add a Le Mans start (another childhood memory along with the curve chicane and Goodwood Chicane) so I've looked at moving the RMS and analogue power base to the opposite side of the track. So, one side you race digital, for a trip down memory lane you stand on the other side of the track and race analogue.

The only problem is, the Le Mans start if I remember correctly is 1.25 full straights in length which despite losing the straight chicane messes up my track layout. So I'm thinking of rewiring the analogue power base into quarter straight to place directly in front of the RMS.

This is my current plan, I'm not going to use any Scalextric borders, I'll fill the track with foamboard etc. They are just on the plan to show where I intend to put kerb tape.

 

[FishyDelishy]

So, a little update. I went over to the office this morning with a car full of MDF. I moved three filing cabinets out of the room and found a new home for them. I've left one in the far corner which I think wont get in the way.

I then laid the 6 boards out on the floor and laid the track out on top. Hopefully tomorrow or later this week I can get a few of the guys in the office to help me get six sets of desk drawers and raise the boards up to desk height. I've brought the digital base home with me so I can take it apart and rewire it so it can be fully isolated from the track when running the analogue base.

I plugged the analogue base in and had a about 50 laps of testing using one of the 90's XJ220s. The circuit is really good to drive, the corners are tricky and the best I could manage was a 9.5 second lap time. I'm sure when the borders are done and with practice the time will come down a bit. The fastest we ever did on the 4 lane track was 8.5 seconds so I'm pleased the new circuit is as much of a challenge.

Speaking of the 4 lane circuit, I dismantled it and stacked up the track. Anyone need to buy some classic track? It's going to take me forever to get it all listed on eBay!

I've ended up with 41 full, 13 half, 7 quarter and 4 short straights, 39 R2s, 38 R3s, 8 R4s, 5 half R2s, 8 R1s and 4 Double R1s. I've got 2 long chicanes, 3 straight chicanes, a vintage boxed Goodwood chicane, a couple of start straights, a pair of crossovers, a RMS multi lane and a Power & Control multi lane as well as a boxed Jaguar challenge.

Im debating whether to keep enough pieces to make vecbtb's excellent 8x4 circuit in case I get the chance to make a small circuit at home.

 

[Davefevs]

Looking good 👍

 

[FishyDelishy]

Managed to spend an hour on the setup today raising the boards on to office drawers. I got the first three up and level using the adjustable feet of the drawers. On the fourth one I found the feet had actually broken away from the unit. Gave up at that point and went home!

 

[MrFlippant]

That looks like a good way to support the pieces. Are you planning to affix the boards to the supports, or to each other in some way?