What do you use for weights in magless cars? Just started to play around with magless any tips will be appreiciated
Cheers
Cheers
kano1990
Depends how much you intend using. If it's not much, then Slot.it's tungsten putty is excellent as you can squish it in anywhere without needing to cut it to shape, but it's expensive. Pendle has it for ÂŁ5.63 for 10 grams.
If you intend adding weight to many cars, it's much cheaper to use lead sheet. Easy to cut with scissors or a modelling knife and simple to form to whatever shape you need. I use SuperGlue to hold mine in place, but double-sided sticky tape works well and isn't permanent.
I bought a roll on eBay which will last me forever and was far cheaper than buying small sheets from online retailers. Lead sheet comes in a variety of thicknesses, aka "codes", as per the chart below. I use code 4.
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If you intend adding weight to many cars, it's much cheaper to use lead sheet. Easy to cut with scissors or a modelling knife and simple to form to whatever shape you need. I use SuperGlue to hold mine in place, but double-sided sticky tape works well and isn't permanent.
I bought a roll on eBay which will last me forever and was far cheaper than buying small sheets from online retailers. Lead sheet comes in a variety of thicknesses, aka "codes", as per the chart below. I use code 4.
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Look for fishing or golf weights on eBay - I use thin lead strips design for fishing they are 12mm wide and 140mm long - each strip weighs about 6g. I put these on the bottom of the chassis - rarely more than two strips cut to fit. I have seen others put thicker sheet lead inside the chassis say around 20g or sometimes more. I have am happy with how the 10g or so works.
When deciding to add weight I usually put some on the nose on other cars a strip on either side of the chassis seems to help with tipping but on other cars - a rectangle of lead in the middle towards the back is what works seems to help with traction. Finally some car need no extra weight at all. Experiment - compare lap times but also how the car feels as if goes around the track.
cheers
David
When deciding to add weight I usually put some on the nose on other cars a strip on either side of the chassis seems to help with tipping but on other cars - a rectangle of lead in the middle towards the back is what works seems to help with traction. Finally some car need no extra weight at all. Experiment - compare lap times but also how the car feels as if goes around the track.
cheers
David
The sticky back lead strip intended for decorating glass in windows. Available on the popular auction selling site.
I found a roll of code 3 lead next to a roundabout one morning as I was going to work so I use that. I straighten and flatten in a small toolmakers vice which ensures I can get two the same then stick in with ShoeGoo.
Lead is 10% denser than tungsten putty and cheaper...wash your hands with soapy water afterwards.
Lead is 10% denser than tungsten putty and cheaper...wash your hands with soapy water afterwards.
Not if you believe Pendle! Up in Lancashire, a gram of tungsten putty is 70% heavier than a gram of lead! They have special gravity up there, you see. It's more discerning than ordinary gravity and is particularly keen on Slot.it's stuff.
I think they mean denser...
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I get lead flashing from a local 2nd hand building and reno outfit and I just ask for a small bit and they can't be bothered weighing it and charging me scrap value for it. The bonus is I get double the lead. The lead itself and the old paint on it, but it's free, and I usually come away with a piece that would equate to about 150 x 150mm. Blue tack is good to hold it in place while you mess around by trial and error as to how much weight you actually need.
Lead Flashing Code 3 for big bits and rig putty for small cars or hard to reach places like right behind the guide.
Re density of putty, they could both be correct, no tungsten putty is 100% tungsten so the density will be affected by the quality. Cheap stuff from China is a very different texture and density to slot it putty in my experience, branded UK sourced putty is in between the two and half the price of slot.it stuff so that's usually where my money goes.
Re density of putty, they could both be correct, no tungsten putty is 100% tungsten so the density will be affected by the quality. Cheap stuff from China is a very different texture and density to slot it putty in my experience, branded UK sourced putty is in between the two and half the price of slot.it stuff so that's usually where my money goes.
Tungsten is 70% heavier than lead, Tungsten putty isn't.
You could however use Tungsten powder or granules and super glue.
You could however use Tungsten powder or granules and super glue.
If you want lots of lead, go Dopamine's route.
If you want a medium quantity of lead, get the stained glass decorating stuff. My roll lasted me 10 years.
If you want tungsten putty, get it from a fishing tackle shop.
If you want a medium quantity of lead, get the stained glass decorating stuff. My roll lasted me 10 years.
If you want tungsten putty, get it from a fishing tackle shop.
One other thing I sometimes do to fill odd shaped spaces with weight, is use some 5 minute epoxy - I use JB Weld - mix enough to fill about 25% of the volume of the area, put a little on the bottom, fill the area with lead buckshot and drizzle/push the rest of the epoxy over the top. It isn't the densest mix, or the most elegant looking solution, but it helps make use of weird shape cavities.
If I am weighting a motor pod, I just tape underneath it, and do this process, removing the tape when the glue is set. That way I can fill the holes in the motor pod to the bottom surface of the pod. - A tiny gain in lowering COG.
Needless to say, this will never come loose.
Kevan - I think what Dopamine was getting at, is that the PendleSlotRacing statement is illogical. Tungsten or anything can't be heavier than anything else unqualified, if can be DENSER, ie have a higher S.G.
They could have said "70% heavier than lead for any given volume" but they didn't.
"Which is heavier a tonne of feathers or a tonne of lead?"
If I am weighting a motor pod, I just tape underneath it, and do this process, removing the tape when the glue is set. That way I can fill the holes in the motor pod to the bottom surface of the pod. - A tiny gain in lowering COG.
Needless to say, this will never come loose.
Kevan - I think what Dopamine was getting at, is that the PendleSlotRacing statement is illogical. Tungsten or anything can't be heavier than anything else unqualified, if can be DENSER, ie have a higher S.G.
They could have said "70% heavier than lead for any given volume" but they didn't.
"Which is heavier a tonne of feathers or a tonne of lead?"
I know, I was using the same language, density = mass/volume. The point I was making their claim is right for Tungsten Vs lead.
I once did a tour of Williams F1's Grove gaff. They had stuff there I think they called, imaginatively, densimetal. Or something like that.
A small ingot weighed a tonne.
Not literally.
Now, if they put that in a putty....
A small ingot weighed a tonne.
Not literally.
Now, if they put that in a putty....
For some of us it has to be Gold.
Easily worked, much denser than lead and so much more elegant.
Plus the added benefit of being a hedge against Quantitative Easing.
Or was that the plot to Goldfinger? (That laser was obviously cutting a slot car track in an early example of cad cam).
Easily worked, much denser than lead and so much more elegant.
Plus the added benefit of being a hedge against Quantitative Easing.
Or was that the plot to Goldfinger? (That laser was obviously cutting a slot car track in an early example of cad cam).
I'm with you, sounds like a plan.
Although I am thinking there is another heavy metal that is proving quite popular, and a limited number of active traders in the market. I haven't seen it on EBay.
Depleted uranium has a similar S.G. to Tungsten and gold, though I am unsure about the popularity with marshals, and turning up to club with that "natural glow" may be a bit of a room emptier.
I'll probably stick to sheet lead and buckshot.
Trying to imagine the BBC headlines in 25 years
"the children of deceased slotters have begun trading in their parent's slot car ballast, and the LME crashed this morning"
I once did a tour of Williams F1's Grove gaff. They had stuff there I think they called, imaginatively, densimetal. Or something like that.
A small ingot weighed a tonne.
Probably depleted uranium. It didn't have many uses until it was found to be good for armour-piercing shells. A worker at our local shipyard told me he had a chunk in his toolbox as a curio, as it was sometimes used as ballast.
I also remember Eric Tabarlly's Pen Duick VI had a depleted uranium keel. I was building model racing yachts at the time and thought that this might be a useful trick, but when I looked up the melting point it was too high to be practically castable in the home workshop.
A small ingot weighed a tonne.
Probably depleted uranium. It didn't have many uses until it was found to be good for armour-piercing shells. A worker at our local shipyard told me he had a chunk in his toolbox as a curio, as it was sometimes used as ballast.
I also remember Eric Tabarlly's Pen Duick VI had a depleted uranium keel. I was building model racing yachts at the time and thought that this might be a useful trick, but when I looked up the melting point it was too high to be practically castable in the home workshop.
I am familiar with both tungsten and depleted uranium, the company that I worked for had a division that made tank rounds, as well as the ammunition used by the Phalanx close in weapon system and the GAU-8 gun used in the A-10 Warthog.
Both materials have a density of 19.2. The anti-tank rounds using them are not explosive, they work on kinetic energy alone, but as a grim sort of added benefit depleted uranium vaporizes to a certain extent as it penetrates the target and the vapors are pyrophoric,so it immediately bursts into flame. I am not certain just how depleted depleted uranium actually is, it was my impression that it is no longer used for tank rounds.
Both materials have a density of 19.2. The anti-tank rounds using them are not explosive, they work on kinetic energy alone, but as a grim sort of added benefit depleted uranium vaporizes to a certain extent as it penetrates the target and the vapors are pyrophoric,so it immediately bursts into flame. I am not certain just how depleted depleted uranium actually is, it was my impression that it is no longer used for tank rounds.
Shame I can only hit the like button once for a post GIO. - I keep running to the front window to count the black vans parked outside
so i understand people wanting to remove the magnets from cars, I tend to keep my magnets in as most of the time my nephews are racing and it makes it a bit easier for them. Although I do have a couple of cars without the magnets and they are a lot of fun and challenging to control.
However obviously the magnet is there to simulate down force and help keep the car on the track. I see a lot of threads about people improving grip my changing tyres, adding weight to the car, and making their track grip better, is there a point where these improvements equal or overcome the effects of having a magnet?
just curious.
However obviously the magnet is there to simulate down force and help keep the car on the track. I see a lot of threads about people improving grip my changing tyres, adding weight to the car, and making their track grip better, is there a point where these improvements equal or overcome the effects of having a magnet?
just curious.
One of the guys in my club commented that he never would have gotten started in slot racing if the cars had not had traction magnets, I think that applies to a lot of people in the hobby.
Besides improving the handling of the car magnets also mask many problems that a car might have, so when you remove the magnets you may end up with a car that is quite difficult to drive. With strong traction magnets you may end up with a car that can be run flat out most of time, that is great for kids, but adults would usually get bored rather quickly. Another issue with magnets is that the cars tend to be all or nothing, that is they just come out of the slot at the limit, rather than sliding out the back of the car.
Originally my club ran mostly Scalextric cars with big traction magnets and the track voltage was cranked up. We did use Magnet Marshal type scales to measure the downforce of each car with a maximum limit being enforced. After a while we moved the traction magnets closer to the front of the cars, so you still had most of their benefits but the cars would usually slide out before they came out of the slot.
Eventually one of our members built a wood track with copper tape, on that track traction magnets were useless except as weights. On the wood track we found that the track voltage needed to be reduced and at least a minimum amount of chassis tuning would be needed. In spite of the extra effort that was needed to have a competitive car on a wood track within a year all of our tracks but one had been replaced with wood.
Besides improving the handling of the car magnets also mask many problems that a car might have, so when you remove the magnets you may end up with a car that is quite difficult to drive. With strong traction magnets you may end up with a car that can be run flat out most of time, that is great for kids, but adults would usually get bored rather quickly. Another issue with magnets is that the cars tend to be all or nothing, that is they just come out of the slot at the limit, rather than sliding out the back of the car.
Originally my club ran mostly Scalextric cars with big traction magnets and the track voltage was cranked up. We did use Magnet Marshal type scales to measure the downforce of each car with a maximum limit being enforced. After a while we moved the traction magnets closer to the front of the cars, so you still had most of their benefits but the cars would usually slide out before they came out of the slot.
Eventually one of our members built a wood track with copper tape, on that track traction magnets were useless except as weights. On the wood track we found that the track voltage needed to be reduced and at least a minimum amount of chassis tuning would be needed. In spite of the extra effort that was needed to have a competitive car on a wood track within a year all of our tracks but one had been replaced with wood.
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