# It'sss a Sssorpion



## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

That's a Scorpion track design with some esses thrown in. Bada Boom!










Here's the track plan that Ted and I came up with. I did the initial design in Adobe Illustrator CS4 (I downloaded the demo version and did the whole thing in that - they give you a 30 day trial) while Ted took that design and did some hocus pocus and turned it into the G code that his CNC router can understand.

We're building two tracks. The prototype will be made out of 1/4" MDF and will be used at the school that I teach at. We have a slot car club there. (always looking for donations - hint, hint!) The second will be made out of 6mm grey Sintra (if the prototype works out). It's going to go into my basement. MDF being about 1/6 the price of Sintra around here makes the cost for the school much more reasonable. Especially since the wood was donated. Thanks Ted! Ted's been a great help with his CNC and also routed out the lanes in MDF. 

Routing MDF is nasty business as it creates awfully fine sawdust that's not so good to breathe in, hence the getup below. Even a vaccuum doesn't get all the dust when I'm using the router to cut through the MDF and -25°C outside means this happens indoors or waits for spring.










Cheers eh,

Todd


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Here's a picture of one of the router jigs Ted made up to fit the Rigid router we're using. This one will cut 1.5 or 1.75 inches from the fence. We've got another to cut the rail slots much closer. For more info on how the fence idea works see this thread. it's a total ripoff of Oldslotracer's sintra strip idea but on a smaller scale. You can buy the evergreen plastic strips at most hobby shops. Here's the jig:










Originally we were going to have the full sheets of MDF with the lanes routed out but we've decided to cut each piece of track out individually. I'm doing this at the wood shop at school with some students helping out with two vacuums as we cut through the MDF sheets. We get most of the dust caught but miss some. Routing lanes or slots for the rails is much cleaner as the dust doesn't fly out above and below the boards. In the following pictures you can get an idea of what's going on.
































































More to follow.

Cheers eh,

Todd


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Got a bit more done this afternoon. Being the genius that I am I looked around the shop and spied one of these lying around. Figured it'd be way easier to cut the straights with this rather than the router. 










And it was. Wish I'd thoughta that a few days earlier.

Just cut out a few more small pieces of track as you can see below.





































Just the big corners left to cut out and the middle corner at the end of the esses, Then I'll get a better table set-up. You might notice there's a big corner cut off the plywood that's underneath at the moment. Not so good me thinks, but it was there at the moment.

More to come...

Todd


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

OK, got the next little bit done. The track has all been cut out, Next is to make the tables and then route the rail slots. Here are some pictures.

From the south end.










And from the north end.










We're going to build tables next week I hope and then start routing the rail slots. Did I ever say that this is a lot of work? Fun, but a lot of work.

We're on spring break this week so nothing happening until April.

Cheers eh,

Todd


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## Tsooko (Oct 15, 2009)

I like it all cut out, Todd. Makes it look bigger somehow. Those students of yours will have a blast running on it. 
Keep the pics coming.
Who is that spaceman in the first pic, :jest:
cheers Ted


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## Rolls (Jan 1, 2010)

That looks incredible! That's a fine piece of work. It looks like it'll be a blast to race in either direction, too. Beauty!


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## Tsooko (Oct 15, 2009)

Have you given any thought to what you are going to paint the surface with? I think it should be painted before cutting the power rails as even a few thousands of paint would affect the rail height. Whadoot?
Cheers Ted


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

How about powder coating? Did you know that they can powder coat mdf now? Don't suppose you have an mdf powder coater kicking around do you Ted? High end mdf furniture manufacturers (is that an oxymoron or what?) are starting to use it. I don't think it's made it to Alberta yet though. Supposed to be tough as nails. Don't know what traction would be like though. Betcha it'd look great though. And it should because I'm pretty sure it'd cost your right nut and then some. 

So to answer your question Ted, no. :wave:

Cheers, 

Todd


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Saw quote online for powder coating mdf. $2.00 a board foot. For a bath of 1000 table tops!


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Batch not bath


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## Modlerbob (Feb 10, 2011)

Have fun with the essses. Most tracks that I have raced on over the years ended up taking them out of the track as they ruin any sense of rythem.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Modlerbob said:


> Have fun with the essses. Most tracks that I have raced on over the years ended up taking them out of the track as they ruin any sense of rythem.


It's an easy replacement if we want to go that way. As Rick said, there won't be many really fast cars on there (at least to start - who knows what the kids will eventually buy).

Cheers eh,

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Well as intriguing as powder coating is, this is a school project with a very small budget so it ain't going to happen. What do you guys recommend for paint for an MDF track? Flat or gloss? Latex or enamel or something different?

Any ideas guys?

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

OK, took the spring and summer off, autumn too apparently. Last week I built a base for the track out of a couple of sheets of plywood and some 1X4's that were lying around. 1X6's would probably have been better but hey, ya gotta use whatcha ya got. It's cheaper that way. Screwed the track down and began sanding the joints to make it all as smooth as.

Here's what we've got so far.









On of the reasons I've been holding off so far is that I wanted to have a more accurate way to set the depth of the router bit. When you're trying to get it to 84 thousandths of an inch a ruler or tape measure doesn't seem to work so well. I asked Mark over at Scale Engineering if he could make me up a better depth gauge. Here's what we came up with.

Using this depth gauge I can set the router depth to whatever I want. And hopefully check it again once in awhile to make sure it doesn't wander.









Hope to start routing the rail slots next week.

Cheers eh,

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Looking good Todd:thumbsup:.

Jeez now i'm scared to stop by for a visit,you'll probably put me to work,lol


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Yeah, I've heard that you know how to drive a router now. I've only got about 500 feet of rail slot to cut. How many bits do you reckon that'll take?

:beatdeadhorse:


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

LOL,only on Sintra,

I got it scienced out now on how to make crooked lines with a router:wave:.

I got one spare slightly used bit left for both the slots and rail pockets,they were still cutting sintra good when i was done with them.
I'll bring them with me.
I should be able to stop by the school sometime this week.

I see a joker in the crowd over on Alan's board,LOL:wave:


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Hey don't you and the joker ever sleep? :freak:


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

He's on his weight training schedule right now,his head was thinning down:wave:

Just kidding Rick:wave:

I haven't figured out when Carter sleeps,but it's gotta be even less then me:drunk::thumbsup:

I at least got an excuse,grew up on farm


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## co_zee (Mar 28, 2005)

You may want to look into finishing the track with automotive base coat and clear. I have finished 3 MDF tracks with it and have had no issues what so ever. I paint first then do the routing. This way I didn't need to be concerned with paint thickness changing rail slot depth or finished height. I sanded the surface out to 4000 grit and buffed to high gloss. I took my time routing and took precautions to prevent scratching the surface while routing. Easily done with a plastic base plate and plenty of vacuum. And scratches that did happen were easily removed, most with simply rebuffing. Very durable surface. I will be finishing my next track the same way.

A high quality finishing poly urethane could also be used. MinWax crystal clear (silver can) comes to mind.


I forgot to mention that I did use a sealer/primer prior to laying down the base coat. Kilz was what I used for it is what I had.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Thanks Greg.
Todd: Greg does knows painting,he's an old T-shirt painter from "Way Back",lol,so you might want to listen to some of his advice.:thumbsup:
Rick


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## co_zee (Mar 28, 2005)

Still paintin' t-shirts, along with bikes, cars, trucks, and buses. I saw where you have routed some Sintra, any tips as I'd like to try doing a track with it.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Tim's tip of getting air onto the bit is probably one of the best tips.
It keeps the slot and bit running cooler and a whole lot cleaner,the "swarf" is also easier to clean from the slots.
Seemed like once i started to blow air across the bit things went way smoother,and you could probably travel a good third faster with the router.
Sintra's got a heck'va an expansion rate,and i found the rail was much easier to install if you did it in a cold room,even outside if it's not to cold.
How are you routing it Greg,fences and the likes.
I'm gonna assume you've been reading Todd's (Tossedman)post's,he's the guy who did 90% of our legwork,i just picked his and Tsooko's brains,for the most part, lol:thumbsup:
Rick


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Paint it. Route it. Got it. Makes sense. My next track's going to be Sintra. No painting involved if I do it right. Thanks Greg and Rick.

Todd


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Gotta fill in the holes first. The screw holes and the couple of places where I screwed up with the router.


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## co_zee (Mar 28, 2005)

Hornet said:


> Tim's tip of getting air onto the bit is probably one of the best tips.
> It keeps the slot and bit running cooler and a whole lot cleaner,the "swarf" is also easier to clean from the slots.
> Seemed like once i started to blow air across the bit things went way smoother,and you could probably travel a good third faster with the router.
> Sintra's got a heck'va an expansion rate,and i found the rail was much easier to install if you did it in a cold room,even outside if it's not to cold.
> ...


Getting air to the bit won't be hard, thanks. 

I use fences and bases (4 for a 4 lane track) of my own design. Think completing the whole lane, non-stop. 

And yes, I have been following Todd's progress just as I read everything I can on the web about routing tracks.


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## co_zee (Mar 28, 2005)

tossedman said:


> Paint it. Route it. Got it. Makes sense. My next track's going to be Sintra. No painting involved if I do it right. Thanks Greg and Rick.
> 
> Todd



If you can glean anything from my babbling, more power to ya!


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

My ideal way would be to have about 4 guys doing the routing,:thumbsup:
One running a good shop-vac behind the router,one guy on an airhose in front of the router,the router guy,and one guy to drink beer and observe (that's the guy i wanta be next time,lol:drunk:thumbsup:

What are you using for rail and lockwire.

If you're still searching around for lockwire,i'm sure pleased with the square Weed trimmer line on mine.

The other thing i'd do is glue the rail in,even if you're only gonna run T-jets.

I'm pretty sure it's sintra's expansion/contraction factor that moves the rails,and not the magnets even the ones on a Neo car.

LOL,i figured you'd read just about everything,you don't miss much:wave:


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## Rick Carter (Dec 2, 2008)

And I'm awake now too MoFo's at 5:30am -LOL!


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

LMAO,morning Sir Rick:wave:


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## co_zee (Mar 28, 2005)

Hornet said:


> My ideal way would be to have about 4 guys doing the routing,:thumbsup:
> One running a good shop-vac behind the router,one guy on an airhose in front of the router,the router guy,and one guy to drink beer and observe (that's the guy i wanta be next time,lol:drunk:thumbsup:
> 
> What are you using for rail and lockwire.
> ...


My router bases already incorporate hooks for vacuum and adding air will be simple enough. SO this will mean I need 2 less hands helping out thuis 3 guys can be enjoying a beverage will the fourth routs!!! Routing party at my place???!!!! 

I bought a spool of Tomy spec rail several years back and have used it up. Lock wire is something along the lines of doorbell wiring. I'd have to check the spool and see if it states the size. I haven't tried the trimmer line, mainly because the last two tracks I built were braided and the one I just started will have braid also. Haven't gotten too far with it though as I have a couple motorcycle projects along with my ol' '52 Chevy PU I am working on. 

Are you finding the trimmer line available in the proper colors for lane marking or are you using a neutral color and striping the lanes? I agree on the gluing as you never know what can happen to pop a rail. Sucks having to stop a race to reset one!

As for reading, your right, I do alot. The internet is a library at your finger tips!


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Sum-bitch,that's one thing we never thought of,adding a hook set-up to the router base:thumbsup:

You supplying the beer at the router party,lol:drunk::wave:

My track's done for now,but Todds still got 2 tracks to go,might have to look into re-designing router bases to accept hoses.

I went with a neutral colour on the lockwire,as the local hardware store only has it in the one colour,and painted between the rails for striping.
They will do the lockwire in differant colours,but i think you have order a min of4,000 ft of it before they'll do colours.

The lanes are bright that's fer sure,lol
You can see how i painted my lanes in this post,it's on pg5

http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=331698&page=5


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

G'morning Ricks and Greg. How y'all doing this fine bright day?
Greg, got any pics of your router bases? Also, let me know what your lock wire is please. I'm always curious to see what other guys are using. Rick's weed whacker line is cheap! So the price is right. Only comes in blue that we've found though. Not that that matters though, you can work around it. 

OK, wrote this yesterday, forgot to hit the Submit reply button. D'oh!


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## co_zee (Mar 28, 2005)

I'll try and get some pics of the old bases. I am in the middle of fabricating some new ones. The lock wire I used to use was a low voltage wire. The label has seen far better days and you can't read it any longer. It was black and I just striped my lanes, which I prefer anyway. Most of the routed tracks these days only rely on the lock wire for lane designation which can make it hard for marshalls during serious racing to find the right lane. The trimmer line sounds like a good way to go as long as it holds up to the test of time and adhesion issues.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

I see that some of you guys are using various electrical wire for lock wire on the rails. do any of you, have any of you considered also using the lock wire for power jumpers to the rail? in most cases the electrical wire is going to be able to conduct better than the steel(maybe stainless) rail. just wondering.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

co_zee said:


> Are you finding the trimmer line available in the proper colors for lane marking or are you using a neutral color and striping the lanes? I agree on the gluing as you never know what can happen to pop a rail. Sucks having to stop a race to reset one!


Greg the trimmer line is all blue. Here's Rick's solution. Hard to miss the lane colour. I think the trimmer line is similar to what Wiztracks uses? Is that right Rick? That's the Northern Rick to avoid any confusion.











co_zee said:


> I'll try and get some pics of the old bases. I am in the middle of fabricating some new ones. The lock wire I used to use was a low voltage wire. The label has seen far better days and you can't read it any longer. It was black and I just striped my lanes, which I prefer anyway. Most of the routed tracks these days only rely on the lock wire for lane designation which can make it hard for marshalls during serious racing to find the right lane. The trimmer line sounds like a good way to go as long as it holds up to the test of time and adhesion issues.


Thanks in advance for the pics. No adhesion problems so far with the trimmer line as lock wire. Mind you Rick's held the lock wire and rail down using 30 minute epoxy. It's not going anywhere.

Todd


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

So I only had a few minutes on Tuesday to fill in some holes that I'd made with a runaway router. I picked up some QuickWood Wood Repair Epoxy Putty. Here's a a test.









Here's the hole and a piece of styrene to fill the slot.









The styrene in the slot and the putty. the slice of QuickWood contains pre-measured portions of activator and base – no measuring or mixing tools are necessary. It's ready to go in about an hour. Just knead it together until it's all one colour, then start filling holes.









Fill the hole with the putty.









Scrape off the excess.









Here's the result. Guess I gotta fix that edge too eh.









Ready for sanding.









I sanded it yesterday but didn't have the camera handy. No school today so I'll get those pics posted next week.

It worked great. Didn't stick to the styrene, sanded easily and hopefully is strong enough to stand up to the wear and tear of a slot car track.

Cheers eh,

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Al i was thinking the same thing.
I updated my jumpers to Rick C's versions,and the 14G solid core household wire,i think would make a suitable lockwire,and it would feed the rail.
It's to late on mine now,but i think it would work to use the lockwire as your power jumpers,and also be the rail lockwire at the same time.:thumbsup:

A little ways down you'll see Rick's taps 
http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=331698&page=6


Greg,the lockwire/rail and bit i used gave me roughly .006" interferance fit,and i also used good old 2 part slow set epoxy in the rail groove,so i'm hoping it never moves a rail.
The epoxy when i was doing glue tests,actually gripped and held the rail really well,i could pull the plastic trimmer line out with a good tug by hand,but the rail would lock onto the slot,and it took a hell'va tug and twisting with pliars to break it free from the slot,so i'm not overly worried about the rails moving,but i still keep my fingers crossed,and knock on wood,:thumbsup:

The trimmer line i used i'm pretty sure is the same stuff Bob's using in his WizzTrac's.
At least by my measuring and eyeballing up the pieces of lockwire i pried out of a section of Wizztrac my buddy Lyle had laying around.
Both measure out at roughly .065" and are square,so i'm thinking they're a very close match if not identical


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Hornet said:


> Al i was thinking the same thing.
> I updated my jumpers to Rick C's versions,and the 14G solid core household wire,i think would make a suitable lockwire,and it would feed the rail.
> It's to late on mine now,but i think it would work to use the lockwire as your power jumpers,and also be the rail lockwire at the same time.:thumbsup:
> 
> ...


Rick and Al, you guys may be on to something here. Have to do some testing to see if 14G copper wire is anywhere close to being the right size for lock wire. Wonder how many power taps a guys would need. Hmmm.....


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Just did a quick measure. The 14G copper wire I have is 1/16" in diameter. You'd need a slot at least 0.0825" wide to use it as lock wire with the rail I have. Does copper wire work as a rail by itself? Just asking...


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## co_zee (Mar 28, 2005)

I'd need to double check but I think the wire I've used in the past is somewhere around 22ga. This would not be what is needed as a power tap wire as it is not heavy enough to equal or exceeed that of the rails. 14ga is the lightest I'd use with 12ga being my preference. Better too heavy than too light in this case!! With a continous rail you only need 1, maybe 2 power taps anyway as there are no joints or connection losses as with a sectional plastic track. And even if it is a T-Jet track, for racing, I believe in power taps.


On my next track I will be using 1/8 braid and do not plan on using any power taps. I have read that they are not really needed with braid as power losses are nil to non-noticable. I will be using coppper this time around as I want this track specifically for gravity racing. I do want to play around with magnetic braid though and see how it well it works for magnet cars. Braid is so much easier to plan for and install than rail.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Todd,i think it would work.
When i updated the jumpers on my track,i was amazed at how well it fit our existing slot.

Greg,i'd disagree on the number of taps needed,lol.
I've got 19 taps,and i still get a fair bit of voltage drop through the rails.
If you're running non-magnet cars it's not a big deal,but if you want to run anything on the radical side,you'd probably want a tap at least every 10ft even on a continous rail.
Using my rude and crude 3156 lightbulb tester which draws roughly 2.5 amps,my farthest point from a tap is 4 ft and i'm measuring close to a 1 volt drop.
I run the radical cars,so it didn't leave me overly happy with that big a drop only 4 ft from the taps

I think i read somewhere the rail is equivalent to about a 18G solid core wire,does anybody know if that's true.
Rick


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

all I know for sure is that amperage flows only on the molecules on the outside of each wire. monster speaker cable with millions of fine filaments can carry much more amperage than a solid copper wire of the same diameter.
leads for electric welding setups are very similar and quite flexible.
I passed buying a huge reel of that welding lead wire a couple decades ago. it was too cheap and I am sure "hot". would have been a good investment though.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Just occurred to me that copper wire might work well for rails but they'd be non-magnetic. Not so hot for those magnet cars.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Use the copper wire as the lockwire for the rail,Todd.
I haven't quite sorted it out,but i think it'd work,just from my experiences of using it to update my jumpers,it's a tight fit,you'd need to roll it in,but that's no differant then using the square weed trimmer line.
I was wondering if a round copper wire,might roll into the slot better/easier then the square weed trimmer line does

00 welding cable is a bear to work with,but man it'd be the ultimate wire for a slotcar track:thumbsup::thumbsup:.


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## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

I hadn't intended for the lock wire to be the only feed to the rail. rather a place to connect the real, under platform out of sight power grid, to the rail and give a better source of conductivity along side the entire rail than the rail itself can provide. 
I just soldered some jumper directly to the rails for a drag strip in NY and then to the power grid running the length of the strip from the controller stations and the common back to the power supply. the track used is original Aurora O-guage and cutting the bottom to reveal the bottom of the rail and then solder to it is always a bit chancy.

in the case of routed tracks which need to have the rail locked in, I was just thinking of a way to increase the quality of the finished product. 

of course I hadn't considered the possibility of exposed copper corroding after some time too and that could cause exponential problems too.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

I was looking at it as the lockwire too Al.
I don't think tarnishing would be that big of issue,as the rail and copper wire are jammed together pretty tight in the slot,but i'd wonder'd if electrolysis might rear it's ugly head from the dissimiliar metals,although copper and steel aren't that bad together,it was still in the back of my mind


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Todd did some s'perimenting,and 14G solid core will work as a lockwire in a 5/64" (.078") slot with our rail,but it's a real tight fit.
If they'res such a thing as a #46 (.081") router bit,things would probably be a little easier to work with.
I measure the rail and 14G wire at a combined .083" using my calipers,and that gives about a .005" interferance fit with the .078" bit,it's workable,but not easy.
A #46 router bit if there's such animal would give roughly a .002" interferance fit,which might be a little loose,but copper and steel adhere to epoxy or CA glues pretty good,so a little glue should take care of that issue if it appears to be a problem.
A little more for you to mull over:wave:


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

I'll check it out, may even have the right size router bit, but I've already got schwacks of weed whacker line and it's way cheaper than copper these days. I might stay with the tried and true. I'll give you a ring i the morning as it obviously didn't happen today.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

LOL,i'm up now,actually slept in for me:thumbsup:

I routed a few slots in a 27" long scrap piece of Sintra to try the idea out.
The weed trimmer line is definitely easier to install and work with,so it might still be the way to go.
You can have this piece of sintra to practice with:thumbsup:


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## Rick Carter (Dec 2, 2008)

I'm up too and only sleep in between heats -LOL!


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Hey you can do that when your dead,racings racings,lol:thumbsup:
Morning Rick
Rick


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

If Todd comes out today with his camera,i'm gonna try and make a video for you,showing how i use the lightbulb load tester,and showing the differances in fuses etc.
Figured a video might be better then trying to s'plain it in writing,my writing sucks at times,


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

One of you guys is an insomniac! It's probably not the guy two time zones east of here.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

:wave::wave:


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

OK, played with the putty a bit more. Filled in the major carnage on the track. I used the plastic strips to keep the putty out of the slot and as a dam to fill in the mess I'd made in the edge of the track.









Here it is after a bit of sanding. Looks to be pretty durable.









Here's the other major boo boo I'd made. All patched up. Just have to go back and fill in the screw holes now. Nail holes too I guess.









Cheers eh,

Todd


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

OK all the holes are filled. On to paint.









Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Looking Good Todd:thumbsup:


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## Tsooko (Oct 15, 2009)

I agree it does look better every time I see it. Harvey Tools does make a 
.080" bit but to be quite blunt I was pretty amazed at how the weed wacker wire worked. The other thing is you guys already have the right base and bits to use it.
Cheers Ted


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Thanks Rick and Ted,

It's coming along slowly because it's at school and I only manage to sneak away for short periods of time to work on it. Going to see about paint next week and then start routing. 

Speaking of routing, I've been trying to find a better way to attach a vacuum hose to my Rigid trim router. I was wandering through Lee Valley tools the other day and I saw their Vaccuflex attachment for a shop vac. It's four sections of vinyl tubing* ranging from 1/4" to 5/8" inside diameter that can be linked to form a flexible, tapered nozzle. Two adapters are supplied to fit most vacuums: the small adapter fits both 1-1/4" and 1-7/8" outside diameter vacuum port cuffs; the large accepts 1-1/2" and 2-1/4" outside diameter.

The second smallest hose fits great in the exhaust port on the Rigid trim router as you can see here.









Here you can see how the hoses for together. They're flexible and may be easier to move around than a big shop vac hose.









Looks great in theory. Haven't turned it you though. I'll give it a whirl on Monday and report back then. In the mean time I'll mark a few hundred assignments and get started on my report cards.

Cheers eh,

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Jeez,i'm starting to feel guilty about not stopping by lately,i'll have to make the time sometime this week to check up on you,he he he:wave:
The vac attachment looks good:thumbsup:
Todd:Crappy Tire probably carries that size of vinyl tubing so it should be relatively easy to get longer pieces if needed.
Rick


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## Rick Carter (Dec 2, 2008)

Todd,

That tubing looks to be the same diameter used on oxygen tanks. You may be able to go to a Pharmacy or Hospital to get some. 

Nice track also!


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Rickety Rickz, thanks for the heads up on the tubing. If I need more I'll know where to start looking.

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Morning Rick and Todd

Todd i might even have some 3/8 diameter vinyl tubing on hand,but that looks a little bigger then 3/8's by the pic's.

Rick


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Hi Rick, That thing comes with 24" of 5/8" tubing, plus 12" each of 1/2", 3/8" and 1/4" tubing. I'm good for now. It's the 3/8" tubing which fits into the router base. The 3/8" fits into the 1/2" which fits into the 5/8" which fits into the vacuum hose adapter. That fits into a tiny plug in the wall. I don't know where the sawdust goes after it goes through the wire to the wall.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Slapped a coat of primer on this afternoon. Will post pics when I'm home from work.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

I think it's getting old. It's turning grey. :tongue:










Someday the infield will be green and the track will be painted grey as well.

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Looks real good Todd:thumbsup:.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

*Did Martha Stewart this morning...*

And I liked it!  The paint went on great. Used a foam roller. No issues with the slots getting filled with paint. Gotta get some finer sandpaper and give it a once over tomorrow before the second coat goes on.










Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Looking Good:thumbsup::wave:


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## Rick Carter (Dec 2, 2008)

NICE! Now if you can get your boy to stop telling me about the up and down weather out there, I may not be as scared to roll thru to run -LOL!


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Weather? There's no problem with weather here. Just 2 seasons. Winter and those three days of summer.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Todd you got it wrong it's Winter , more Winter , still Winter , and road construction,see we got 4 seasons,lol

Hey Stumpy,(you'll know what i mean lol:wave,i might even have a bed kicking around for you:thumbsup:
Rick


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## Rick Carter (Dec 2, 2008)

Lmao!


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

I been lurking along with great intrest and much anticipation. It's great to see the play by play and have the mysteries removed.

...but I gotta know, How come ya painted the track before the rail slots were routed?


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Bill,

I'm trying this to see about getting consistent rail depth. If I route the rail slots and then prime, paint and clear coat the track it'll add some unknown thousandths of an inch of paint to the track. If I paint first and then route hopefully I can control the exact depth of the rail slots. Gotta remember though that I'm flying by the seat of my pants here too. It's all been a learning experience for me as well. But a good one. And fun!

Cheers eh,

Todd


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Oh, duh...

Gotcha!


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Got the second coat of grey on this morning. Next is green for the infield. Hopefully tomorrow.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

*And it actually happened…*

I got the first coat of green on the infield. Looks pretty good. One more coat in the next day or two and then some clear polyurethane on top. Hopefully the tires grip OK.

That green sure makes the track stand out eh.










Cheers eh,

Todd


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## galerdude (Jan 24, 2010)

Saaah ...wheeeeet :thumbsup:


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## Tsooko (Oct 15, 2009)

Looks good Todd.
The green makes the track stand out.
I hope the kids are helping out with that.
keep 'er going!

Cheers Ted


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Yeah they help when they can Ted. Had a few painting again today. Got the final coat of green on. Going to sand the track, do one more coat of grey and then follow up with a few coats of clear.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

We got the third and final coat of grey paint on the track today. Covered up the bits of green we managed to smudge here and there. Now to let it dry and then sand it and start with the clear coat. It's looking better ever day.

Todd


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## Tsooko (Oct 15, 2009)

:thumbsup: Looks better every time I see it, Todd. 
Ted


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Thanks Ted.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

After looking at the track this morning i decided it needed another coat of paint. So, spent a half hour this morning doing just that. Stay tuned.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Was gonna swing by today:thumbsup:

Curiousity is getting to me,lol


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## Rick Carter (Dec 2, 2008)

Slick Rick,

Swing by here instead. Let's really see how curious you are??? LOL!


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Yeah sorry Rick. Didn't get your message until after lunch. Figured you were home by then. How's tomorrow around noon work. Or 9 AM if that's better.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Your place is on my bucket list Rick:thumbsup:.
I want'a be totally out of debt in the next few years,so other then slotcars bleeding me dry,we're living pretty close to the vest for the next couple of years.
Ask Di,she'll tell you how cheap i am these days,lol.

Todd give me a shout tonight after things settle down for you:wave:


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Stopped and took a look at Todd's progess today.
I thought he was colour blind when he told me the colour combo's he was using,lol,but man it works.
The track looks awesome:thumbsup:
Great job Todd
Rick


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Thanks Rick. Only had a chance to put clear coat on about a third of the track this morning. I'll do some more tomorrow. It's starting to look pretty good. Then the fun begins. Routing some 480 odd feet of rail slots.

Cheers eh,

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

I thought i was gonna have to fib about the colour combo's looking good.
But i gotta say they work way better then i thought they would,and no fibbing involved,lol.

When you said green and grey,i was seriously wondering about colour blindness,LOL:drunk:.

You're getting close enough now to see daylight at the end of the tunnel,it's all downhill now,


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## co_zee (Mar 28, 2005)

Looking good! I gave up on my latest endeavor. Tore all the mdf of the frame work so I could use the 1 bys for another project. The mdf will make for a nice bonfire on New year's Eve. 
Giving up on HO anyway. Racing around these parts is pretty well dried up. Been eyeballing a building for a new shop and just might build a 1/24th scale track.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Thanks co_zee. It's coming along slowly. If I had the room and the money this would be a bigger scale rack. Lots easier to make a 1/32 or 1/24 scale track as you don't have to go through the trouble of routing slots for the guide rails and then figuring out how to hold the rails in at an exact height. Keep up posted if you build again.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Took a two week break from things since the track is at school. Got another coat of clear on this morning. I'll take a look and see if it needs another tomorrow and then it's on to the routing. Yikes.

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Stopped in at Todd's this morning to check out his progress on his bat cave.
It's looking good,but man what a project:thumbsup:
He's bit off more then i'd want to bite off,lol

His slotcar room is gonna be 23 ft long,so i've been pressuring him to lengthen his track by 4 ft:wave:

Might bite me in the rear though,as i know who'll get to weld up an extension if he does,lol
Rick


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Hornet said:


> Stopped in at Todd's this morning to check out his progress on his bat cave.
> It's looking good,but man what a project:thumbsup:
> He's bit off more then i'd want to bite off,lol
> 
> ...


Mudding and taping up next. Yuck! Not my favourite job. Think anyone would notice if I just painted it?

Have to see how all the other junk fits in the room first Rick. Then I'll decide how long to make the table. It's 16 feet as we speak.

Nice thing about this track design is that all I need to do to make the whole thing longer is to make two cuts, add a couple of pieces of track and then tell Rick how long to weld the table extension. Easy peasy! I could add two 7 foot pieces to fill the room. You'd really be able to wind the cars out then. Don't know if SWMBO would go for it though.











Cheers eh,

Todd


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Don't know it I mentioned it or not, but this track build you see here is the prototype for my home track. It'd MDF. My home track will be SIntra and will sit on a folding table that Rick welded up for me. The prototype is at the school I teach at and will be used by the students there.

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Rocker panel paint here we come,lol.

And only use 25 watt light bulbs,nobody'll notice then,lol:thumbsup:

The rooms sure look good so far.Did you cut out your last speaker outlet

Don't forget to leave room for an air hockey table,:wave:

Me and my big mouth about lengthing it huh,lol


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Yup, got that speaker box cut out Rick. Started mudding. 

I was playing around with the weed whacker line and that 0.078" bit. It's too tight on the MDF. MDF doesn't have the give that the Sintra has. I may have to see if I can find a slightly bigger bit so the interference fit isn't so tight.


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## Rick Carter (Dec 2, 2008)

Toddinator,

I'm going to be like Rodney Dangerfield in "Back to School" just so that I can race as an elective. The hell with gym, its toy time. We only played with toys in Kindergarten LOL!


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

LOL,i thought you wouldn't need the gym this week.
I figured you'd be looking at new shoes to make the walking more comfortable:wave:
Marlo's being to nice if you're not hoofing it:thumbsup:


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Rick Carter said:


> Toddinator,
> 
> I'm going to be like Rodney Dangerfield in "Back to School" just so that I can race as an elective. The hell with gym, its toy time. We only played with toys in Kindergarten LOL!


Rickmeister, I actually taught a elective class about 5 years ago using slot cars. Here's the course description:

*COURSE MEC1010: MODES & MECHANISMS*
*Level*: Introductory 
*Prerequisite*: None 
*Description*: Students research, design, build and test a model of a transportation vehicle, using a simple power source, common materials and tools.

We routed a 1/32 scale slot car track and built cars. Built the cars from scratch. Chassis from styrene. Pulled our own bodies using a vacuum former. Then raced 'em. It was great for the few kids that were into it.

Problem was, the class was full of kids who had no interest in being there. I only taught it for one term. Now I run a slot car club instead.

Todd


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## Rick Carter (Dec 2, 2008)

LMAO Slickety Rickety! Yeah, I might be hoofing it now 'cause I forgot that I had to pick her up from work yesterday as me and Jarrett was out Chillin' at Red Lobster -LOL!

She might hide my box so that I can't race tomorrow. Then again, I'm not sure how fast she can rent a Crane to move it 'cause its heavier than 4 Anvil's welded together.

Todd,

I tell you, these "Tech Totts" can't appreciate the old school, fun-filled activities because they don't see it being marketed on TV, in magazines and not inside of their friends houses to help them garner a real interest for it.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Oh Oh,now you're in trouble,forgetting to pick her up.

You're never gonna be able to forget that one,it'll haunt you for many a year.

Years ago,i almost backed over Di in a snow storm by accident,and i'm still hearing about it:thumbsup:
She has a scar on her leg from it,and every once in awhile that scar haunts me

Do you get your car back today Rick
Rick


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## Rick Carter (Dec 2, 2008)

Yeah, mistake alright. You didn't know that forensics was my sidebar and City Confidentiality, The New Detectives and all other crime investigative shows are my interest. I've seen those mistake "test runs" before -LMAO!

I'm supposed to get my whip back today. I'm sure I'll get the call when I can't exactly pick it up at that moment but will get my key and then get it when I pick her up from work -on time might I add, LOL!


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

I'm thinking you better take her flowers and chocolates

It can get mighty cold in the kitchen and bedroom,when wifes are unhappy,lol.


Rick you should post pic's of your homemade tire scuffer,i have a feeling a few guys would be interested in it:thumbsup:

No pressure or nothing,lol


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Got some bigger router bits on order. All is paused until they arrive.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Got the router bits in the mail today. Hope to do some testing tomorrow and then start routing soon. Hopefully these are the right size. More to come.

Cheers eh,

Todd


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Looking like 0.085" is the right size bit. Now to fiddle fart around and figure out the proper depth of the cut. I want to set my rails about 15 thousandths high.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Looks like it's time to stop in again :wave:

How's the fit with the .085" bit Todd,does it give much for interferance.
Rick


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Rick, the interference fit isn't real tight. Enough to hold it in. The magnets on cars I have won't pull it out though. I don't have one of your cars that has the magnetic pull of the earth though. Glue should make it all good.

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

LOL,i figure you have one car that's getting close to changing the rotational factor:thumbsup:.

I might have to swing by early next week,curiousity will be getting to me by then:wave:

Are the kids still using the temporary track 

I figure if they're still using it,then there should be some good interest in the routed track

Todd: Princess Auto has 100 ft rolls of 14G wire on sale for $14.99 a roll , till the end of the month

They also have a little 3 inch bench grinder on sale for $34.99 that might intrigue you,probably not the highest quality of grinder,but probably make a decent hobby bench grinder

Rick


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## Rick Carter (Dec 2, 2008)

Slickety Rickety,

You have a little 3 inch bench grinder too -LMAO! Yes, I'm awake. 

Toddinator,

Do you have any updated pictures of the track?


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

LOL,that's not what the wife calls it.:thumbsup::wave:

Morning Rick.:wave:
Should be a parcel showing up on your doorstop sometime this week,sent it out early last week


I didn't see the grinder in the new flyer till i got home,otherwise there might of been another one sitting here.
That's the problem with reading the flyer while walking around the store,
Not that i need another grinder,but you can never have enough,and a little 3 incher sounds intriguing 
Rick


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Rick Carter said:


> Toddinator,
> 
> Do you have any updated pictures of the track?


Rick,

Nope, nothing's happened since the last pics.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Here you are Rickmeister:

Spent a bit more time messing around with routing and trying to science out how to put this all together. Using a 0.085" router bit to hold the rail and the lock wire in seems to work perfectly. Now to hold it all together. Rick (Hornet) used epoxy on his track. Holds the rails in so tight they're never coming apart. Being lazy and not wanting to have to pump four hundred and eighty some odd feet of rail slot full of epoxy I thought I'd try something else.

My buddy Ted (Tsooko) used CA glue to hold his in so I thought I'd try that. It's pretty thin and a guy ought to be able to glue down a bunch of rail in a big hurry.

I picked up some Flexi-Tips for the glue bottle.










They just slip onto the tip of the bottle like so.










Now you just run it along the rail slot on top of the weed wacker line. Once dry the rails are in solid (I hope).










Just before running away from work for the weekend I laid out the fence for the router. Had more than enough to go one lane all the way around. That's 63 point something feet if memory serves me right. Thanks Rick for being the lackey that sanded all of those styrene strips to be thin enough to fit in the guide slot so as I could use them as a router fence. You'd think that 0.0620" strips would fit into a 0.0625" slot but it ain't so.  At least not without a bit of persuasion.










Ready to route.










Cheers eh,

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Looking good Todd..

Finished converting Keith's track to individaul 10 amp power supplies per lane,made a world of differance in racing last night.
Racing was way closer,with noticably less crashing
It might be something to keep in the back of your mind for your home track Todd.
I figure your home track will bring over the likes of me and Lyle,and maybe a couple of the other guys,so you'll "need more power Scotty",lol.

Rick


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

Very neat routed track thread you have here tossedman!

Bob...watching from the side lines...zilla


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Thanks Bob. It's been a learning experience.


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

So, the routing has begun. Got one side of one lane routed. Had to get a new filter for the shop vac as it sucked. Or didn't suck. Or it sucked at sucking. Works lots better now though. More to come tomorrow I hope.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

I figure it's probably time to swing by again:thumbsup:

Curiousity is getting to me,:wave:

Rick


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Stopped by Todd's cave today,curiousity was getting to me.
His basement is turning out nice:thumbsup:
He's actually a pretty decent drywaller,i was impressed with the quality of his mudding and taping.
Looking good Todd:thumbsup:


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Yeah, now I just have to finish it so I can build a home track. I'll start a new thread for that when it happens. The school track's on hold for a bit as the shop it's in has been invaded by kids again and it's under about 3" of saw dust. Nothings going to happen for the nest 5 to 6 weeks for sure. It's time for report cards and then we're off on holidays. 

Todd


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Finally! I got back at this track today after months of no access to it. Got the first lane rail slots routed. Hope to do another one every couple of days or so and then it's on to putting rails and lock wire in (weed whacker line that is). This work thing keeps getting in the way though. I try to post some pics tonight.

Cheers eh,

Todd


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

We're now routing the rail slots and use the 1/16" styrene strips the same way that Luf uses his lexan strips for routing larger scale tracks. Only difference is that we put the strips in the guide slot instead of nailing it down. We had to sand the strips a bit to make them fit though. Well, Rick (Hornet) had to sand the strips. Thanks for that Rick! Funny how a 1/16" strip doesn't fit into a 1/16" slot. Got the fence all the way around so I can route it in one shot.

Here's the latest progress.

Got the fence all the way around so I can route it in one shot.










Gotta do a bit of clean up after routing










Like so.










Moving the styrene fence over to the next lane to route.









More to come.

Todd


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## Super Coupe (Feb 16, 2010)

Coming along nicely!! Gonna be a cool track when it's done.:thumbsup:
>Tom<


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Thanks Tom. Hope so.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Hey it's worth stopping by your school again,lol:wave:

Looks good Todd:thumbsup:
Rick


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Stopped by to check out Todd's progress,and the more i look at his school lay-out the more i like it:thumbsup:

It's looking good Todd,lol:wave:
Rick


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Thanks Rick, slowly but surely eh. Two lanes now routed. Had a bit of the flu run through the house and a convention in there too slowed progress down a bit. Now what to do, route lane three or put the rails in on lane one and see how she goes?

Cheers eh,

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Finshing the routing is probably the way to go Todd,but it'd sure be nice to have one lane working:thumbsup:.

If you install rails now,there's always the chance of fubar'ing them while routing the other rails.

How's the rail depth seem on this lane,i know you did mighty good on the first lanes rails:thumbsup:
Rick


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Rail depth seems ok Rick. I'll hold off on installing any rails for a bit though.


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

Hi, I've enjoyed looking over your thread. Can you tell me what type of rail you are using and where to buy it? Maybe a possible link for the rail/wire. I routed a track myself, used the electrical fishtape but I'm always interested in what others use. Thanks...RM


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Thanks RM. glad you're enjoying it. We're using box stitching wire from here: http://www.wcjwire.com/index.php/products/boxstitching_wire. Already made a couple of tracks with it with a couple of other guys. The rail works pretty good. 

Todd


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Just a heads up,the stitching wire isn't quite the size listed.
The 0.103" X 0.020" that we used actually measures in at about 0.099" X 0.019".

It also needs a good wipe down with a cleaner of some sort,as it's shipped with a protective coating,i used Brakeclean on a rag.

My track's been in operation for a year and a half now,and has a fair bit of use from rail dragging high downforce cars,and is showing no rail wear,so the stitching wire seems fairly durable.

I rail honed mine,and it's a pile of work to hone the stitching wire rail, they seem to be a fairly hard steel,not fishtape hard though,lol

You'll also want to use more then one power tap,as it does have a bit of resistance on a long run.

Rick


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Yeah, what Rick said. :thumbsup:


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## tossedman (Mar 19, 2006)

Finally got all 4 lanes routed for the rails. I'll get started later in the week laying some rails in. 

Todd


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## gotcorn1 (Apr 21, 2020)

Rick Carter said:


> Slickety Rickety,
> 
> You have a little 3 inch bench grinder too -LMAO! Yes, I'm awake.
> 
> ...


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

tossedman said:


> Finally got all 4 lanes routed for the rails. I'll get started later in the week laying some rails in.
> 
> Todd


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