Routing an existing track switching to braid

[Modlerbob]

[Modlerbob]

I have driven a little now on the braided lane and I believe the change will be well worth the investment. The voltage reads the same but the increased current (amperage) is making the cars much more responsive, if not faster. No more racing delays due to broken copper tape and a smoother drive.

[Pappy]

Lookin good. :text-bravo:

[mattb]

Good Bob. You should get better throttle response with the braid. Kind of like having more taps around the track.

I got some of the pre-taped braid from Lot Car Corner and have to say that it is really easy to use.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

I used several of the Weldwood products over the years including the industrial red sprayable and the yellow brush-on, and it really is the best there is. I always dread the mess and the smell, but there's nothing even close to the quality. And I can take a lot of stink and cleaning up for the assurance of doing a job once- no call backs. It pleases me that Weldwood is just as good on little narrow adhesion of braid as it is on 10' X 4' sheets of sterilizable wall covering for surgeries and grocery store meat cutting areas. I'm a fan. While I was doing doctoral studies at Baylor (insanely expensive program), I worked 16 hours/day doing that stuff. Weldwood all the way!

[Modlerbob]

DeBary Glen has now been completely rebraided. Even though we worked carefully there are still a few places where the rubber cement got into the slots so we will be spending some time getting the slots clear for racing. No more worrying about winter time copper tape breakage.

[chappy]

Bob ank you for posting this series of changeovers. I also will be changing to braid and my greatest fear was the single underpass .
If you could help with a bit more info on the bit under the bridge it would be most useful to me.
Thanks, and great job
Bob

[Modlerbob]

Bob, we finally decided to leave the structure in place and instead used an appropriate chisel to cut a very shallow channel for the braid. We were able to router right up to the edge of the overpass as a light duty router was used. The cars run under the bridge without any difficulty. Overall it took much less time to go this route vs. cutting away the bridge and reinstalling it. And we were able to keep 2 lanes open throughout the process which took about 4 weeks ( 4 sessions over the period of about a month).

[mattb]

If you decide to rout under the over pass, don't be scared. Cutting out an overpass and re-installing it isn't really a hard or complicated job. Don't be afraid to jump in with a sabre/jig saw and fine blade and just cut it out. Putting it back together can be done several ways and none of this is hard to do.

[chappyman66]

I have considered both options. Having built several tracks, to me it's faster and easier to cut out the overpass and reinstall with the joiners underneath.....but that's my opinion. It does require filling and smoothing the joints and repainting but that's part of track building anyway.
But kudos to you for going the chisel route.... that's real handiwork!

[chappy]

Thanks Bob. Really helpful. I just thought about the dremel with the 90° angle.
It may just work. Last time i used a chisel it cost me 18 stiches in the left arm lol.
Thanks again
Bob

[Modlerbob]

The key element in my decision about the underpass was having the ability to keep at least two lanes running throughout the process. The fellow that did 90% of the work has a job and couldn't complete all the work in just one weekend. And I wanted to be able to run cars for that month.

We had our first race on the braided track on Labor Day and we had a blast.

[chappy]

Ordered my braid yesterday with the tape and bit.
May as well get started.
Bob