Shelby-Hendrix Speedway (SHS) under construction

[Nor Cal Mike]

[HomeRacingWorld]

Well, I have to back up a little.

When I said Luf's strip, what I really meant was using the "strip method". I have tried Mike's idea and it works very well and a lot easier to get too. Thanks for the reminder Mike.

I drew the design in pencil including the areas to cut away as a guide as shown in the photos. I routed the track and then double checked by apron spacing. Then cut the excess away.

[Ember]

[slothead]

Wow, now I get it!

I'd purchased some 6' lengths of shelving track after hearing about this approach awhile back but forgot about it. So I spent a few hours cutting 3/4" wide by 1" tall blocks of PVC molding and attaching them to a shelving track to use as anchors. I also hot glued some pieces of styrene tubing to a thin 3/4 inch tall piece of PVC molding and now have two routing guides to choose from.

I bent the metal shelving track into a random 'S" shape and easily routed a cool curve on some scrap MDF I could have wasted days trying to compute the math for. Then I used the other guide to see what the hairpin turn would look like and it came out great too - in no time at all. I cut the 8" outer radius slot first and then moved the guide in an inch and a half or so and did the inner slot. I had to abandon my planned 2" lane spacing because my router's base is 2 1/4" from bit to edge, and the guide screws would have damaged the outer slot. So I improvised and the world didn't come to an end - imagine that.

Lessons learned: 1) It makes sense once you try it. 2) Your slots won't line up perfectly with your drawing but it doesn't matter - who says the drawing was right anyhow? 3) If a newbie asks 'what's the radius of that turn on your track' replying 'I don't know' is an acceptable answer because if it flows nicely from entry to exit it's good enough.

I also now understand why Harry routes first and then cuts out the section to ensure the apron is wide enough. After a few hours sleep I hope to give that a try for real.

Slothead

[Nor Cal Mike]

Science Dictionary, American Heritage
[i][b]"chaos (kā'ŏs')
The behavior of systems that follow deterministic laws but appear random and unpredictable. Chaotic systems very are sensitive to initial conditions; small changes in those conditions can lead to quite different outcomes.[/b][/i]"

Now there are some folks who like very evenly spaced lanes, constantly perfect radius curves that all turn 90 or 180 degrees. Those tracks come out looking manicured to me like plastic sectional track all lined up in a neat row. That is OK if that is your thing but I have always leaned towards the organic approach. Nature abhors a straight line, perfectly parallel lines or constant radius curves.

[slothead]

I'm seeking ideas and suggestions for how to connect sections of routed track so the slots are aligned. I'm going to bolt/screw pieces of MDF together and route the slots from one section to the next as I go to make sure they are aligned. Then I'll take the sections apart for painting, taping, and wiring, and want to have the slots match back up when the sections are reconnected.

Also, is this a reasonable order for making a road course: drawing layout on MDF, routing slots, cutting out sections, painting, taping, wiring, putting the sections together on the table?

Also, I don't have a moisture problem in the barn but would it still make sense to paint all sides of the MDF sections?

Thanks - HRW is a great resource.

Slothead

[Fast Co.]

If you haven't started routing yet, I would butt two mdf sheets against one another, secure them to a work surface with clamps and then rout across the seams. That's what I did with my track and the slots align perfectly.

I guess the "order" for making a road course will depend on how permanent it is (ie. whether you want to be able to easily disassemble it for transport, storage etc..)

My track is permanent. I worked on the table surface I built for the track. I drew the course first on paper, drew it again on mdf, laid out my sheets (butting them up against one another and routing across the seams as stated above), cut off the excess mdf where necessary (elevated sections of track), glued and/or screwed the sections to the table surface or an elevated substrate, painted with latex primer/paint, laid brass tape, and wired her up.

The reason I mentioned the permanence of your track is that if you want to be able to disassemble it you may want to lay the brass tape extending it to the edge of each section before you fasten them.

Have fun building it. And, of course, post pictures of your progress.

Cheers,

Steve

Oh, btw - one neat trick for routing increasing/decreasing radius turns is to set a large round bucket (5 gallon bucket or something with a larger diameter) on the surface of the mdf. Attach one end of a string to the bucket and on the other end of the string attach a pencil. Keeping the string taut trace a line around the bucket - as you progress the string will wrap around the bucket pulling the string in tighter to the center of the bucket. You can use this line to nail your router guide to. The length of the string will determine the radii of your slots.

[chappyman66]

I didn't have Luf's kit, but vinyl corner bead for arches works well:


I just screwed it down so it "looked good" and went to work. I routed the middle lane and then went on the inside and outside to get my three lanes (I only wanted three).

Clamp your pieces together and route across the joints. I did this and the slots are perfectly aligned. Both bondo and Durham's Rock Hard work great.....I used bondo because it sets faster (just my preference).

Yes, paint both sides of the MDF just to protect it.

Use the brass screws/bolts through the track to give you the power taps and wire across the joints for certain power. Since my track gets disassembled and stored in the winter, I used the multi-pin connector method to join the sections and I have no problems.

Don't sweat it too much....even routed tracks can change pretty easily with bondo and a couple rolls of copper tape.

[slothead]

Thanks to everyone for ideas and comments.

I'm finding out it takes longer to transfer the design to the MDF than imagined. Routing random curves on scrap wood is a breeze, but implementing a plan is time consuming. I'm making progress and have 2 of 6 sections just about done. BUT, trying to route a 6' section during a commercial break was a mistake. I mispositioned the guide, backed the router up when I hit a snag, and all-in-all created a mess for no good reason. I'll be buying Bondo in the morning and trying to get back on track.

My guides work pretty good but are a hassle to constantly reposition. I need a router base shaped like a cam so lane spacing can be adjusted without needing to use a guide for each lane. With a router base that went from 2" to 7" wide I could place a guide along the edge of a section and route both slots.

Does anyone know of a way to route slots freehand? Is it possible to follow a line using one of the tools that looks like a heavy duty Dremel? If I didn't have to continuously reposition the guides I could make much better progress.

Slothead

[dreinecke]

Do not route freehand! It will be very jagged. Bondo will fix the issues.

I routed all three lanes so I moved my strip many times...such is the joy of uneven spacing.

[chappyman66]

Agreed on the freehand idea.....don't do it. I have several routers for my woodworking hobby and you pretty much always use some sort of template or guide. The cut has no slop to it.....if you aren't guided, your slot will be very wobbly indeed (and then your cars will not be well-guided, no matter what guide flag you use). OK....bad humor attempt aside.........

It takes a bit of time to reposition the guide for each section. Remember, you are only doing this for the first lane (EDIT: unless you want uneven lane spacing) so be patient. I know it's hard when you want to see that first lane. Make sure it's done right, because all of the other lanes are routed using the first lane as a guide, and any little wobbles in the first lane are reproduced in the others. I have a small wobble at the beginning of my main straight and it's in all three lanes because of this. But once the first lane is done, the others go very quick indeed. And if you really want, you can make a cam-shaped router base from plywood easily enough if you don't want to buy Luf's kit (someone may even loan you one).

If you want uneven lanes, take the time and use the guide. You won't be happy with a jagged slot when you start running the cars.

[Nor Cal Mike]

Don't know why it is taking so long to set up your guide.

[Ember]

If you want even spacing why not route one lane and use a it of yellow tongue (for joining tongue and groove flooring) in the slot as a fence/guide for the next lane?

[slothead]

Thanks again to everyone for your comments. The biggest problems were sketching out the layout on the MDF and then bending the guide (metal shelf bracket) so the slot was reasonably close to the plan. Slowing down has made things go a lot smoother. Plus, I found a strip of Formica that fit into the slot and in no passing areas put it in the first slot cut as a guide for the second slot with 2 3/8" lane spacing.

All I have left to route is the start/finish section that ties everything else together, and then go back and re-route some mess-ups. I filled some with Elmer's Wood Filler which was still crumbly after a day of drying so I found Bondo at an auto parts store.

Tomorrow night I should be sanding and then moving on to painting on Sunday. If anyone has a specific paint to recommend that Walmart or a small town hardware store is likely to carry please let me know. Those are easiest for me to get to.

Slothead