Track routing guide

[HomeRacingWorld]

You are welcome and glad you came out of the closet :)

I used Luf's strip so I can't comment. I will say that for me it was worth it. I have built quite a few tracks with it.

You can get the same strip from an Auto glass shop and make one yourself, but honestly it was worth it to have it all pre-drilled. I had to make one myself and drilling all those holes was a pain and wished I had just ordered another...lol

You can just buy the strip from Luf instead of the whole kit.

I'll let the real pros share their other methods.

Again welcome, glad to see you.

[goosenapper]

Thanks for the tips and quick replies. The router I bought was a cheapo used job with no dust collector. I have seen videos of guys routing and holding a vacuum hose right next to the router, so that was my plan. I figured that I'd need ear plugs or even those ear muffs that the guys on aircraft carriers wear! What I didn't consider was the breathing and eye protection. Thanks for pointing that out. It would be a shame to have to report that my track was done, but that I was blind and on a respirator.

Do you feel that routing kicks up too much dust and debris to do it indoors? I was hoping to just attach the MDF to my plywood base and have at it in my attic.

Harry's point about buying from Luf and not having to drill all of the holes myself is a good one. And I suppose that if you've made it last for 5 tracks, that it is durable. I will be working in a space that's only about 9' x 5', so I may have some tight bends. I had read somewhere that a few folks have had the strip snap while trying to rout tight turns, and that's what had me questioning it's durability.

Art Evans' books about racing in the fabulous fifties and old Sports Cars Illustrated magazines are the main inspirations for this project. My plan is to fashion a track like it was set up for a weekend on an abandoned airfield, complete with a straightaway that's painted up like a runway, and the service roads acting out the parts of the rest of the road course. Given the size, I believe that it will be only a single lane time trial course. I just ordered a LeMans Miniatures Alfred Neubauer figure from Bruce at Cincyslots, and plan on placing him at the starting line. I figure he'll look good standing there with his stopwatch.

As for where I'm from, I've lived in Lancaster, PA for about five years now. I've met some HO racing guys in the area, but they run on plastic. I've heard about 1/24-1/25 scratch builders not far from here, but I've not yet found anyone that's just up for some non-competitive 1/32 running.

[The Old Jaybird]

Please reconsider ANY PLANS to rout INDOORS!!!! Routing MDF creates tremendous amounts of very fine dust, that will literally hang around for months. Do all routing outdoors and have a shop vac handy at the very least. A landscape leaf blower is helpful too, although might hack off your neighbors when all your dust settles on their cars. Even just cutting the braid gain, a typical pass of 3/4" wide by only .040/.045 deep creates a huge dust storm.

TOJ

[goosenapper]

[Nor Cal Mike]

The router guide that I have seen that I like best is a plastic door stop. I forget who used it but it was sweet. It is thicker than the thin lexan strips most folks use so it requires fewer nails to hold it stable. Pictures that I saw posted showed it bent to a pretty small arc without breaking. For gradual arcs like in broad sweeping curves, I have used plastic cove molding. For tighter arcs I use metal shelving tracks with holes drilled through the edges to hold the nails. It is rigid enough to only require nails about every 4 inches. It has a finite amount of bending in it before it begins to fatigue. I usually start by routing the broader arcs first and then bending it tighter and tighter as I proceed routing the curves around the track. One strip should build one track if you are careful while bending it. I have also seen posts of folks using 90 degree plastic drywall corner.

[SOBwanhoser]

Luf's guide is "THE" guide and well proven but I cheaped out when I routed mine and used something like this readily available from the hardware store - It was about $7:
http://www.drywalltips.org/bullnose-cornerbead-arch.htm

The plastic one has holes already in it and I just used some finishing nails in a zig-zag pattern to hold it in place snuggly(a lot-o-nails!). You can trim the hole sections to create more complex curves. It was about 8 ft? long. Worked great but if you want "perfect" straights, you should probably use a straight edge of some sort. I like my straights with slight imperfections, so no problems with it! Plus, once I finished, I used it as the outside wall on my large sweeper curve. Double duty - bonus! :clap:

Once you have one lane, you can either use the guide to make the other lanes (creating free-flowing lane spacing) or create a jig that has a pin/nail/screw in the lane and the router bit set some distance away from it - I've seen pictures of some who used simple peg board and screwed it to the router base.

If you are married and decide to route this thing indoors, you'd better sleep with one eye open :wink: - as MDF dust is incredibly fine, voluminous and unhealthy. Even with a dust catcher hooked up to the shop vac, I laid a layer of dust throughout my garage. (I filled the 3 gallon shop vac canister a couple times).

Also, I'd recommend eye protection and a mask. Outdoors on a nice day is the ticket.....I just routed mine right on the garage floor but next time it's the driveway :doh:

Remember the router should only go in one direction against the guide (I think left to right??) Also, use a solid carbide bit, not a carbide "tip" bit - My 1st carbide tip bit lasted about 7 seconds before it broke and launched at warp speed. The solid bit is more expensive but trust me, well worth it!
http://www.woodmagazine.com/woodworking ... direction/

Good luck and don't sweat it! I'd never used a router before either - I went slow, didn't force it and it was a piece of cake. Also, don't worry about slight imperfections in your slots. I found out that once in use, the track is extremely forgiving to wobbles or slight variations and you won't even notice it - Constant depth is the key, so keep the router flat to the board!

[goosenapper]

I really appreciate the tips and insight that everyone is bringing here. When I first wrote this, I was specifically looking for alternatives for Luf's lexan strip, hence my title of "track routing guide." Of course, I now realize that from the board home, the title makes it looks like I was beginning a how-to guide on track routing. Whoops, I blew the semantics on that one! :doh: So thanks to everyone for popping in here to share their knowledge on both what they used as a router guide and on track routing in general.

SOBwanhoser- Thanks for the links and tip on getting a solid carbide bit. I do only have a carbide tipped one, so I'll have to hunt down a solid one before having a go at it. I like the bullnose arch cornerbead idea as a guide. I think I'll end up either giving that a shot first or the metal shelving racks that Nor Cal Mike mentioned, depending on what I can find at my local hardware store. As for the MDF dust, I've been hunting for a vacuum attachment for my router, but it's over ten years old and the usual places have turned up empty. I think routing outside is going to be the ticket.

As I've said, I'm still in the information gathering/layout planning phase, but I will post pictures and let everyone know how it goes once I get started. I've never ran on wood, just on Jiada and Scalextic Sport, but all of the tracks that I've seen here and other places online have really got me itching to create something a lot better than clicky-clack track for my cars to enjoy. :tools-hammerdrill:

[SOBwanhoser]

[quote="goosenapper I had hoped to lay the wood/MDF in place and then rout only because I will be working with 2' x 4' sections. That is as large as I can shove in my car, as I have no way of getting a 4 ' x 8' section home from the lumber yard. Matching up the routed lines on several pieces when they aren't in their final resting places might be tricky,but I suppose it's better than breathing in formaldehyde. Thanks.[/quote]

That is exactly what I did for my track - My idea at the time was to see how cheap I could make the track(since named "Frugal Flats") from start to finish, so I picked up small pieces of MDF "scrap" from the local big box hardware store. It seems that, exactly for the reason you stated above, in the city people need smaller pieces of MDF cut for them. So, people have to buy the large piece, pay to have it cut and the store keeps the leftover.

I was able to pick up several 4'x4', 2'x8' etc "scrap" pieces of MDF for $2 to $5 a piece. I just aligned them on the garage floor and butted them together, nailed a couple of strap 1"x2"'s across the 2 pieces to hold them in place and then nailed the router guide across the 2 boards. Then routed away (make sure the bit depth only goes about 3/4 of the way through the MDF). The good thing about the corner bead guide I used was it was at least 8ft/long, so it permits you to make long cuts across 2 boards, so the slots are already aligned and no need to match up! I just made sure to never end a cut in an arc/corner, as this would be hard to match up and could have an effect on the flow of the curve.

[2FER SLOTS]

Lots of good tips here :clap:
I built my own lexan strip....cost $5 drill press and 20 min for the holes and has done 3 tracks,so far.
Another thing that works well for a guide is a trammel. Depending on your track design it can work very well for making identical.constatnt radius turns. I prefer a straight edge for straights, jiggle in the middle of a long straight really upsets a car....I found out the hard way :oops:
Most definitely route outside, our Little King track is built up from 13 pieces and the joints all line up fine. It was routed in the driveway then carried downstairs.
Looking forward to seeing your track plan....concept sounds interesting :think:

[Fast Co.]

You've got some great tips here and I agree with what everyone has said so far.

Don't be intimidated by the router. It is way easier than it seems.

Definitely wear a respirator. MDF dust is nasty. On my first track I wanted to clean up the edge of a curved section of track and I was too lazy to fetch my respirator to route a few short inches. I regretted that decision for a couple of days as I had stuffed up sinuses and a mild headache. I was cutting clear through the sheet though and that produces A TON of dust. Cutting slots will produce lots of dust but a lot of it stays caked up in the slot and will need to be cleared out with a flat head screw driver (or comparable tool) and vacuumed clean.

It's preferable to rout outside. If you rout indoors as I did you will have a lot of clean up to do.

Luf's lexan strip is a handy tool because it's flexibility allows you to rout variable radius turns but it's not the only tool. Be creative. You could use a metal garbage can lid as long as it's secured to the mdf and table properly and if you want a constant radius turn. I used a 12' length of metal angle iron to rout the front straight on my track. You could draw any curve you can imagine on a scrap piece of mdf cut the edge with a jig saw and sand it smooth and use that as a guide - more work than you'd probably want to do but the point is that any firm edge can serve as a router guide provided it is secured firmly to your sheet of mdf.

An open frame railroad style table is great if you want a lot of elevation changes. It provides more than enough support for your track and it will save you the cost of the plywood sheets. I used a plywood base on my circuit because I already had the tables built for my old Ninco layout. If you expect to climb on top of your track then a plywood base is the way to go.

Here are some routing tips I put together in another thread:

http://homeracingworld.us/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=276

[dreinecke]

Ok, so I march to a slightly different beat...

I used Luf's strip...everywhere. I never used the Sintra or the baseplate. Why? None of my lanes are equally spaced...anywhere. I did that on purpose, and while it won't make for the best track for club racing, get three drivers on it, and it is a battle to the end. Only the outer lanes can pass perfectly everywhere and even those are tight. The middle lane acts as a block or chaser for most of the course. You have to drive this track. Not everyone's cup of tea, and a TON more work than doing it the "normal" way, but that's what is great about the hobby - each person can personalize their track!

As for the benchwork - as has been said; an open style bench works well. I use 1"x4" wood for mine with 4x4 legs. I can sit in the middle of it on 1/2" MDF with no sag.

Take a look at my website - I show how I built my tables and everything else. Hopefully that helps you out.

[Tycosaur]

I have re-registered last week and have finalIy got some time to check the new site out and came across this section. I might be the one a couple of you have mentioned.
Well I took a different approach when routing my track, I used a piece of 7049 BW Stop located at Home Depot. I drilled holes every six inches and then attached 2x2's cut to 6 or eight inches if I recall. Next a bunch of quick clamps to attach them onto the board, the best part is you can quickly correct any error by simply releasing the clamps and repositioning them.

Here are a few pic's of the process.











On long straight runs I removed the 2x2's a screwed 2x4's onto the stop door stop bead.

Tycosaur

[boopiejones]

luf's strip is great. i've built many tracks and it is the best tool for the job. if you own a drill press, you could buy an 8 foot length of lexan for about $10 and drill your own holes.

like others have said, i wouldn't build the track indoors. maybe in a garage with the door open and a fan going, but even that is going to be dusty.

i just hold my shop vac hose between my thumb and pointer finger and hold it close to the router. gets about 90% of the dust.

[HomeRacingWorld]

This thread just keeps getting better.

Thanks guys for the time and effort.

[subdude17349]

Goose,

May I suggest you check out the IHSR club? We're almost in your backyard, have done a bunch of routed tracks, and even pitched in and did an "Amish Track Raising" for one of our guys. (built a 55' 4 lane routed track in a day, and were running cars that night)

http://interstatehomeslotracingclub.yuku.com/

And if you just want to "play with the toy cars" sometime, I'm just south of York.

Best,

Jim