Tools
Design
Test Build
Dragon Raceway Build - Rally Build - Shelves
Electronics
Cars
Racing
Other Tracks
Comment
Links
Home Tools Design Test Build Dragon Raceway Build - Rally Build - Shelves Electronics Cars Racing Other Tracks Comment Links Home On this page: |
After the relative success of the test track, it was time to get stuck into doing the "real thing" - although I had originally intended to make a track based on a design I had seen previously, space was an issue so made a redesign for a track that would pack away when not in use, but still provided a relatively good foorprint.
I finally drew and decided on the track design below, which fits into a 2.4m x 1.2m size sheet of MDF. This is the standard size for a sheet and fits in quite well with the area I have for storage.
The design went through a few changes, the bottom right inner corner is now a bit sharper (10 - 30cm radius, was 15 - 35cm) and then rejoins the track just before going under the bridge. The drivers colours are also renamed as Telephone wire has Black and Green in it
In the initial drawing where the marks are beside the track is where the two rises will be, bridge will be 10mm perspex, with some perspex legs to hold it up. I've got a test piece of perspex here to trial.
Where it's written "Squeeze Corner" is where the rails will go in to a 25mm gap between each (normal is 40mm) and then come out to the sharpest corner on the track, right after the hairpin turnaround.
Direction on this drawing is R to L on the top straight (closest to Drivers stations).
Drivers stations will be a 100 x 600 mm area which will have the plugs, a place to rest controllers and cars. I'm toying with the idea to put a hinged lid on there so I can store stuff underneath (eg cars, controllers) when it's stored.
I've made the two more difficult corners closer to where marshalls would stand.
The design was transferred to the sheet of MDF, trying to keep all the angles as they had been originally drawn. Although there was some scope for movement which happened during the second drawing.
This photo shows the main guide rail slot routed. The spacing was used as advised in the forum, with 4.7cm between lanes and 1.3cm for the outside (total width = 20cm). After reviewing this, I found that the outer lanes were too close to the wall, not allowing for any 'sliding' to happen, and thus giving the drivers on the outer lane a slight advantage where the back of the cars would be kept on the track, where others might come out. After looking at this for a while, I decided to flip the board over and re-route the whole track, this time with 4cm between each lane and the boarders (20cm total width).
Tested the new router jig for the width where the rails would run. On my first jig I had calculated to the middle of the rail which caused some drama in the tighter corners. This time I worked out the width from the centre point of a guide slot to the outside of the rail slot, then added 0.4mm for the width of the rail. As you can see from this photo, the routing guide works quite well, and didn't cause any drama in the tighter corners. I also used the new router to test the depth of the rails, this is the most critical part of the track, and a bit of extra time here can be the difference between a working track and fire fodder.
I believe that building the test track has given me the confidence to know that everything can be fixed - but I've also found that each track has it's own set of problems, for instance when routing the smaller (1200mm x 900mm) track, I used a piece of scrap wood to make the straights, however when making this bigger track, I initially purchased a piece of angle iron, but it flexes enough that ends don't match, which added to the grief of the first design and route. I found a larger piece of scrap wood and backed that with a few 'flat sheets' clamped down to add strength to the back to route 'straight' straights.
This photo shows the overall routed board, with the original spacing.
After doing the re-route, I added some locations for the reed switches to sit inside. These sizes were dictated by the physical size of the reed switch (1.8mm diameter, 27mm length) and placed around the center of the main straight. Later the reed switch holes were covered with a start/finish line to mark the beginning and end of a lap.
This was my original design for the control panels. As we run 6.35mm plugs, this was a bare minimum. The fuses were 'highly recommended' to be installed for protection to the power supply, and after studying a few other people's drivers stations, I decided to add direction switches for the track. I considered these three items to be the most simple drivers station requirements, although I did consider adding other items such as Volt and Ammeters, track call switches, and a multitude of other options, in the end this is what I went with. The drivers station backboard is the lid from a Jiffy Box, which cost around $au2.50 from the local Electronics store.
The drivers stations were painted to match the lane colours on the track.
Although this photo is out of sequence, I thought I'd add it here showing the final drivers stations before installation to the track. All three holes were to be a 12mm diameter and I only had a 10mm and 13mm drill bit to use, so I went on the cautious side and used the 10mm bit to create the holes, then used a file to enlarge the holes to the correct size.
Finished drivers stations, on the track. Added a place to put your controllers and plastic track was added as a place to put cars when not racing - in retrospect I probably could have added power to this for sanding wheels, that may still come in the future.
The bridge area was cut out and supports added. Originally the bridge was going to be a piece of 6mm perspex, to allow drivers and Marshalls to see under the covered area. However when testing the router through the perspex parts, it appears that the larger router (with an adjustable speed) was able to cut through the perspex with no issue, but the smaller router (which I was using for cutting the rail routes, and is a single speed trimmer/router) caused the perspex to melt back into itself and leave a large mess, rather than a neat route.
The next step along the way was to add some paint to the track. I first primed this with an MDF primer, as MDF will suck the paint into it if it's not primed correctly. This first photo is the white primer laid down.
Next I added a light grey (this colour is known as "Paver Grey") which was in a smaple pot of paint (400ml) - the track took most of the sample pot, and I ended up buying a second for the bridge and a few 'touch ups'.
I encountered a few small problems with paint in the slots, but removed it as I painted. The primer chews through foam brushes though - it went through three rollers and one cutter (you'll notice the area around the drivers stations, the last part I did, is pretty rough around the edges!!)
Although I've ommited a picture of the complete track with the blue backing, you can see the gist of it in this photo. The blue was selected as I found a can on special at Bunning, and 2 litres was more than enough for this track (there is still probably 1 litre left!).
The laying of the rails wasn't particularly hard, just a very time consuming job - 4 lanes, by 2 rails each, by around 1 to 2 hours per rail and it soon adds up! The photo below is when I had stripped the telephone cables of the internal wires, and preparing to put the rails, fishing wire and telephone cables all together.
I took some photos during the railing, and you can see here the tight tolerences that are dealt with.
One of the features of this track is the 'squeeze' section, which takes place around the tight inner corner. I've lined some cars up so that you can see the effect it will have over cars going around. It has the potential to make a slow racer cause accidents, as would happen in a real race situation, and should allow some 'strategy' to take place when racing.
After spending enough time on the ground and various low positions, the track finally got some fold away type legs - this track is non-permanant and lives in the garage, so being able to pack it away was one of the original requirements.
Added the obligatory start/finish line.
Overview of the completed track.