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Remember Safety First. Always read and follow the instructions that come with your power tool. Wear safety glasses when working with all power tools. Wear a mask when working with MDF. Exercise tolerance and caution when working with any power tool.
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Prior to starting the build, I realized I would need a few tools to build, measure, bang, screw, and otherwise mutilate some harmless pieces of wood into my pride and joy of racing. Some of these tools you will require to get started; some may be specialized for my needs.
I bought a cheap router from Big W; this was on special and has a 1/4" (6.35mm) shank. Although I'm not yet an expert in routing, this has 6 speeds, which I'm guessing means it's "variable" speed.
I initially bought 2 HSS (High Speed Steel) router bits which matched the specification I needed. These were much cheaper than the Carbide Steel bit that you see in the picture, however when I received them and routed my first piece (a set up block, elsewhere on this site) the rails kept falling out. Initially I thought this may have been due to the fact that my block was only 700mm x 500mm and there wasn't enough length to keep these in, however after some discussion on the , another potential routed track maker (Drew) also found his bits were not a true 1/16". These were sent back and a single Carbide Steel bit bought in their place.
I spotted this box of router bits at Bunnings one afternoon when I was there for a totally separate building exercise. Grabbed them as the whole box was less than the cost of a single router bit, quality is still to be tested.
Another cheap tool from KMart. This one was on special for Fathers day at half price, and I haven't seen one in the shops for under $au60 prior to this. Snapped this one up while on special!
Digital Verniers from Bunnings, they weren't the cheapest, as the ones without the digital readout were about half the price, however when dealing with such small measurements, they were a good buy. Sontax brand.
I should've bought one years ago! This little hand tool reams a larger hole for the screw head to sit flush with the wood/material. No longer will I be changing bits in the drill for larger bits to do this job.
I'd already owned one of these, and it's been a good tool over the years. Most of my "straight cuts" were done with this, and I've probably got a lot of them to within a 2mm tolerance. What more can be said about the jigsaw?
This has to be the most common tool; over the years I've collected a few - I now have 4. The first is a lightweight all-purpose drill that I've had for more years than I care to remember. The second is a cordless (battery) powered drill with recharger. I find this is good for certain situations, but the battery seems to be running out of life quickly recently. May be time to replace that battery! Lastly, I've bought a bench drill. This was on special at Bunnings for $au55 and now sits in my garage/workshop in pride of place. I must admit I've needed one of these for a while for those more accurate hole creation.
I bought this about a year ago for another project. Another $au15 well spent.
My old "bachelor days" vacuum lives on! I bought this as a cheapie many years ago and now it lives for attaching to the router add-on to suck up all that dust and junk that comes out of it.
I should also point out that none of these tools were bought especially for the job of creating the routed track (apart from the router), they are pretty basic tools and something every man should have. Mens tools are the equivalent of womens shoes!!!
As well as the bought tools, I also needed to make some specialized tools to complete the job. Here is a listing of a few of these.
These two jigs were designed to give an accurate radius for a pencil and router respectively. The compass is a small strip of wood with 1.58mm (1/16") holes at measured places. This was to draw the plan out on the wood. The second jig is similar, but with the facility to screw the router in place and make the cuts for the corners.
In HO scale, there are three routes required; one for the guide pin and two for the rails (compared to larger scales, where the guide pin has the power directly to either side). This guide is designed to be a constant distance from the pin to the rails.
Although this is hardly a jig (more like a couple of pieces of scrap wood with nails in them), it rates a special mention as it saved a lot of time. When I first started routing straights, I moved the router to corner A and put a piece of straight wood against it, clamped it, then moved the router to corner B, moved the wood in place and clamped it. Moving back to corner A the distance had changed, due to the fact that the part of the wood being used was a small section of the wood, and the clamps were at the end. This jig gave me two points, which I could pull the straight wood hard against, then clamp in place.