Oval Track Do'S And Don'Ts

[BMR]

3mm mdf trial track layout . I left a bit on the inside that leaves the option for a pit lane entry if its possible and doesn't up the weight to much . The levels are just bodgy with small bog buckets and scrap mdf attempting to hold it in some kind of shape . I want the straights to be flatter and the banked corners to be a little less that how it looks so far but it does give an idea of where its heading ??? ruffy huh

This first photo shows the angles a bit better , the left side on screen is high on the outside - I have to cut the main tracks barrier wall down a bit lower , the right side will be higher in the inside lane area , trying to get it level across the layout so I can run it in both directions .

Edited March 24, 2011 by BMR

[imugford]

lookin good, pitty i don't have a pile of timber anymore...

[inveterate retiree]

I really can't make any comments on your stuff BMR, it is just all too far above me.

 

Bloody fantastic job you are doing.

[BMR]

lookin good, pitty i don't have a pile of timber anymore...

Good to hear you dont have piles anymore muggy ,

Haven't seen ya for a while mate , are you ever gonna bring that little orange shelf queen Trans Am mopar down to race ?

[BMR]

I really can't make any comments on your stuff BMR, it is just all too far above me.

 

Bloody fantastic job you are doing.

Thanks IR - I still have a long way to go with this project , at least it gets me away from those brain numbing commercial station TV shows that the wife watches . lucky for me I have a TV in the shed so I can watch all the brain numbing TV shows I like instead

[inveterate retiree]

Good golly, brain numbing TV!

 

We've been in this house for over 20 years now & never had TV. So we are somewhat sensitive to the crap that comes out of the rotten things when we find ourselves in an environment where they are radiating their crap.

 

You bet; we are extremely elitist in our household, we have never met anyone who comes up to our ultra high standards.

 

For some strange reason we don't have any friends?

 

I guess other people just know that they are inferior & don't attempt to meet our high standards, & therefore give us a wide berth.

 

Anyway, the day is coming when I'll show them, they'll all be sorry that they hadn't acquiesced to our superiority, I'll show them all; they'll all regret not sucking up to me (ah... us) & becoming an underling; now they will know the vengeance & power of Griggor Von Vandlhand, I'll destroy their...

 

Hmm, I'll be quiet now...

[GTR XU-1]

Coming along nicely BMR - I am watching this one very closely!!

 

Dave

[BMR]

Coming along nicely BMR - I am watching this one very closely!!

 

Dave

Dont expect daily updates Dave , this project is controlled by my local minister for finance - she insists the bills have to be paid before anything slot car related happens

[BMR]

Coming along nicely BMR - I am watching this one very closely!!

 

Dave

I heard a whisper today that Syd may build an oval

Edited March 25, 2011 by BMR

[GTR XU-1]

Steve - where did you hear the whisper?

 

A little birdie has dropped this around on Syds desk to get him to have a look over it.

 

 

The idea is that all deslotted cars get put on pit lane (which is speed limited).

The straights will have zero deg banking, the corners marginal banking (probably about the same as yours)

The idea with a racing line through the corner is to look good, but hopefully when cars deslot, they will spear outwards and land on the high clear area of the corner so it limits the effect on other peoples race.

The whole infield including pit road is flat

 

The plan is to be able to run about 16 odd cars on it , which seems like a lot but considering there isnt much speed differential of having hard braking into the corners, I think it is quite possible.

 

The minister of finance has given me some repreive as I had some holidays paid out to pay for it....but in amongst the swag of maintenance jobs around the house as well as look after three very young children...well free time is rare.

 

Dave

Edited March 26, 2011 by GTR XU-1

[BMR]

The birdie that told me makes tyres for Syd .

 

I have asked the locals about racing digital as this is the ideal time for me to look more seriously at digital . I had a very few replies and most were definaitely leaning towards the no go side .

 

Anyone got an idea of the digital cost for a controller ?

 

That seemed to be the main negative aspect to switching to a digital system from locals here , plus understandably it would be only one track that they race on that would be digital . more may follow on and alter their tracks if it was worth it to them .

 

I seriously doubt it will happen . Anyways in the end its not necassary as there is nothing wrong with "old school" slot car racing

Edited March 26, 2011 by BMR

[GTR XU-1]

about $180 for a scorpius controller so it soon adds up....

 

unless the guys get those analogue wireless recievers and a wireless controller each. You save the expense and everyone has top quality controllers.

 

Either way. We are having a ball racing old school at Syds at the moment

 

Dave

[Syd]

Think of the possibilities Steve, set the cameras up right and you could race from the dinner table with those controllers! That little "birdie" is also keen to get one of those controllers with an analogue dongle so watch out he may be one up on you lot!

[sigmaman]

This is the three lane oval up at my mates place. Its about 17 metres long and the lanes close up at one end. Lots of fun.

[BMR]

I have had a play on that track ( Jasons place ) it was ok but the corners were a bit too tight , like larger raduis corners so the cars are sliding sideways for a longer time .

 

Im on the computer now drawing up a bit of a plan for routering two 3 metre by 1.8 metre sheets for the corners at each end . Outside lane will have a minimum of 200mm sliding room out to the barrier wall - That should cover the 1/24th 1960s yankee stockers like the Ford Galaxies or Plymouth Roadrunners , Im trying to avoid those racers that may like to lean on the barrier wall and hold the trigger flat out .

 

The outer lane will be somewhere around 2.4 - 2.6 radius I hope but Im also considering a change in the radius half way through the corner atthe ends - the corner entry would be a tighter radius then the corner exit would open outwards to be a wider raduis . Sounds good but a lot of fiddling around when it comes to routering it out huh . Then do the same thing at the other end on the second sheet but reverse it so its a larger / wider radius on the entry to the corner and then the raduis tightens on the exit . Im trying to build in a bit of a challenge to the track to keep the racers on their toes.

 

I have made a raduis arm for the router and mounted it already so now Im at the drawing stage , trying to figure out the various points where the raduis arm will need to be located via a bolt or pin to do all the changing raduis for each lane .

 

Im no carpenter so Im trying to limit my mistakes to paper before hacking into the MDF sheets , even then it will be marked out on the sheets with pencil before I hit the switch on the router .

[digby]

G'day Steve, good your still on track .IMO expanding corners are great (my favourite at 'kangaroo court'),but on the scale your talking a receding corner might just be a pain.On the new track I'm trying a small (100mm)interuption in the radius for a changeof pace.regards digby

[BMR]

Cheers Digby

 

I have just finished drawing it all up - what a nightmare that was , Im not a CAD designer thats for sure but at least Im attacking the build with a bit of a plan

 

Im sure there will be plenty of adjustments along the way . Routering opening / expanding corners are harder than I thought , there must be an easy way ?

 

Im only looking at about a 100mm difference through the corners as well . I want the exit on one end to lead out wide so the cars may slide a bit further along the straight which will be a curve more than a straight - well thats the plan anyways .

 

The " D " shape that some of the real NASCAR tracks have is the aim , plus The idea of a driver having to use the throttle and go gentle to keep up the traction is appealing to me , no doubt some drivers will always fishtail along the straight but the people that get a handle on it should keep the grip up and accelerate away ??

 

Who said building a track was fun ? playing on them is fun , building them is a month or so of brain strain . Im into it for over $500.00 now so I gotta keep going

[BMR]

Managed to get something done today , picked up some MDF boards - 3.6 x 1.8 x 12mm sat one on the outdoor table and marked it out , I made a template for a raduis arm out of some scrap . I used some brass tube 3/8ths inside diameter for a locating bolt to go through . I figured the radius arm will be used for the other end sheet so I wanted to be sure the holes didn't flog out and end up leaving me with any loose locating holes to work with when it comes to the dusty parts

 

The sheet has brass tubes as well in four places - there are four points used as centre points for different radius curves . I transfered the tubes to the proper radius arm I made for the router later , this one is for some pencil marking as a bit of a test before making some dust .

 

Im happy with it so far because all the pencil marks lined up - yippee the evil plan worked , Im forgetful at the best of times so I made myself up a 15 step guide sheet to follow rather than going gung ho at it and attempting to figure it out on the run , it worked well and made it so easy I could enjoy the sun and a few scotch n cokes as I scribbled away

 

Couple of pics below show the rough template radius arm and the brass tubes

[BMR]

Here ya go Syd its a bit rough but it sorta shows what Im chasing re eliptic lanes ( is that spelt write ? ) maybe its dyslectic lanes anyway where it says loose in and out the lanes would ideally have the radius opening up and visa versa where it says tight in tight out - the lane raduis is tighter .

 

To create the banking I was intending to attach the straights to the end corner sheets and then pull the straights in towards each other , its a bit tricky as I am building the oval to sit over the main track when its being used and I have to get around the main tracks marshal box ( 1200 x 700 )

 

ahhh its fun messing around building a track even more fun when theres another track in the way

 

 

This is the same pic but if you click it it may enlarge bigger on screen , sorry its a jumble of lines and probably hard to work out where the lanes etc are but its a quickie drawing

 

Edited April 7, 2011 by BMR

[BMR]

A few aerial photos of some 1:1 ovals

Daytona , Phoenix International , Thunderhill - Nebraska I think

 

Edited April 7, 2011 by BMR

[Pauls Slots]

Steve, are they reading or safty glasses on the bench. If it was myself it would be reading glasses.

Have you started on setting up the front end on the Nascar yet.

Left turn Clive!

see you Tomorrow night for some tune ups hopfully,

Paul

[BMR]

Reading glasses mate , I gotta face facts , Im gettin old . I think I may search the second hand shops for an old tape measure - one in feet n inches the millimetre measures are becoming a blurr

[lenny broke]

Hi Steve

Have you thought about using a flexible strip rather than a trammel to guide the router. You can then make the lines more variable then. I managed to get hold of a couple of those plastic "bostrips" that featured on the forum a number of years back from a Bunnings up the gold coast last trip. For some reason they don't sell them here. You can borrow one if you like.

Personally I'd like to see the back section just as a straight like Daytona, get a bit of speed up then .

I like the look of the road course in the infield of the track in the smaller middle pic, a bit more complex than the usual "roval" designs yo get.

Alan

Edited April 7, 2011 by lenny broke

[BMR]

Hi Steve

Have you thought about using a flexible strip rather than a trammel to guide the router. You can then make the lines more variable then. I managed to get hold of a couple of those plastic "bostrips" that featured on the forum a number of years back from a Bunnings up the gold coast last trip. For some reason they don't sell them here. You can borrow one if you like.

Personally I'd like to see the back section just as a straight like Daytona, get a bit of speed up then .

I like the look of the road course in the infield of the track in the smaller middle pic, a bit more complex than the usual "roval" designs yo get.

Alan

If you could bring the strip along tonight that would be good , Im ready to router but first I gotta call the wife about extending my finances need a 3mm / 1/8th router bit I cant find mine anywhere . Been a few years since the router was last out of its box . Found the bit for the braid landing cut . I may have borrowed a 1/8th last time ?

[Syd]

Hi Steve

Have you thought about using a flexible strip rather than a trammel to guide the router. You can then make the lines more variable then. I managed to get hold of a couple of those plastic "bostrips" that featured on the forum a number of years back from a Bunnings up the gold coast last trip. For some reason they don't sell them here. You can borrow one if you like.

Personally I'd like to see the back section just as a straight like Daytona, get a bit of speed up then .

I like the look of the road course in the infield of the track in the smaller middle pic, a bit more complex than the usual "roval" designs yo get.

Alan

If you could bring the strip along tonight that would be good , Im ready to router but first I gotta call the wife about extending my finances need a 3mm / 1/8th router bit I cant find mine anywhere . Been a few years since the router was last out of its box . Found the bit for the braid landing cut . I may have borrowed a 1/8th last time ?

Go for a 3.2mm/ 1/8th