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Phil,

 

Spurred by your info I started digging. It appears braid can come in flat, flat flexible and flat super flexible. The wire sizes are 0.2, 0.1 and 0.05 mm. My solder wick is 0.05 so makes it super flexible in line with your experience. Slot car braid is made from 0.1 mm so makes it "flexible" but maybe be not all slot car manufacturers use the same spec.?

 

I discovered that one can buy it from the "horses mouth" so to speak. http://www.copperbra...uk/slot_car.php probably not worth it from Aus. but...

 

I also discovered that braid is woven round and then flattened. Who knew? Oh and weave angle can vary.

 

I've given up now as my eyes hurt from focusing on single strands :lol:

Edited by FLY in the wall

Outside the box looking in.

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You don't own stuff: Stuff owns you!

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Having a cold drink on hot day with a few friends is nice, but having a hot friend on a cold night after a few drinks - PRICELESS.

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It is not the flex of the wick that is the problem it is the spring. The two brands that I have tested were great for flex but after racing for a short time it would lay flat on the bottom of the guide.

Many years ago I would strip Coax cable to get braid! It could easily be flattened to use in guides.

Braid was originally used in electrical equipment usually as earth conductors on moving parts.

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The spring I think maybe the weave angle. Which is different on some braids I looked at, before eyestrain gave me a headache :)

Outside the box looking in.

------------------------------------

You don't own stuff: Stuff owns you!

------------------------------------

Having a cold drink on hot day with a few friends is nice, but having a hot friend on a cold night after a few drinks - PRICELESS.

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  • 4 months later...

Not sure this qualifies as cheap but. A 3/16 chainsaw file is the same size as rear axle bushing mounts if anyone does axles bushing alignment.

Outside the box looking in.

------------------------------------

You don't own stuff: Stuff owns you!

------------------------------------

Having a cold drink on hot day with a few friends is nice, but having a hot friend on a cold night after a few drinks - PRICELESS.

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  • 2 months later...

What to do with that old dead computer tower - turn it into a slot car box . Novel box turned up recently at my place , it even had a watch battery installed to get working blue led lights to make it look like it was still a running computer .

 

20130812_191543_zps48316865.jpg

 

 

20130812_191551_zpsb33f5a9d.jpg

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good idea, is it heavy?

 

Yes , he admit he used 9mm mdf as shelves he should have used something lighter or drilled it with a heap of holes then layed the foam over the top , the tin box itself isnt haevy for its size , less than your average canterlever tool box I reckon

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Howdy,

 

Im always loosing the caps from needle squeeze bottles.

 

P1150574.jpg

 

 

Another option - I keep losing these, so I grab a bit of electrical insulation I have stripped off power wires/controller wires etc, and I seal one end by melting it with the soldering iron.

 

They slip firmly over the needle and work just fine.

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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  • 10 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Faced with a very out of round wheel (1mm) and after a long time of cursing. I decided to take some drastic action as I don't own a tire grinder.

 

I took a broken hacksaw blade ground the end straight, ground a knife edge on the narrow section and used it as a lathe tool and cut down the wheel as the axle spun.

 

Sorted and "free'".

Outside the box looking in.

------------------------------------

You don't own stuff: Stuff owns you!

------------------------------------

Having a cold drink on hot day with a few friends is nice, but having a hot friend on a cold night after a few drinks - PRICELESS.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My Fly F1 car had a loose tire, which was occasionally spinning on the rim. Disliking anything permanent (sorry personal flaw) i tried the old motorcycle handlebar grip trick. I removed the tire, painted the wheel with hair spray and re installed the wheel and left it to dry. Voila!

Outside the box looking in.

------------------------------------

You don't own stuff: Stuff owns you!

------------------------------------

Having a cold drink on hot day with a few friends is nice, but having a hot friend on a cold night after a few drinks - PRICELESS.

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My Fly F1 car had a loose tire, which was occasionally spinning on the rim. Disliking anything permanent (sorry personal flaw) i tried the old motorcycle handlebar grip trick. I removed the tire, painted the wheel with hair spray and re installed the wheel and left it to dry. Voila!

A thin layer of Contact Adhesive is slightly stronger, but still not permanent...
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  • 1 month later...

Loose body screws?

 

If the thread in the body post is still OK but the screw tends to vibrate loose or is slightly looser than you like, paint the inside of the body post hole with nail polish. Wipe most of the polish off the brush in the neck of the bottle so only a thin layer is used and allow to dry thoroughly. Worked well on a couple of my cars.

Edited by Wobble
bram1_zpsfkhrhndv.jpg
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Ok - this one I haven't attempted yet - but my plan is developing.

In a last ditch attempt to avert fitting ally wheels to a 1973 Scaley P4 - both of them are slightly off centre on a new Slot-It 48 mm hardened axle.

 

I'm contemplating using c/a + baking soda to re-pack the holes then fit the hubs into a 5/8" electric drill.

The plan continues in that the hubs will fit in the chuck as far as the step - which should keep them parallel.

 

I then plan to hold a 1/16" drill bit in a vice and offer up the hub to it.

If this works, I'll then change to a 3/32" bit.

 

I fully understand that I must keep speed to a minimum or the plastic hubs will melt.

 

If I do get the hub axle holes correctly drilled - I'll then use the Tire Razor to true them and fit the MKJ's I have been running. These have not yet been glued to the hubs nor sanded...

 

I'm in the process of re-building an old blue Johnson motor - initial impressions are that what I'm doing is rejuvenating the old motor.

 

I pulled the armature out cleaned out the comm gaps with a sharp knife.

I then fitted the long shaft end (commutator end) into a chuck for my Dremel.

At slow speed, I used 600 wet/dry backed on flat jeweller's file and turned down the comm until it was shiny all around - removing the cuts made by years of running.

I found that one of the three sections was much prouder than the other two - but all of them were at different heights.

By the time I had all of them shiny and flat - there is still heaps of copper left... I don't believe I took much, but obviously enough.

 

I then cleaned out the gaps again with the knife and then used a ball-point pen to round off the sharp edges of these cuts.

 

I lubed up the internal brass bush then temporarily fitted the armature and end-bell back into position.

 

I then played around with the depth of the magnets in the body so that there was minimal pull towards either end.

This demanded removing the separator spring and altering the tabs at the can (if you can call it that) end of the body - the four tabs were flattened back slightly to position the depth of the magnets.

 

Once I had this set, I cleaned up the brushes and set the holders square to the comm.

 

I then lubed the comm end of the shaft and connected up power.

 

Running at 3 volts, the motor was much "free'er" than ever before... with next to no noise from the comm/brushes.... as opposed to the barking noise this motor had always made (I expect it was the differential in comm segment thicknesses).

 

I used the "Zippo" lighter fuel trick and followed that process.

 

I left the motor running at 2.5v all night - and I'm happy to state that it was still spinning away happily this morning when I went into the room... almost stone cold, although I did mount it up on rubber blocks to allow air to get to both sides of the armature through the open can body.

 

I'll be away from this hobby for nearly two weeks now - we're off on a little holiday to get a break before the onset of Christmas.

 

Hoping to have more to report on the re-build when I get back...

 

frats,

Rosco

I

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  • 1 month later...

Neat little trick that one...

 

Oh, are the cut off letters "aper"??

lol.

Edited by shadow_rusty
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and I thought it was the supermarket receipt stuck between the gear teeth to set the mesh

 

I use a piece of a plastic shopping bag but in NZ one probably has to take one's own self knitted bag to the supermarket!

Outside the box looking in.

------------------------------------

You don't own stuff: Stuff owns you!

------------------------------------

Having a cold drink on hot day with a few friends is nice, but having a hot friend on a cold night after a few drinks - PRICELESS.

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  • 1 month later...

Making do without smooth shaft body mount screws.

 

Suitable for most cars where the screw is recessed into the chassis.

 

Instead of boring the chassis body mount hole to slightly larger than threaded shaft/shank of the screw and hoping it won't catch, bore it to about 0.5mm smaller than the head of the screw. This way the head of the screw will rub on the bore of the chassis recess (smooth on smooth) rather than the thread rubbing/catching in a hole that isn't quite large enough. Sure there might be a little bit more lateral movement of the body in some cases but if the car isn't going to be used for really serious competition it's a cheap alternative.

bram1_zpsfkhrhndv.jpg
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