First wood layout questions

[waaytoomuchintothis]

There's a lot more to it than that.

You almost certainly want Positive polarity. http://www.professormotor.com/product-p/pmtr2121.htm

Here are the diagrams for track wiring: http://www.professormotor.com/category-s/827.htm
look down the list for "track wiring and power systems". There is a free .pdf for downloading that will do everything for you. If you have trouble, PM me and I'll arrange to send it to you direct at your email.

[DrumPhil]

Good stuff, thanks! I've been looking at PM controllers on the lower end of the price scale, and there are still too many choices.

[slothead]

The turn I mentioned as being undriveable was at the end of the back stretch on an oval that was squared off Indy-style on one end, and the best way to control sliding was to completely let off the controller about 2/3rds of the way down the straight, and then lightly get back into the power as the car entered the turn. When coasting into the turn the car would spin out, while having the motor activated just a little slowed it down. EXCEPT, the corner was so tight that you had to be very exact in how little power you gave cars and just a little bit too much meant the car would roll over. I could powerslide through turns 1 & 3, but spin out or roll over if I wasn't perfect in turn 3. The turn had to go and now the track is sooooo much better to drive because I can toss cars around a bit and still keep going.

Where a tight turn is matters. Coming out of some essess is preferable to at the end of a straight, or perhaps even a sweeping curve.

Slothead

[hksk25]

I disagree on "has to be positive polarity". If you race with others that have plastic and upgraded controllers they won't be able to use them on your track. I race on both and we all have negative polarity, so we don't have to worry about it.

[DrumPhil]

[waaytoomuchintothis]

I hate R-1s. Every time one of our guys with a plastic track tried to incorporate them, there were cars that couldn't get through without getting stuck. Eventually, we grew tired of grinding our good Carrera guides down to fit that ill-inspired piece of track, and did away with it at all tracks. Of course, the natural progression of plastic-to-wood track kinda accelerated it. The only plastic tracks we have now is Carrera, and I am very grateful for the expense the guys went to after selling their Scaley and Ninco-tire-eating track.

[2FER SLOTS]

I would go as wide as space will allow...you'll still have plenty to show your technique.

[DrumPhil]

Yeah, that R1 inside lane looks like about 3.25" radius. Yikes! Okay, we'll consider 6" a good minimum radius for an inside lane. :)

Meanwhile, I did a little thinking and measuring. Maybe I have space to go a little bigger, and use a second sheet of MDF. With all the discussion about sweepers and elevations, I drew up another idea. I'm a little concerned that it has very few straights. But with an 8-foot mamximum length on a side, I'm not going to get a decent, long straight anyway. Thoughts?

[midmoslts]

I like that you did away with the squeeze. That's just not my thing. It looks like a drivers track to me. If it is in a corner retrieving cars may not be easy from under the over pass. I'm not saying not to do it, just saying it may take some time.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

And there are many folks who will tell you that an overpass is a formula for troubles... retrieving offed cars, blind spot, and worst of all, something hard to run into breaking body work. I will say I have seen it done very well, and did not cause any trouble at all. They were very wide (making the likelihood of hitting a hard support small), in the middle of a track, and the juncture at which the roadways crossed was as near to 90 degrees as possible, making the area where the blind spot is as small as possible (which kinda voids the whole concept of an overpass to me- if an overpass isn't at an acute angle, it seems unnecessary).

Also, the spot where the sweeper is really favors a single direction of travel. You may want to make the other one a sweeper too, in order to make running the opposite direction the same difficulty. Short straights are a nuisance anyway.

[DrumPhil]

Thanks for the thoughts, guys! The space I have in mind will have open access from all sides of the track except the top edge of the drawing, so retrieving cars under the overpass shouldn't be a problem. I was having compass issues last night while drawing this, but I was thinking that both of the big curves on the right side (underpass and overpass) would basically be sweepers. This might be a little too ambitious for a first wood track, but I'm afraid the simple 4x8 layout might get old too quickly.

I'd love to just get on with it, but the dust probably won't fly until after son's graduation and a family trip in early June. Then summer free time should kick in. Anyway, these beautiful cars arrived to keep me motivated. :D

[R/TRandy]

I am a little late in seeing this post, But
Hey DrumPhil Welcome back to slots :dance:
Randy

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Yep. Phil, welcome to the addiction. And don't worry, when you master the track, we'll get you hooked on resin cars, then brass chassis, then you can become a tire scientist and finally, the master of mirror-clean paint jobs. We've got you hooked for years to come! There is no cure.

[Johnnyfly41]

Congratulations on going wood !!!!

I got back into the hobby about 10 years or so ago. Plastic for me just didnt do it for me. So, I built a large three lane routed track and got the driving experience I was after, no magnets.

I recommend if you have not that you check out Luf's page at http://www.oldslotracer.com I used Luf's flexible strip method for routing which really gave my track a smooth flowing feel to it and a very realistic driving line. I never made a straight that was really straight, which causes the cars to slightly dance around even on the "straights".

Since space is tight, I would rather do a squeeze and have a more drivable radius, than have a radius that doesnt work. I have driven on tracks with squeezes, you just have to keep your head and dont dive in next to another car.

In your small track, I would not worry about lane parity, get the driving features you want, as much as you can. If you are racing someone competitively, you will be switching lanes anyway and with timing, there are various ways to score a race session made up of multiple heats.

I used Venture Purple copper tape, per Luf and it worked very well. If I build another track though, I will go with braid for the extra durability.

I went off the reservation on choosing a track surface and used "Plasti Dip", the stuff advertised for tool handles and such. I mixed white and black to get a grey. I LOVED this surface. It does not sluff off on the tires, urethanes lay down rubber on the surface, so grip starts out good and gets better. Decent traction, not abrasive. I will definitely do my next track with plasti dip.

I am not sure what is limiting your space, is it storage ? You could easily make two 4x8 sections that come apart, with folding legs for storage.

Best of luck and post pictures, we all love to see tracks being built !

John

[2FER SLOTS]

Nice cars !
I don't think you are being too ambitious ....it doesn't take much longer to route a little farther.
Scale model might help you visualize :think: