by fourshipp » Tue Dec 04, 2018 1:33 pm
Friday I will be headed to Home Depot for lumber to start the new table build. I will try to share my progress here. Big picture overview: 6’ wide by 16-18’ long, 2 lane Carrera Digital. It needs to be light and portable so I can get it out of the basement for storage when not in use. Here is the layout plan.
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As shown it will be 16’ long. I want to experiment with a banked turn on the 180 and anticipate needing two additional straight track pieces on the fron and back straights to allow for a proper transition between the pits and the banked turns. That will require 18’.
I am planning on 4 or 5 sections. Four will be 3’ x 8’ and will make the 6x16 layout. I will add a 2x6 section in the middle to increase to 18’. I plan on framing each section with 1x4 edges and cross members and sheeting with OBS, MDF or ply. Each 3x8 section will be supported by two commercial plastic saw horses. The bottom of each section will have slots built into the cross members to ancor the tops of the saw horses and keep them from moving. The sections will be set next to each other and either clamped or bolted together from the underside to form the large surface. A 6” tall barrier will then be added to the sides and ends to keep deslots on the table. Here is a rough sketch of the plan.
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I will try supporting the 2x6 section by clamping/bolting it to the other four sections. I may add a single saw horse under it if needed.
I anticipate that the combination of the weight of the five sections, the slots underneath to keep the saw horses “keyed” in place and securely fasting all five sections together will result an an adequately sturdy racing surface. Set up would simply be to set the saw horses on place, set the sections on top, bolt together, add the track and crash barriers. Take down and storage should be as quick. The key will be to keep the sections flat and true, as light as possible and still sturdy enough to do the job.
I will build a single section first. If that works out I’ll continue on with the rest.
I’m still undecided on what material to use for the racing surface. I want to keep it as thin and light as possible but heavy enough to avoid waviness or undulations. I was looking want to be able to add/remove screws to anchor the track without leaving holes that are rough and difficult to patch.
What surface materials have you had success with and what should I avoid?
Thanks for reading. I’ll keep you posted as this comes together over the next few weeks.
Bruce