Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

DIY tracks.
Teeeman
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Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by Teeeman »

Guidestrips are caulk-glued door edging on melamine whiteboard.
Starting mechanism is faster than our digital camera by a large amount, I think release is under .010 seconds, and is fully symmetric (no imparted jolt).
I'm very proud of the starting mechanism... worked first time and to do this job and be mostly wood... well, I am proud of it!

Track stand will fold if you remove the running surface.

Stopper is inclined and covered with foam pad.

-Terry

http://media.putfile.com/HomemadeTrack1

http://media.putfile.com/HomemadeTrack2

http://media.putfile.com/HomemadeTrack3

http://media.putfile.com/HomemadeTrack4
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Nitro Dan
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by Nitro Dan »

Terry, what kind of foam padding are you using on that stop section and where did you get it?

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Teeeman
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by Teeeman »

Foam is from Harbor Freight… it is just cheap padding used typically to line a toolbox… kinda spongy… very similar if not identical to the stuff my mechanic’s fender apron is made of (used to cover the fender while working on a car).

I think it is medium density polypropylene foam?

Or some other synthetic rubber?


-Terry
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PWD
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by PWD »

Teeman impressive home made track. It is so quiet. Great job!
Teeeman
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by Teeeman »

The whiteboard is pretty shiny (smooth)… and the track is only 2-1/2 or so feet high at the ramp so the top speed is not quite so high as most tracks…

total track length is about 15 feet of running surface from the pins to the “finish line”.

All the above contribute to the lack of noise I am guessing…

I too noticed last night it was not loud… a good sign maybe?...

I wish I could take credit for the idea to use whiteboard, but that would be M Prevost’s brainwork… I just used his idea.

The guidestrips … I just walked around Lowes hardware until I found something that looked right and lucked up and found door edge-molding that was low, straight edged and 1-1/2” wide.

I had to resize the total track width from 12 inches to 13 inches with the slightly narrower guidestrips (1-1/2inches) … I had originally designed to 1.625 wide guides… I sized the track so any legal car running beside a legal car can’t contact come into contact with each other… about ¼” to spare… (car max width with the wheels spaced as widely as possible).

The mid-track joint needs some massaging but overall the track turned better than I expected :)

We’ve had some minor issues to work out getting the stop section to work without flipping cars… just roughness in the cut of the rubber… nothing a sharp knife couldn’t fix.

I think we got it fairly ironed out now.

It also serviced to run a Knex car my son built last night, and our Vesuvius looks car (triple wide volcano) made a reasonably fast run actually by straddling the middle lane guidestrip :)

I’m sure we’ll find other fun uses for the track… Hot Wheels, plastic cars, ball bearings, who knows!


-Terry
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Teeeman
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by Teeeman »

Think my son wants to put the Hamster on a car and run him down...


I am discouraging this idea...


:mrgreen:


-T
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Go Bubba Go
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by Go Bubba Go »

Teeeman wrote:Think my son wants to put the Hamster on a car and run him down...

I am discouraging this idea...

:mrgreen:

-T
Strictly as a passenger? Or has he discovered "hamster power"?

Waiting for the CAD drawing of the Hamster wheel and associated gearbox to generate maximum torque... LOL :mrgreen:
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Cory
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by Cory »

Teeeman wrote:I am discouraging this idea...

-T
Good idea, or next thing you know there will be HIRL discussions in the Racing League forum.

This is a great track, Teeeman, congratulations on the fine work!

Question about your starting mechanism: Is it wood rubbing wood when you slide the little door open and let the dowel spring free?
Teeeman
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by Teeeman »

Thanks for the compliments!

Question on wood rubbing wood:

Yep, it IS wood rubbing wood...

the dowel end is glazed (burned) from prolonged (slow) bandsaw cutting with a course blade (ugly but smooth) and the slider door (cover?) is birch plywood.

It works surprisingly smooth (and has WD-40 on it).

We added a gate stop last night (the middle peg was hitting the white flipper arm that actually releases the peg gate on the piano hinge)...

guess I might've pointed out the system is 2 stage, it uses a spring on the white flipper arm... held by the dowel until the slider releases the dowel... then the spring snaps the flipper forward releasing the gate (with pegs) which has its own spring...

the springs are identical but I pre-tensioned the flipper more by stretching the spring farther (placement of the end hooks is farther apart)... and the flipper has less mass, and is released slightly ahead of the gate... so all said, the flipper is faster and "ahead" of the gate in the release sequence.

Reason for 2 stage is I wanted the actual gate release to be purely mechanical. The flipper top that holds the gate is also on a arc concentric to the pivot axis so in theory the gate should not move hardly at all until the flipper sharp corner ... of course, our workmanship and the materials involved won't support this... thus all the more reason why it is important the flipper snap forward mechanically (way faster than we could snap it forward).



-T
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Teeeman
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by Teeeman »

Go Bubba Go wrote:
Teeeman wrote:Think my son wants to put the Hamster on a car and run him down...

I am discouraging this idea...

:mrgreen:

-T
Strictly as a passenger? Or has he discovered "hamster power"?

Waiting for the CAD drawing of the Hamster wheel and associated gearbox to generate maximum torque... LOL :mrgreen:
When we put the Hammie in his ball and let him run around... I call it a "1 HP [censored] sprayer"... HP = Hamster Power

If you have ever owned a Hamster you'll know what I mean... only thing with a more active digestive tract I know of is a GOOSE.


-T
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by RMoose »

Teeeman wrote:When we put the Hammie in his ball and let him run around... I call it a "1 HP [censored] sprayer"... HP = Hamster Power

If you have ever owned a Hamster you'll know what I mean... only thing with a more active digestive tract I know of is a GOOSE.


-T
Talk about fouling the track :shock: and to think some people worry about liquid lubes!

Teeeman, congrats on the test track! Pictures look nice. I know you will have a lot of fun with it.
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Teeeman
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by Teeeman »

Thanks!


Update: K'nex is definitely getting more track time than our cars (laughing!).

I think my wife is going to want us to take it down in about another week... the "new" is already wearing off I guess.


-Terry
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Go Bubba Go
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by Go Bubba Go »

Teeeman wrote:...I think my wife is going to want us to take it down in about another week... the "new" is already wearing off I guess.

-Terry
Don't know what it is about wives and PWD, but the Honeymoon / Half-life of any new PWD paraphernalia is pretty short at our house also... :(
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by Hurly64 »

Teeeman,
First, let me say Thats quite an impressive starting mechanism. I just built a track for my son's pack, and I'm having issues with the spring-loaded start gate making the track move around. What do you suppose is the main reason your gate doesn't impart motion to the track? Just from looking at the videos, I would have to say that just the mass of the whole mechanism would be enough to dampen any motion into the track. Does the track connect to the mechanism directly, or does the track have independant supports?
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Darin McGrew
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Re: Our homemade track... videos of just completed track

Post by Darin McGrew »

Our starting gate is extremely lightweight, which helps it open quickly without disturbing the track. The "pins" are 1/16" thick aluminum, attached with tiny screws to an axle that is about 3/8" in diameter. The axle is mounted below the track, and the spring pulls until the "pins" are below the track surface.

One of these days, I'll post photos of it on the web somewhere...
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