321 replies to this topic

[Pat McGee]

Bought a new razor saw, so...

 

 

 

 

[Pat McGee]

Cleaned it up a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NSwanberg]

Why revisit the insanity?

[Pat McGee]

Revisit? You mean we left the insanity??

[A. J. Hoyt]

Pat, you know I highly appreciate the innovative initiative you are taking here, so don't read any of this as a discouragement to finish this.

 

Since this, apparently, has the plastic floor holding the magnets up away from the rails, it certainly meets the criteria of what is intended to be a gravity class car. The only point I can see to re-orienting the motor 90 degrees would be to move the polar moment of inertia larger about the roll-out axis; you get that with the brass pan, which is more dense than plastic or ceramic magnet and lower to the ground, so I'm not seeing "it" yet.

 

If there is another objective, I would like to hear what you have in mind. You just may discover some great packaging or performance advantage that no one could have foreseen - I look forward to the results of testing.

 

Also, I'm very much looking forward to how you will hold the gear plate down!

 

Keep it in the slot (you may have the magic formula that shows us the path we should have all gone and changes gravity racing forever!),

 

AJ

[Pat McGee]

You never built one of these in the day?  You were smarter than many..... I seem to remember a few rolling around right before the magnets dropped to the pan.  Can't remember where I saw one first.  I built one.  Don't think I ever "raced" it.  You don't have any more magnet over the rail, and turns out having all that mass hanging out there made 'em tippy, if I recall.  Just one of those odd thoughts we all occasionally succumb to....

[A. J. Hoyt]

Very cool. Yes, you are right, I scratchbuilt a car (back in the day) with the magnets spaced out wide. My thoughts were to create an encircling steel can to draw the magnet flux lines in and to increase the polar moment of inertia (I could not express it in technical terms then, it was just a "feeling") to avoid tipping. It may turn out that it increases tipping and promotes roll-out de-slots.

 

I look forward to seeing this fleshed out with your present day attention to detail (much better than either of us would have done it back in the day), thoroughly developed and tested. Like I said, you might be on to something good.

 

Also, you can run your lead wires straight back from the pickups to the brush tubes!

[bbr]

Just before our group of guys stopped racing and headed off to college.
Steve Herrick built an Afx with this sideways orientation. He not only did this, but also shorten the geartrain and turn the armature upside down. The brush tubes were on top.

[Tim Neja]

Just get a nice 902 and put the brass weights in it!! you'll have a nice driving NEW car with great parts!!  About $60!!  Handle great and would be a great class of racing!!

[Pat McGee]

It won't stop...

 

 

 

[Tim Neja]

That looks very "clean"!!

[Pat McGee]

Rollin' right along...

 

 

 

 

 

[Pat McGee]

Shaker and pin tubes.

 

[chaparrAL]

Hey. Pat! How does it run?

 

Joel, my  A/FX and four-gear cars will be just that, mine.  I sell the T-Jet based cars on eBay and they are well received, sold quite a few.

 

I have realized I need some cars of my own to race. The last two times I ran on Mike Lowe's track was hopeless. Mikes track is huge and cool as hell. However it has a very textured surface that makes it fine for magnet cars but difficult for these cars.

 

I arrived with these new cars having never been on any track, and it was like poking myself in the eye with a sharp stick. You see, all the good Gravity Unlimited cars I make get sold, and the only ones I have are the klinkers. I have built Gravity racers that when tested on the second or third lap were clearly way fast and Main event if not winning cars. I sold them on eBay they got shipped to Tasmania and Sakahlin Island!  So now I am rethinking all this.

 

So now with some running on Mcvitti's track I got them more sorted out.

 

[chaparrAL]

I hope to make one of the Midwest series races,maybe at Rick's or at Lucky Bobs. So I will need something to race.

 

 

I was wondering If I was wasting my time making this thing but it runs surprisingly well.

 

 

I wound some 35 wire arms for these cars. Yes, I have my moments of madness.

 

[chaparrAL]

Having tried all sorts of stuff I am now back to making wire cars. We know these work very well. While Joel is perfecting his car, I have been taking stabs at all sorts of things in search for an advantage. But now it is clearly time to get these in the hands of racers who can win.

 

I also plan on recruiting a few old winning racers to see if I can get them into racing these. The G-Jet thing has sort of played out in the Chicago area and I would love to see what guys like Pat Cole, Steve Medanic, Mikey Wontorski, can do against Joel, Doug, Bob, and Scott. I want these in the hands of winners.

 

[jpennington]

Al,

 

Your cars are right there.

 

Pictured is my Landshark that finished second at the Nats in the capable hands of Tim Miller!

 

Keep up the good work! Hope things work out to see you.

Joel

[jpennington]

A recent build by John Reimels. John has certainly put forward a gravity race design with a high level of workmanship and a very interesting float design that emulate a 1/24 scale approach.

 

Lets all keep building them!

Joel

[chaparrAL]

Landshark now has ball bearing motor brackets in .032" or .025".

 

[Pat McGee]

Happy New Year, all!

 

Yes, the gear plate clip looks a bit agricultural. Needs sorting and a hotter arm, but this thing runs surprisingly well!

 

 

 

[A. J. Hoyt]

Pat,

 

So "old school" but so cool!

 

I am told Carl Dreher made one of these from a T-Jet (and Ron from today's Riggen bought all Carl's stuff on eBay, I thought, so he must have it now) and I scratchbuilt my own and still have it (very little A/FX except the gear plate, armature and magnets).

 

Perhaps, you can be the first one to make one that works and is competitive within the Gravity class rules set! Looking forward to seeing it in action!

[chaparrAL]

 

Rick Derosa named these paperclip chassis.

[sidejobjon]

Dennis on The Slot Lodge is recopying TCP pans.

 

Here's one I put a T-Jet chassis on like Doug Morris. With a Yellow Jacket performance armature.

 

Love the paperclip chassis!!

 

SJJ

 

[owr25]

Can you tell me where to get this motor?

[Pat McGee]

Lucky Bob's has these motors. They can also be found through various sellers on eBay.