180 replies to this topic

[MSwiss]

Red Fox graphite flag with .025" brass insert.

 

Discussion on the concept at;

 

http://slotblog.net/...cg-guide-shoes/

 

This flag has already won both a Retro race, and a Wing race, shattering the lap total, in the process.

 

 

[Zippity]

Will you ship Internationally?

[MSwiss]

Yes, but be aware the charge would be a minimum 0f $14.

[gc4895]

Now this is what you call innovation!

[MSwiss]

Despite sort of soft peddling these, I've gotten a fair amount of orders for them, and made some decent progress today, putting a dent into them.
 

 

Yesterday, one of my enduro racers wandered in with some .025" tungsten.

 

Today, I ran across an old worn out diamond disc, I probably used to use to handcut cobalt mags, for quad setups, and I managed to precut it to size.

 

The finished guide weighs approx. 2.9G.

 

PS-I'm not marketing them as of yet.

[MSwiss]

I was surprised/pleased to hear about a recent dominating performance, on a flat track, from one of my earlier purchasers.
 
He preferred not to named, but over doubled his second / follow-up order.
 
That TV filming, last week, along with a bunch of parties, on the weekend, took a bit of the wind out of my sails, but I'm back hustling, and have shipped a decent # for some of the upcoming big races, and I have a bunch, 90% finished, and got more in, to cut.
 
I'd also like to thank Rick Bennardo for taking out a free ad for me, on FB, Slot Car Race Talk.
 
Thank you, Rick.

[MSwiss]

I obviously wasn't there, but I was told despite very few pieces being present, the low CG guides had a terrific showing at the 50+ racer Flexipalooza, this past weekend, at Downriver Speedway, in Lincoln Park, Mi.

 

Eric Shirey finished 3rd in LMP with his Bud Denning car.

 

And 3 of the top 8, in GTP, had them on their cars.

[Bernie]

All I can say is I had them on all 3 of my cars at the F2000 Nats last Saturday and loved them. I could hit the lead-on on Black & Purple harder than ever before! Anyone that races wing cars on Mike's track will know what I'm talking about

[MSwiss]

Big congrats to Joe "Chubby" Salzman on his TQ's, and wins, at Retropalooza 9, in both Retro Pro, and F1, using the C/R brass weighted, Red Fox graphite guides.

 

Most impressive was Chubb's 11 win in F1, running fast time and high lap total on every lane,  and turning a lap more than the Can-Am winner, than the day before.

 

Check out the awesome braid condition on his F1 car, with the Edsel chassis, incorporating a C/R 2 degree guide tongue.

 

 

[MSwiss]

Congrats, again, to Joe "Chubby" Salzman on his TQ and win at the NASRA G7 unlimited warm-up race, at Slot Cars R Us, this past weekend.

 

Mr. Red Fox, Gugu, took the 2MO G7, using them, to complete the G7 sweep.

[Bill from NH]

Mike, are these weighted flags also being used for drag racing? Perhaps that has already been posted, but it's an oversight on my part.

[MSwiss]

They were certainly designed with drags in mind, also.
 
A few have been bought for that, but I haven't really pushed them, with that crowd.
 
I haven't had a chance to push my new drag chassis, either.
 
Too busy making the guides at the moment.

[MSwiss]

Orders for these have exceeded expectations, and I'm a bit behind on filling them.

 

The good news is my wife is off, involved in her hobby tonight and tomorrow, and I got to stay late for a Friday night, and got quite a bit done.

[MSwiss]

The subject of the larger Red Fox post got brought up on FB, and what nuts to use.
 
I discussed this in my thread, on the regular plastic, pinned guides, but I'll add the info here.
 
I would NOT recommend any of the Koford nuts, either brass or aluminum.
 
The threads are too tight for these particular guides.
 
I would recommend either regular, "tall" nylon nuts, my trimmed, nylon nuts (CR021), or the JK  L31, round nut.
 
The JK round nut is a tiny bit tight, but feeds on the easiest.
 
For people who buy RF guides, along with my trimmed nylon nut, after I thread the post, I actually use the JK,and install it part way, and remove it.
 
That one partial installation makes feeding my nylon nut on , much easier.
 
Always install them with the trimmed side up, and whether you use them, untrimmed nylon, or the JK, push down to get it started.
 

[Phil Beukema]

Hey Mike,

 

What is the science here that makes them better?

Heavier and lower center of gravity?

[JerseyJohn]

looks nice, are these IRRA legal/

[Noose]

Yes JJ

[MSwiss]

looks nice, are these IRRA legal/

Yes.

 

Hey Mike,

 

What is the science here that makes them better?

Heavier and lower center of gravity?

Yes.

 

Hence the "Low CoG" in the beginning of the title of the thread.

 

It's listed in the first post, but if you missed that, here's the link to some tech talk on it;

http://slotblog.net/...cg-guide-shoes/

[Phil Beukema]

^^^ Got it, thanks

[MSwiss]

This was just posted on FB classified ad, for these, from the new Retro East Don, Keith Libby;

I just recently received these and I track tested them on my f1 retro cars the handling is much better and my lap times were quicker...great product and idea Mike!

[Johnrusso2123]

How do I order?

[MSwiss]

PM me here.

[usadar]

My experiences of Chicagoland Low CoG graphite guides.
I raced them for Can-Am Plus and GTC-FK at the Retro Palooza.
I felt very good for the both classes.
Unfortunately, my GTC hit very hard a de slotted car, breaking the guide-post and losing 20 laps during the race.
I don’t think the graphite guides’ posts are fragile. The damage was so big that even a pinned guide would have got a serious damage. Actually at practice on Sunday, my GTC with a CR pinned plastic guide hitted Kamo’s de-slotted car at the back straight so hard. The guide post was saved but the front of the guide was cracked with a lead-wire clip destroyed. I then put a LoG graphite guide on my GTC. The car’s best time with a pinned plastic guide at practice on Orange was 4.02. At the qualify, I TQ-ed with 4.00. The car handled very well during the race.
I have got a very good impression of the LoG graphite guides.

[MSwiss]

Haruki,

Thanks for the detailed feedback.

 

Congrats on your TQ and 2nd place finish.

 

I still haven't figured out an easy way to both pin and weight the guide.

 

Part of the issue is the graphite ones are harder to drill accurately, for the pin, than the nylon ones are.

 

In theory, I could solder the 1/4" x .025" brass, on both sides of the .045" pin, but the soldering would have to be precise.

 

I'm not sure if there is a market for a $15 guide shoe, and even if there was, I don't think I have enough time to produce any quantity of something that tricky to do.

 

Also, is it worth it if I can't prevent the braid pocket from getting damaged.(although I haven't heard of that happening with the graphite flag) ?

[Greg VanPeenen]

Mike, 

 

I tested your Low C.G. Red Fox graphite guides this afternoon. 155 ft Hill Climb on 13 volts. The track is older and not super smooth. I tested it on a brand new build an R-Geo GVP Hybred w/Razzo pans. This chassis was also built with your plated wire.

 

I built the car as light as possible using an IRRA legal wide nose TI-22 body. Not a tissue paper thin body. All up the car was 97.2 grams. Normal cars that run good on that track are in the 105 to 110 gram range. My Track record holding car is one of R-Geo's prototype GVP Raptor Chassis not in production as of yet. Coming soon. This car was built for challenging tracks and is 108 grams.

 

The new build had you guide installed and just for grins I ran some laps with it. I was amazed at how well that 97.2 gram car was getting around the track. I let one of the other top guys that run there try it. He also was amazed how good the car ran. He questioned my scales because a car that light couldn't be that fast on that track. He put it on his scale and it was in fact 97.2. I let one other racer try it and he also commented on how fast the car was. I ran a 4.75 with it Matt ran a 4.72 with it and the third guy ran 4.77. all commented on how well the car entered the corners and how early they could power out of the corners. Also how the car handled the bumps. 

 

I took the Record holding car out and could only manage 4.80 with it. It has a standard new Red Fox graphite guide on it and the same nylon guide nuts on them both. Not one of Mikes cut down ones as I ran out of them. The heavier car did not handle the bumps as well as the one with Mike's LCG guide. On that chassis with the GVP nose on it that Guide I am sure made a big difference. It put the little bit of extra weight that that nose likes in the perfect place. Below the surface of the track! As low as it can go.That super light car felt like it was planted better then the heaver one. And yes I ran the same tires on them both. Both cars had the same motors and chute speed as almost the same for both cars the heavier car having a tiny edge in motor. Next race day I will switch guides between the two and retest. I will also test them on an Retro F-1 and a Flexi GTP car.

 

Regards,

Greg VanPeenen.