30 replies to this topic

[Mr Nobody]

Anybody working on anything to pass the time in winter? Slot car related or not...

 

I just finished a track build in my basement that I started in November. Now the only project I have is run a bunch of laps!!!

 

 

[Cheater]

That's a nice-looking track, Trent!

 

How long is it?

Are you sure you're real? No one's basement ever looks that clean...

[MattD]

Very nice, that should be great for racing.

 

What are the lane centers?

[mppicione]

That one puts mine to shame. Very nice. Congrats, great-looking build.

[Mr Nobody]

LOL, I'm real, Greg, the basement was somewhat of a wreck before I started. There was definitely some cleaning that took place before track building began. I've been known for leaving six-packs of beer out for the garbage men as a sympathy gift for putting so much stuff at the curb!!

 

Track footprint is 14' x 32'.  Lane centers are 4-1/2".

 

Right now I'm running a 4001 motor with an 11/35 gear; it's real manageable. And luckily I have few controllers set up so if I come off in a turn I can jump lanes and drive from a different spot. I set the driver stations up all over so you can be a driver and a marshall at the same time, a "drarshall"! 

 

A couple friends are calling it the social distancing track.

[Isaac S.]

Beautiful, nice design. 

[MSwiss]

Awesome job.

You should be proud.

[Martin]

  Clean space, nice job. I would fill that space up with all kinds of projects. You must be a lot more disciplined than I.

 

Well done.

[Steve Deiters]

Love the locations of the controller hook-ups. Minimizes the number of marshals needed if a group of people is "just running" to the people who are there.

[gmpower]

Awesome! I'm jealous!!!

[don.siegel]

Ditto! Beautiful design and build – and that's a huge basement – we could barely get a ping-pong table in ours when I was a kid... 

 

Don 

[SpeedyNH]

That's very clever, the drivers' stations placement. In all, a totally awesome job. (Is that a Kingleman?) 

 

Thanks so much for showing it to us! Now we're going to ask for a video of a car going around. And some pictures of the underside construction. Sorry about that.

 

And that looks like a really great track to run backwards! That's how I ran my 'scale' series years ago – we run 'em all that way (like at Daytona, where you climb this vertical wall, go through the bank, down the straight and duck into the infield). Just swap the lead wires and the dead strip lap counter still works. Some owners liked it so much they changed their tracks. Two or three, I actually rewired so that it was the default. Sometimes we had to tighten and roll the braid at a corner entry or two so it ran smoothly in both directions.

 

Just a thought – it's a new track, right? Why not try it out – now you have two different tracks! LOL. Those corners look like they'd work in either direction. Lead-on and donut look to be about the same tightest radius. 

 

Nice job! A track that I'd love to run my Eurosports on. 

 

Speed 

[Revtor]

Awesome job!! Enjoy running it and filling out that great space!!

[mickey thumbs]

So your house has two basements? This one and the other one with the Christmas decorations, fishing gear, kayaks, workbench and hand tools, scuba gear, treadmill, weight bench, leftover paint cans and stuff? LOL.
 
Absolutely gorgeous track! A lot of lanes to rubber-in for you and your buddies.

[Ramcatlarry]

Six lanes should have pit space and outlets for, oh, maybe a dozen drivers... minimum 24" deep... three drivers to an 8 ft section... rip two 4 x 8s to make four tables...

[Dave Crevie]

It's not a commercial raceway, Larry.

[Brian Czeiner]

That is a beautiful track. Do you plan on decorations to finish the man cave? Some black and white racing pics in inexpensive frames all over the walls or?

[SpeedyNH]

It'd still be good to have some pit tables though for your friends. When I used to go to different raceways (back when they existed), sometimes I'd bring my own little table with fold-out legs, maybe 2' x 3', which would fit in the back seat if I needed it, and an extension cord. Learned my lesson early, back in the '90s when we started bringing more than just a one-foot-square box with a couple cars, minimal tools, essential spares and a controller. 

 

In my loft I don't get too many visitors (usually only one at a time especially nowadays), but I do have some pit table space that I can 'easily' clear off in advance. 

 

Lang's Law: the clutter expands to fill the available space, (according to my Dad, in the '60s).

Corollary: do as much of your work up front as you can. 

[Mr Nobody]

Thanks for all the positive feedback, guys!

 

I have attached a picture of the underneath of the track, it's just MDF with 2x4s every 16" on center.

 

As for the pit space, I have two benches that are 7 ft long, one that is 4 ft long, and one that is 14 ft long. If I run out of bench space, I will start kicking people out. I do have two nice crawl spaces on either side of the basement, one crawl space is mine, and the other is my wife's, that's where all of the Christmas decorations and everything else has been moved to.

 

I will decorate the walls more over time. My wife has asked that I move most of my skateboards to the basement so that will be taking up some wall space.

 

I'm waiting on my lap counter system so right now it's just laps for fun. My brother came over yesterday and did some laps with me. I will get that video from my wife and put it up later. Right now she is busy shopping and spending my money.

 

As far as running it backwards I may try it someday if I can get the guts to do it. My brother  and I were running cars backwards on the orange track at American raceway in Girard when we were kids and I can still hear George's voice in my head, yelling at us for doing it. I have never run a track backwards since!!!

 

 

[MattD]

Trent, did you build the track in one solid piece and then rout or is it sections?

[Mr Nobody]

I routed it in about four different sections, I think. All of my turns have 4" from the slot to the wall on he inside, and 6" from the slot to the wall on the outside. So in some of the straightaways the slot is angled a little bit to kick that space over the 2" offset needed for the next turn.

 

I would stop the routing when I got into the straight and then the straights were cut with a circular saw using a very straight piece of aluminum square tubing as a fence. I used two circular saw blades, 1/16" thick stacked together on a battery-powered circ saw. No cord on the saw gave me no chance of the saw dragging and kicking the saw crooked, and the battery saws spin slower so I felt like it was easier to control.

 

[SpeedyNH]

Sweet! Thanks.

[MattD]

It's a great job, Trent. The 4-1/2" spacing is a big plus. I went all the way to 5 inches for the wide flat curve at one end of my track. I would consider 5 inches all the way around if I ever do another.

[MG Brown]

Other than racing 1/24 about every other weekend...

 

Our new home has a 20' x 20' outbuilding. Improvements so far include insulation, independent HVAC, independent breaker panel on its own circuit, carpeting, custom workbench, drop acoustic ceiling, LED shop lights behind egg-crate polarizers. 10' by 17' table for a 1/32 Scalextric Sport four-lane track plus Slot Car Corner three-post driver stations with reversing switch, Trackmate race director, timing and remote track call, SCC jumper taps, SCC controller rests, variable voltage power supply.

 

 

 

I have used SCC products in the past and I feel that they are top notch.

 

The electricians are scheduled to be here this week to wire the HVAC after which the serious work can begin.

Will post photos when done.

[MattD]

Great, you'll have a small hobby house! A four-ane Scalex should allow 1/24 with a lane separating the cars.   Great to have a place to play  at home and 1/32 can be a great basement hobby.