Making a slot car track (part 1)

[@craigmonteforte1478]

i appreciate the Video i am a retired ProfessionalWoodworker almost 60 years old and i spent many years of my Childhood building H.O.Layouts combining my Slot Cars and Train Sets into different Layouts i love this idea now of being able to Create my own Tracks and not being locked into using only what Companies Track parts they produced

[@saxmusicmail]

Ahhh! This reminds me of the slot car track my Dad and I built in the mid '60's. I lived in a small town with no big commercial tracks. We'd have to go to a city 30 minutes drive one way, or 45 min the other. Not having a drivers license I didn't get to race often enough. Dad and I built a 1/24th three lane track. We improvised a router jig like yours, but made from thin plywood. We did the 1/8" slot, then came right back over with a wider, shallower cut to lay in 1/4" braid. I don't remember where we got that, but had a big roll of it. Using copper tape never occurred to us, and don't know if that was easy to get back then. We tried a transformer for power, but that just could not produce the power needed. We bought a "rebuilt" car battery and used the transformer to keep it charged. That worked perfectly. I wired up the standard 1/4" phone jacks, as well as some terminals (brass bolts) in case a visitor used alligator clips instead of plug. We had it on pulleys to hoist into the top of the garage. Many an afternoon was spent with my brother and friends racing! We would use rewinds for the commercial track, and drop in stock motors for the shorter home track (55' per lap).

[@patlalla148]

Wow, really beautiful. So many ideas now. Thank you so much.

[@slottec23]

Well done buddy !!! Some handy tips there too.

[@ME-yi1hx]

Appreciate you sharing. You are good. It shows you’re an experienced carpenter.

[@lsp0107]

Thank you for sharing. Your videos are really great. I’ve learned a lot from you.

[@larryandersonsspectacularc5390]

I routered a 3 lane oval in 1864 which turned out great,

[@allexkowalsky4168]

Hey man i really appreciate this video series. Thank you

[@TheSlotSpot]

Thanks. I’m blown away with how many views these videos have gotten in the last 2 years. I never thought it would be anything more then a few friends checking it out.

[@johnkonzelman203]

That’s awesome I never knew how they did this!!

[@THEFALCON58]

I use A Bearing on each leg less wear, and I use A triangle router plate with adjustable holes for each lane. ???

[@OGlohocla1994]

Fantastic video man. For months I was looking for a video that showed the process only to turn up with no results. Im about to route my own track for 1/32 and 1/43. Bought a H0 routed copper tape track and was not very happy with it. H0 are not easy to get working on copper. Figured id go back to 1/32 but no more plastic. I raced on a Blue King in Wilkes Barre years ago and that was the best. Can't wait to watch part 2!

[@TheSlotSpot]

Thanks for checking it out . All 3 parts are done and posted now. I have a variable power supply that I can run 9 to 14 volts . 1/43 run great at 9 volts 1/32 and 1/24 cars I run at 10.5 to 11 anything higher you can’t open it up and the controllers overheat . Definitely the best thing I did tho was get away from plastic . 1 thing you do need is a good set of silicone tires.

[@craigmonteforte1478]

When you are working on those turns you need to use the center point of the radius each time or your lanes won’t be parallel overall I think you are going to wind up with a really cool track I’m a retired Professional Woodworker and one day I hope to build a big layout myself I may also incorporate H.O. Trains too

[@TheSlotSpot]

The purpose of this particular jig is to ease into the turns off the straights. Im not a fan of the trammel method and using a center point because it creates a harder transition into a turn. On a big layout with nice big radius turns it’s ok but for this little bull ring it would make the inside lanes very hard to drive. The finished track is extremely smooth and fast .

[@csi1392]

IF YOU ARE MATCHING HO SCALE CARS, S SCALE TRAINS ARE A BETTER MATCH

[@realjustice2358]

So much enthusiasm in your voice

[@donwest5387]

the more corners, the more fun, just saying. For joining the table pieces: removable-pin door hinges

[@huggybear9937]

Nice job 👍 I always wanted to do a track like yours junior

[@TheSlotSpot]

Same here . Not I actually have the resources and knowledge to do it it’s awesome .

[@huggybear9937]

JT is loving the track

[@shrimpinpat]

Me “making a slot car track would be cool but I don’t know how to make my own track. This dude : here’s a router jig I feel like I can figure out the rest this is what I needed. Now maybe tip on making elevated areas?

[@johncahill3644]

Just an fyi, if you're going to use mdf for the track itself you don't need a ply tabletop (1/8" luaun is sufficient). The mdf adds quite a bit of support and the luaun is more than enough to support scenery. It makes for a lighter table overall and quite a bit of cost savings. One extra detail...if you need to add wood supports to raise the mdf/track off the luan (in locations where there isn't already a brace underneath), then position a thin block of wood underneath the luan and sandwich the luaun between the wood below and the support above with a couple screws.

[@TheSlotSpot]

I had to do a plywood table to support me. My track is against a wall on 3 sides so I had to be able to climb on it to work on it and if anything ever goes wrong I can climb on it and re tape or re solider my connections. I was not concerned with weight saving on this. I only used 1/2 inch ply wood but actually wish I would have used 3/4 because the 1/2 flexes a good amount when I walk on it.

[@patricktimpe9706]

Mr. Slot Spot, Hello !!!!! Pat here from Indianapolis. I like your layout and plan to build one like yours as my space constraints on width is right at 6'. I'd sure like to know the size of your first jig you developed to guide you doing the outside lane. Like, overall length by the width of the acrylic (plexiglass). And then, would you mind sharing the spacing of your guide pins, length-wise. I assume you went equidistant in both directions about the center of your router hole, if I'm making sense. I understand your 2nd jig and how you created that.

[@TheSlotSpot]

The base is 10”x24” with 20” between the pins. 10 inches each way from the center.

[@patricktimpe9706]

@@TheSlotSpot ……Thanks so much for your quick turnaround to my question.

[@teamcautiouslyextreme8072]

Nice, can't wait for more updates. I am chompin at the bit to get an oval going as well and will be following in your footsteps. So keep on keepin on. Where are you located? Im about an hour north of Seattle.

[@TheSlotSpot]

Thanks for checking out my video. I just uploaded part 2 today. I’m located in Eastern PA an hr North of Philadelphia.

[@rrrrkoop2776]

very nice, thanks

[@eduardomalcom2228]

Súper Tks

[@geneschulp8598]

Good stuff

[@seanlundy8708]

What size router bit are you using for this?

[@TheSlotSpot]

1/8 inch

[@seanlundy8708]

@@TheSlotSpot thank you

[@justintime2125]

Nice,....

[@DrDiff952]

Braid or copper tape?

[@TheSlotSpot]

Tape for now. It runs great but is starting to bubble in spots which is ok it don’t affect performance just aesthetically don’t look great. Once braid is in the budget I’ll probably be making the switch.

[@donwest5387]

ten "penny"?