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Cut a continuous slot on boards thicker than 3/4 in. If you want to make biscuit joints, you don’t have to buy a biscuit joiner. In most cases, a router equipped with a 5/32-in. Slot bit can cut perfect slots to fit the biscuits. Mark the biscuit positions on both adjoining boards as you would with a biscuit joiner. Using a wood router tool to cut straight lines. Learn how to do woodworking with routers in this home maintenance video.Expert: Kevin MoutonBio: Kevin Mouton. The MDF sheets were 49' wide, since the track sections were 23 1/2' wide, the panel was first ripped at 24 1/2'. With a more managable piece, a second pass was made on the table saw, trimming the straights to the exact width. Routing the curved slot in the leg which controls the tilting. For the upper triangle, holes were drilled for. Cut a hole in a plank of MDF, then cut the plank in half to make two perfectly matching parts: the base and the rail. When the fence is assembled, the cutouts form an opening for the router bit. The fence base and rail will come from one piece of MDF. Cut this blank to 8-5/8 x 32 in. And drill a 3-in. Hole in the center with a jigsaw or hole saw. Fix the sections to the frame The sections will be fixed to the first layer of MDF (see the Frame submenu) while routing with temporary Tox screws, late they will be replaced with Hex socket screws through the track with Tee nuts mounted underneath the frames MDF. That will keep the sections in.

TRACK CONSTRUCTION Part One

Contentsof this page

Assembling the 'UK Black' Track

by Chris Frost

Updated April 2009

Right then, you’ve got this great track design,designed with the help of (or in spite of) the track designweb pages. How do you go about building it? If you’ve got the fundstrack builders like Steve Ogilvie in Canada or theLars Harrysson in Sweden willdo the job for you. If not the only option is to build it yourself.

I’m assuming that your club has enough practical skill tohandle the power tools safely and do a reasonable carpentry job. I would hope itgoes without saying, if you don’t know how to do a job safely DON’T DOIT!

I’m setting out to describe how many good tracks have beenbuilt. No doubt there are many other ways of building tracks - so if you knowanother way of producing a good track then good luck to you (and why not writeinto Slot Car Racing News and describe how you did it). I’m also trying todescribe the advantages and pitfalls of various techniques - but I’m sure Icannot have thought of everything.

There are two types of board most suitable for the surface ofslot car tracks ; MDF (medium density fibre board) and chipboard. Chipboard isthe traditional material, it produces an adequately smooth surface, and is thecheaper option. MDF has been used in a number of recently built tracks, itproduces a smoother surface and a smoother slot, it is better structurally. MDFis a little heavier, but perhaps thinner sheet can be used. The minimumthickness for the track surface is 12mm (1/2 inch), although if you are usingchipboard, a greater thickness is an advantage.

The 'standard size' for board is 2.4m by 1.2m (8ft. by 4 ft.) sheets. Smaller sheets are available, but are almost always muchworse value for money. Joints between sheets make extra work and tend to causebumps so smaller sheets are not a good idea. Its worth shopping around for board- the first do-it-yourself superstore you come across may well be expensive,particularly compared with the prices paid by someone 'in the trade'.

The board that forms the track surface will sag under its ownweight unless some support is provided. The traditional way of doing this was toput wooden battens underneath - a piece running lengthways each side and crosspieces every 40-60 cm. (16in - 2ft,) some tracks used 25x50 mm (2x1 inch)timber, but this was a bit too flexible, and 75mm (3in) depth was moresatisfactory. Timber tends to expand and contract with temperature and humiditychanges at roughly the same rate as the surface boards, so there is limitedwarping problems. More recently MDF surfaced tracks have been built using stripsof MDF on edge in place of the timber. This has the advantage that the track isall of one material so it shouldn't warp. Its likely to work out cheaper becausethere are usually plenty of bits of MDF that are too narrow for track surface,but are usable in the supports. I don't recommend using chipboard in this way,it isn't very satisfactory in this sort of structural application. Incidentallyone disadvantage of MDF strips compared with timber is that wood screws onlywork well into the thickness of MDF, it tends to de laminate if screws are putin edgeways so the screw fixings are a bit weak (although nothing like as weakas screws edgeways into chipboard). The professionals used pinned and gluedconstruction on MDF with extra reinforcing blocks (see diagram A). You can use ametal frame under the surface , but you have to allow for different expansionrates to avoid warping.

The above construction is great for straights, but obviouslyneeds a bit of adaptation for corners. One approach is to carry supports on instraight lines (see right hand part of diagram B) The other is to buildstructural curved edges to the track - these will double as crash barriers. Youare not going to be able to bend a 12mm strip of MDF round a tight radius - thesecret of this is to use 3 thicknesses of 4mm MDF glued together (see diagramB). If this is done properly the finished job will look just like a curved pieceof 12mm thick strip. (To get a good finish use slightly wider 4mm strips and cutit down to the finished width when the glue has dried.)

Unless you plan to run your track on the floor, (Some HOevents are run with the track on the floor) the track needs to be supported at asuitable height. There are various conventions on what is the correct height - 8lane tracks tend to be at about knee height rather than the normal British clubtrack just below waist height.

What do you use to support the track?

One answer is to use anything which is cheap, available andreasonably rigid. For a permanent tracks I’ve seen tables, cupboards, workbenches, oil drums (clean and empty!) in use. These all worked and the clubs gotthem for little or no money because they were in the right place when theoriginal owners were scrapping them. A fair bit of adjustment with packing isusually needed to get the levels right, but as long as the track isn’t goingto be moved then this is a job that only needs doing once.

Some clubs have bolted up a 'Dexion' frame - thisis likely to be a costly option unless you can reuse some Dexion being put in askip. If you don’t manage to recycle somebody else's surplus then what do youdo?

Many clubs have built a timber frame. An adequate timberframe does not need particularly high quality craftsmanship although there aresome well built ones around. (Save the realskill for the track surface!)

The supporting timber frame for the Haydon track taken during construction.

Some clubs have used welded steel frames - this is only anoption for clubs with a welder and a supply of cheap steel. Users of metalframes should beware of the differing rates of expansion of steel and wood.Unless the surface is able to move relative to the frame, warping and cracks arelikely.

What about tracks that are not set up permanently? Perhapsthere are tables available in the room where the track is used - if so the trackwon’t need its own legs. If the track does need its own legs then they need tobe easy to fit, remove and store.

A good design of tra

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