Wes "knows" magracing

[Raudi1]

Having just completed a second track, I thought I'd pass along a few lessons learned.

First is we could ALL learn by listening to Wes. Coming from a slot car background it seemed like it would be much easier and more positive to rout or groove the wire than glueing it to the surface. IT'S NOT! Use cheap and easily available wood glue to hold the piano wire to the board.

Although I skipped the card the glue and plaster method offered several advantages. First, the springiness of the wire allowed a much smoother radius, a very important deal to Magcars that is not so critical to slot cars. A hand routed groove can have slight jogs which will shake loose a mag racer especially at high speeds. Secondly, the drywall plaster created a much smoother track surface than painted particle board. Although the cars worked fine they are noticeably quieter on the plaster surface. Finally, the drywall allows a much more consistent depth allowing the wire to be right at the track surface. Wire depth is especially critical to the Magcars.

An added bonus is you don't need any new special tools but a 10" drywall blade. Use fresh premixed drywall mud and a couple layers sanded smooth and flush to the wire. The plaster is much easier to sand than wood.

The tough part is knowing what is possible now, I need to make some revisions to our large track. Oh well experience is a great teacher.

[PDX Bryan]

Thanks Raudi,

Great feedback again.
Can you imagine- the guy who invented it actually knows what he's talking about?...Who knew?

By the way, how'd your demo day at the Depot go?

Bryan

[Raudi1]

Demo coming this next weekend, Saturday May 25th. Should be fun... We'll take video for sure.

[Joel, LeNoir]

I have decided to go the plaster route as well. My 10ft by 10ft. (about 3 meters square) track Will be suspended from the rafters in the garage. So needs to be as light as possible.Thinking of using pine framing & 1/4in. Foam for the track surface.

Anyways.... Good to hear you gave it a try. Maybe I will be able to give both ways a try this weekend. Looking forward to hanging out.

Joel

[prime05]

Hi,
First post. Half way through building my first track and am finding that the card is too difficult for me for one reason alone... children. Time is limited and the rate I am going cutting card and gluing it down, I won't be finished with the track until next summer. I am looking into just plastering the rest of the track but am concerned about getting the track surface even. I am not really experienced in using plaster over a area larger than an inch or two. Any helpful hints would be appreciated.
Thanks.

[WesR]

Hi Prime05, Difficult to add any more than is on the Magracing website.
You need a rectangular plastering trowel which has good straight edges
to fill and scrape to the two lane wires (I assume you have two wires
laid parallel for the two lanes) Its just a question of practice. You will
probably have some low spots to fill later and some high spots to scrape
down when dry, or nearly dry.
Plastering is undoubtedly the quickest if you have a complete track to
do. I am using card for my new Targa track (see Targa posts) because
I like to do a small section and test it. That way I can check each lane
change (there will be 15 of them!) and know that I am getting them right.
Wes R

[Lasp]

I agre about the easyest way is to just glu the tread to a hard surface.
But bee shure that all the tread will bee there.
Then I have test with ONE STRIKE FILLER Google on that.
One strike and 15 min its all ready.

But you can test the tread at track by adjust the magnet nearly 1 mm up befor you fill the track with this material.

Good Luck says Lasp

[Kuipo]

I am using card for my new Targa track (see Targa posts) because
I like to do a small section and test it. That way I can check each lane
change (there will be 15 of them!) and know that I am getting them right.
Wes R

Interesting... Is that the purpose of the cardstock Wes? Raudi and I couldn't figure out what the bonus was to putting the cardstock down over just plastering. If that's the case, I suppose the "corners" don't need the cardstock to get really close to the wires, just close enough where the wheels will go over wire (like at lane changes etc.

If that's the case, and you don't need the card to get very close, I can see why you would spend time with the cards. Just to get the wire working before plastering everything.

Here's my next question related to that then... what kind of glue do you use to keep the wire down? The glue we use is normal wood glue and takes 15~20 mins to dry, do you use some fast drying stuff to test the segments of the track sooner? Maybe that's the way to make the tracks... rapid testing before plastering. *hmmmm* That's a very interesting concept on how to look at making tracks.

[WesR]

You only need to cut the card roughly to the shape of the wire. Gaps of up to 1/4"
(6mm) can be filled easily from a tub of cheap household filler. I find that if you position the card over the curved wire, you can just about feel the wire through it if you press down and you can then mark around the curve with a pencil/pen.
I use a tube of impact/contact adhesive to hold the wire and the l/c plate. Position the wire immediately and hold down with a few weights (paint tins etc.) Should be ok in about 5 mins for straights and say 15 min for curves.
For the card, impact will give immediate results although I have some cheaper but
slightly slower drying glue which is almost as good.
You can no doubt find some card in the U.S. which would be much cheaper postage wise than ours.
Wes R

[WesR]

Further to Raudi's and my posts, as I have a lot of track to lay, I decided
to try plaster again but this time to use ready mixed. Previously I had
mixed powder with water but this can be pretty messy and you have to
clean out the mixing bowl each time. Ready mixed is looking a lot
easier and certainly quicker than card. Photos show paint scraper used
for applying and steel rule for scraping off the surplus. I found it best
to use the surplus straight away rather than put it back in the tub.
At the lane change points, you need to embed a short piece of wire
at the edge of the track to support the straight edge.
There will be some filling and cleaning up to do tomorrow but it's
looking good so far.
Wes R
Pics seperately