Best Wire for Building a Track
Posted: Sun 25. Feb 2024 01:41
Do not use coiled wire or stainless steel wire. Use standard music wire, also called piano wire. Pieces around 1 meter long work best, especially for curves (corners). Pieces 1 ft long should work fine on straight sections of track.
For cars weighing 65 grams with the battery and with a 3mm x 4mm standard neodymium steering magnet between the front wheels, anything under 0.7mm diameter will not work. Wes’s 1:32 cars weigh about 65 grams with the battery. He used 0.7mm diameter wire for his earlier tracks. He used 0.8mm wire to build one of his last tracks and said it worked “ok for 1/32 cars” but not for 1/24. “In fact the 1/32 cars went so well that I lost some interest in 1/24.” He used 1.0mm wire for his larger track for 1/24 cars.
I used 0.032” (0.81mm) wire to build my large outdoor garden track. My 1/32 cars weigh 65-85 grams. Heavier cars need heavier wire for the system to perform well.
For cars weighing 65-75 grams I recommend a minimum diameter of 0.8mm. 0.9mm would provide better performance. A car is less likely to lose a heavier wire when going in or out of a banked turn, over a bumpy, uneven, track or track joint. Less likely to lose the wire, if the wire is a little low in some spots (implying the track surface upon which the tires ride is a little high). By a little I mean 6 thousands of an inch. The thickness of 2 sheets of computer paper. It is easier and less tedious to build a well performing track with heavier wire.
If your cars weigh more than 75 grams, I recommend a minimum wire diameter of 0.9mm. I plan to use 1.0mm wire when building my next track.
There doesn’t appear to be any disadvantage to using 1.0mm wire. I thought that the heavier wire might pull the steering magnet much closer to the track causing the magnet to often scrape the paint covering the wire. I tested 2 unmodified chassis that I bought from Wes and 6 that I designed myself and had printed at Shapeways. I found that the clearance between the magnet and the wire (embedded flush with the surface supporting the tires) was less with 1.0mm compared to 0.81mm wire, but only .003” on average, the thickness of one piece of computer paper! That can be easily offset by adjusting the arm holding the magnet .003”-005” higher.
A larger diameter wire provides sufficient attractive force between the wire and the steering magnet to control the direction of a car with a larger gap between the wire and the magnet. Thus less precision is needed when building the track.
If anyone has any evidence or experience to the contrary please let us know.
For cars weighing 65 grams with the battery and with a 3mm x 4mm standard neodymium steering magnet between the front wheels, anything under 0.7mm diameter will not work. Wes’s 1:32 cars weigh about 65 grams with the battery. He used 0.7mm diameter wire for his earlier tracks. He used 0.8mm wire to build one of his last tracks and said it worked “ok for 1/32 cars” but not for 1/24. “In fact the 1/32 cars went so well that I lost some interest in 1/24.” He used 1.0mm wire for his larger track for 1/24 cars.
I used 0.032” (0.81mm) wire to build my large outdoor garden track. My 1/32 cars weigh 65-85 grams. Heavier cars need heavier wire for the system to perform well.
For cars weighing 65-75 grams I recommend a minimum diameter of 0.8mm. 0.9mm would provide better performance. A car is less likely to lose a heavier wire when going in or out of a banked turn, over a bumpy, uneven, track or track joint. Less likely to lose the wire, if the wire is a little low in some spots (implying the track surface upon which the tires ride is a little high). By a little I mean 6 thousands of an inch. The thickness of 2 sheets of computer paper. It is easier and less tedious to build a well performing track with heavier wire.
If your cars weigh more than 75 grams, I recommend a minimum wire diameter of 0.9mm. I plan to use 1.0mm wire when building my next track.
There doesn’t appear to be any disadvantage to using 1.0mm wire. I thought that the heavier wire might pull the steering magnet much closer to the track causing the magnet to often scrape the paint covering the wire. I tested 2 unmodified chassis that I bought from Wes and 6 that I designed myself and had printed at Shapeways. I found that the clearance between the magnet and the wire (embedded flush with the surface supporting the tires) was less with 1.0mm compared to 0.81mm wire, but only .003” on average, the thickness of one piece of computer paper! That can be easily offset by adjusting the arm holding the magnet .003”-005” higher.
A larger diameter wire provides sufficient attractive force between the wire and the steering magnet to control the direction of a car with a larger gap between the wire and the magnet. Thus less precision is needed when building the track.
If anyone has any evidence or experience to the contrary please let us know.