Routed track plan needed for my students

Routed track plan needed for my students - Printable Version

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Routed track plan needed for my students - tabtas - 1st-Jun-22

Hi I am a teacher looking to get my year 11 and 12,s into racing as an incentive to complete work.
Don't have much experience/knowledge with slot cars but do have a great workshop including a large CNC Router and 3D printers, lathes etc.
Would love to get the student to produce our own CNC routed track and eventually start making/experimenting with cars (hence Im thinking of the larger 1/24th scale).
To get the ball rolling I'm looking for some CNC router files for a 1/24th scale, maybe a 3 or 4 lane track and buy our first cars.
Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated.

RE: Routed track plan needed for my students - JasonB - 1st-Jun-22

Welcome tabtas. Wavegreen

Most hobbyists tend to make their tracks using a hand held router, so freely available CNC files aren't very common. There are commercial track makers that use CNC but of course they don't make their files available.

But I wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult to produce your own, or perhaps get your students to do it, as a learning exercise. All you'd need would be three or four equally spaced lines to cut the slots for each lane. If the track needed to spread out over more than one board, you'd obviously need to divide up the drawings, and if you wanted to cut out the track shape you'd need two more lines to cut out the inside and outside of the track.

If you need any ideas, you could have a look in our routed track plans section, or in our members' tracks section, and if you need any advice on track design then there are plenty of knowledgeable people here on the forum.

RE: Routed track plan needed for my students - Kevan - 1st-Jun-22

If you have a CNC router you must have CAD to create files. This looks like a perfect opportunity to get them designing also.

RE: Routed track plan needed for my students - Scuderia_Turini - 1st-Jun-22

Hello tabtas,
I have never done any CNC work but am aware that in 3D printing, many designs start off as a 2 dimensional drawing that is then given some depth/height and scaling.
So taking a layout plan from the library here and removing everything but the slot lines might be a good starting point. Have removed most of the peripheral stuff from [/url][url=https://slotracer.online/track-plans/routed/routed-rou-2132-015.html]this one to give you the idea.

[attachment=23926]

RE: Routed track plan needed for my students - Kevan - 1st-Jun-22

If you export that layout as an .svg file it could be imported straight into a 3D CAD program, extruded, scaled up and the quick route to a layout.

RE: Routed track plan needed for my students - dazee - 3rd-Jun-22

Start small and work your way up. Part of the process is learning what does not work and why for what you want.

Running test pieces will allow you to test different ways to join the track sections together. Test if you want to use copper tape or braid. If braid, then what type can you get your hands on, and how best to secure it to the track. What type of track surface do you want etc. You can go to all sorts of different levels before you even start construction.

I did something like it but on a smaller scale, for a single-lane course. I used Solid Edge for the design as I was using a laser cutter, but the same designs would apply to a router too. I made various sections that could then be joined together to make the track - in my case I also cut recesses to use copper wire instead of tape or braid.

https://dazee-projects.blogspot.com/2020/04/slot-cars-track-test.html

I'm going to have to blow the dust off this one and have a little fun with it again soon.