50 foot future track talk (thread moved from Red,White,Blue)
I tried the washer route once too and it did seem to work quite well but I ended up using the popsicle sticks instead. I think I picked them because they folded up better since my track is just some hinged boards.http://www.redlinederby.com/2010/09/kee ... -straight/
And here's an old post that shows the washer in action...
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=87&p=584&hilit=washer#p584
Looks like the popsicle sticks will align the track pretty well but it doesn't do much for mounting it.
No, the popsicle sticks just align then don't mount or anything. I use them because I need to take apart my track a lot and relay the orange track each time, so it needs to be quick and easy. My derby track is short because of limited house space, but it's also designed for quick and easy storage. You can fit my track in a coat closet
The Myth Busters video looks like BluTrack. Will the Hot Wheels track expand that much too? I'm thinking I may just have to route the race grooves longer than the track to account for some expansion on hotter days. I'm thinking the friction from the grooves in the wood should be enough to keep the track in place.
I still have to figure out how long I want the transition to be. I'm thinking when I lay it out, the Hot Wheels track will lay naturally how it should and then I can figure out what the transition should look like. I think that's what you were saying, Jason.
The amount of warping done by temperature is directly related to the length of that track. Those sections were HUGE. I mean, all plastic will expand and contract in the heat and cold, but you won't see it much in a 1-foot section.
And if I'm not mistaken, that's not Blutrack, it's the track that Mark used to make and sell himself, the Race Grooves track.
The race grooves track is no longer for sale and the blu track has many down falls. The number one downfall for me was that the owner doesn't support the diecast collecting community. I had contacted him previously for Diecastsapce and he pretty much had no interest in what we were doing.
Those are the main reasons I will be making my own rolls of track. I should have some pre-order info ready in the next 30-45 days.
Sweet keep me posted. As long as it's official Hot Wheels dimensions, I could always use a spare track. It would be nice if it had 2 lanes on one strip too. I could use it if we need to set up a quick and small race in a small area. I still want to use the new track I'm planning to build for our races when I can.
The race grooves track is no longer for sale and the blu track has many down falls. The number one downfall for me was that the owner doesn't support the diecast collecting community. I had contacted him previously for Diecastsapce and he pretty much had no interest in what we were doing.Those are the main reasons I will be making my own rolls of track. I should have some pre-order info ready in the next 30-45 days.
Which owner doesn't support the diecast collecting community?
My big issue with BluTrack was dimensions. Lanes were wider than they needed to be and while I know that allows for more car support, that's not what I was interested in. I also couldn't get the thing to un-curl to my liking but that's probably more a user error than a product problem.
If someone can just make off-brand orange track-compatible track, they'd be golden. I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to augment the track I already have rather than out right replace it all. But I digress...
To unroll the BluTrack, you just let it heat up first. If you're somewhere where it doesn't get very warm, you can stick it in a bucket (or tub) of hot water and it will soften up in no time. I'm in Southern California, so there was only one time where we started the races late and it was too cold to straighten out like normal because it was still too stiff. I filled the tub a little bit with hot water, dunked the track in and it softened up in no time. Took it back outside and set it up.
My only issues are that it's wider and also now I don't like that the walls are too low and point straight up. It only has one center wall between the lanes, so it has to point straight up, but on my last race I noticed my car's body was at just the right height where the bottom of the body of the car rubbed against the top of the track wall and greatly slowed my car down as it started to pull towards the wall where the body was grabbing.
@Bandeeze - And if you're interested to see more about how the heat/cool can effect a track, check out the Mythbusters episode where they did a quarter-mile track. When you get to long lengths the effect is much more dramatic.
I should also say that episode of Mythbusters was done with the help of our forum friend Markkaz of Race Grooves. He made the crazy-long track for the show. Very cool.
http://www.racegrooves.com/hb/fea/Myth/busters.html