Just thinking about designing a 1/43 scale routed track and was wondering about lane spacing and gutter width. What works? What's ideal? How deep do the slots need to be routed? Any suggestions as to what might work are greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Todd
Last edited by tossedman; 05-17-2012 at 08:33 PM.
Reason: spelling
Nominal spacing is about 2 1/4", I have a couple squeezes down to about 1 3/8" or so and a couple wide sweepers that go up to 2 1/2" the beauty of routing your own track is being able to adjust lane spacing and run offs to suit the style of track you are building. My Targa style track is made for no-mag so I leave a little extra in the outside turn fringes and on the inside apexes the cars are just grazing the scenery!
1/4" slot depth is fine, 1/2' Thick MDF is fine! Minimum turn radius? Again, it would kind of depend on the style of layout, I have seen as small as 3", but that would a sort of a rally track, or very tight and twisty! I believe the smallest on my track is about 4" and somewhere between there and 6" would be ideal!
If you plan on running 1/32 then use larger 1/32 dimensions, I have a 3 lane track and I run my 1/32's in the middle lane.
You got a trackplan you are considering? Let us see it!
my actual track has the following dimensions and i really like them.
lane spacing 60mm
width from outside slot to end of track 80mm
width from inside slot to end of track 50mm
3mm slot width
6mm slot depth
Here's a couple of ideas for a two lane and a three lane. Whadya think? Too wide? Might negate the whole 1/43 space advantage with track this wide. All I have here is a piece of Toys R Us track (which may be Artin and it's 4 1/2 inches wide.
Two lane
Three lane
Thoughts? Once I figure this bit out I'll try to draw the whole track.
Basically, all 1/43 tracks, Artin, Carrera, SCX, etc. (except the new Kyosho) have virtually identical spacing with the major exception of slot depth, Carrera is deep & Artin shallow!
I recommend not getting to carried away with computer diagrams or track planners on your first track I also recommend a single lane practice track, Whatever time you spend on a small practice track will save you double that when it comes to doing the big project and the final result will be cleaner
If done properly you can fit 3 1/43 lanes in about the same space (or less) then a two lane 1/32 track.
I basically drew a freehand representation on a sheet of paper that really just represented the track footprint & then drew that with all the details & lane spacing on the actual wood itself!
Masmojo, no worries, this isn't my first track, just my first 1/43 routed track. And I may not even route it. Could be done by CNC. I like to fiddlefart around using the computer, I find it as easy as paper and pencil in some ways. Less messy too, don't have all these little bits of eraser on the floor and there's no pile of crumpled paper in the corner.
As to Luf, already have Luf's video and routing tools. First used them on a small track 5 or 6 years ago. And you're right, he's the master. I'm in awe of how he throws a track together.
Just looked at your build thread. Wow! Great work.
Todd, I knew you weren't A newby, seen your posts many times, but did not know if you had possibly only run plastic previously or not.
Yes, same as what you've done before except you can fit more in a smaller space. As you can tell from my track I like scenery! To me that's the major difference between routing a 1/43 and a 1/32 or 1/24! With a 1/43 you can tighten up the track area a bit and leave plenty of space for scenery! Whenever I did 1/32 track before I was alwaye trying to maximize my lane length, so much so that the scenic elements were sort of an afterthought and the track sort of ended up looking like a bowl of pasta. Even my current track is a little crowded, next one (when it happens) will be more wide open with better flow!
O.K. one thing to be aware of is you may need a more compact router, Ihave a nice Rigid brand trim router that I use for going along my sintra strips and routing guides and another harbor frieght trim router that I leave permanently attached to my routing compass. This works well because these little routers can get a little hot and switching them out allows time for them to cool off.
Got three routers already, a big Cable Porter, a smaller Rigid trim router like yours (I love it, it's the one that gets 99% of the use) and a little tiny Proxxon. Thing is though, I'm just the design guy. A buddy of mine may (or may not for that matter) be building a new 1/43 track. I'm just throwing some ideas together for a track design for him. My next build is an HO track for the basement. That'll come together when life isn't in the way and I finish the basement. That'll be soon hopefully. I've got another HO build going on at school but that's on hold as our shop class has taken over that space for a bit.
IMHO
Lane spacing looks fine.
Outside shoulders are fine for straights, but on the outside of corners I'd follow the advice posted above and go for 3.75".
3/8" thick MDF is OK, but 1/2" needs less support.
Last edited by Gone Racin; 05-20-2012 at 09:24 AM.
Routed track dimensions
RE: spacing
Re: Cnc
To me that's the major difference between routing a 1/43 and a 1/32 or 1/24! With a 1/43 you can tighten up the track area a bit and leave plenty of space for scenery! Whenever I did 1/32 track before I was alwaye trying to maximize my lane length, so much so that the scenic elements were sort of an afterthought and the track sort of ended up looking like a bowl of pasta.
Even my current track is a little crowded, next one (when it happens) will be more wide open with better flow! 
Linear Mode
