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Homemade Wood Slotcar Tracks

Slot cars, a dominant form of model cars, are an efficient way to race cars at home on tracks. Various types of slot car track sold commercially include more challenging and realistic race tracks or less complex tracks with fewer turns and bumps. However, commercially sold tracks can be costly, depending on the model. A less costly alternative is building your own slot car track.

Things You'll Need

3/4-inch plywood board
Measuring tape
Jigsaw
Router
Router bits
Hand sander
Paint or wood stain
Paintbrushes
Paint pan
Metal strips
Industrial strength glue
2 electrical wires
Wire strippers
Battery

Instructions

Design
- 1
  Place the number of cars you want to race beside each other. The width of the track depends on how many cars you want to race.
- 2
  Measure the width of the multiple cars placed beside each other. Add approximately seven to 10 inches to the measurement to determine the width of the track.
- 3
  Draw the shape of the track desired with the appropriate measurements for width on the plywood board with a pencil. Use your creativity to make the shape of the track. Make sure the track has no sharp angles or turns and forms a continuous loop.
- 4
  Cut the track using a jigsaw from the plywood board along the outline you have drawn.
- 5
  Place the cars on the track beside each other. Leave approximately 1 to 2 inches between each car. Make a mark at the center of each car to determine where the slots will be.
- 6
  Remove the cars from the track and draw out lines for each slot along the entire track.
Track
- 7
  Insert a router bit slightly larger than the width of the slot car blades into the router. Make the slots along the lines you have drawn in the track with the router.
- 8
  Sand down the entire track using a hand sander.
- 9
  Apply wood glue to one side of the metal strips. Line both sides in the interior portion of the grooved slots with the wire strips.
- 10
  Strip approximately 1 inch of insulation from each end of two electrical wires.
- 11
  Affix one end of the first wire to one of the metal strips in the slots. Attach the wire to the metal strip with a small bit of glue. Repeat the procedure for the other metal strip and wire.
- 12
  Attach the unoccupied ends of the wires to the positive and negative terminals on a battery. The charges will propel the cars on the track. Using batteries of different voltages will determine whether the cars will move faster or slower.

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