coaster

Hi Ashi, I can add pledge levels at any time. I was trying to keep it simple and not bog everyone down with 30 options. But I appreciate the support for sure - every little bit helps.

Hi everyone, and thanks for the support so far! Indeed, this is the project that has consumed my evenings for the past 3 years. I suppose I just got tired of waiting for someone else to make these tracks, so I've established BrickTracks to hopefully do just that. So please, help spread the word! If you're a member of another site, post it there! Tell your LUG! If anyone has any questions or if there's anything I can do to help build confidence in this project, please don't hesitate to ask.

Hi everyone, and thanks for the support so far! Andrew, your switches are coming soon! In and of themselves, they aren't enough to make this endeavor viable. However, if we can establish the basic straights and curves, those will do the heavy lifting. Additionally, if there are any bugs in the process, best to get them sorted out on simple pieces rather than something as complex as a switch. Aaron, the prospect of expanded curves is still open-ended. You are not alone, however, in expressing interest in the R328s. There does seem to be a good amount of interest in the R200s for sure, but what other sizes could still be determined. The good news for you though is if the R200s happen we can make other sizes happen as well without too much additional cost. R328s may have lower demand, but would require a lot of pieces to complete a curve, so we could add it in as a family member of the R200 tooling, only adding somewhere around $5-7k to the tool. So, long story short, it's not automatically out of the question. Anywho, if this does indeed get funded, I'll post a poll and let the community set the priority of future developments. But let's get there first.

I'm just going to leave this here... https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bricktracks/additional-track-geometries-for-lego-trains

2mm is pretty small. I'm sure they could be made, but off the shelf, best I could find was 3mm: http://sdp-si.com/products/miniature-gears-metric.htm#miter-gears-and-bevel-gears You could try contacting them, see if they can run those with just a 2mm bore, but I think it unlikely, given how bevel teeth are cut. You'd probably have to open it up to 4 or 5mm and press a bushing into it.

Yeah, that was what I meant. When I did it before, I paid $5 apiece, so 50 for $10 is awesome. I'll probably pick up a set. Or 10. Sewing machine oil or air tool oil would probably work great.

If they're like the McMaster ones, they are lubricated with oil. However, if they use a thin enough one, it shouldn't have much effect on rolling resistance, especially compared to the steel-on-ABS or ABS-on-ABS we have as standard. For reference, here's the McMaster equivalent: http://www.mcmaster.com/#7804k119/

Except the 3/16" OD ones don't come in a Ø5/64" shaft size; your options are .055 (1.4mm) or 3/32" (2.4mm). The double-shielded ones are also about $10 apiece. I think you'll be fine with the ones you have. These aren't what I'd consider dirty environments, so I don't think you'll need shielded ones. And the ones you have are cheap enough that if one does get gritty beyond repair, you can pop it out and just replace it.

Everything covered in the Kickstarter will be available in both PF and 9V. It could be done, but we don't really gain anything from it. Tooling is still the killer, so while they are smaller and thus easier to make, we'd be going from 3 molds (left, right, double) to 5. An R200 switch would likely be 2 pieces in this way though. Look forward to it, Aaron! I'm pretty terrible at taking pictures as well, so don't feel too bad.

That's a really good price on those bearings. I experimented with it some years ago, but at $5/ bearing, I didn't do anything more than 2x axles, though my results were similar. If you drill out the Technic brick with a #9 drill it should press in nicely. Also, the trade no. could also be a 52-2Z instead of ZZ (both are used and acceptable), so that will give you some additional search results. If you have a lot of heavy rolling stock, this might be a worthwhile project for you.

Kickstarter announcement coming soon! Stay tuned!

PF models updated for a tighter fit track-to-track. Should be a bit better now.

I say not to, not because it's terribly difficult, but because the only way to do it involves cutting off the little tabs on the bottom. It does permanently damage the assembly.

If you've ripped your 9V motor apart before, you could throw some lithium grease in there, but honestly, it's really not necessary. And if you haven't, don't.

The contact is made by the flange. It's a separate pieces from the rest of the wheel and is spring loaded to constantly ride against the inside corner of the rail. There actually are o-rings on the 9V motor wheels, but the groove is so deep they're damn near impossible to remove without destroying.

Interestingly, I just dug out my old Metroliner this past weekend and set it up as well in my son's room. I had a similar problem at first with a lot of wheel slippage, as well as conductivity issues, but after letting it run around for a couple dozen laps it improved immensely. Seems like it just needed to be re-broken in a bit.

Oh, I'm definitely working on the metal rails, too. Here is an as-close-to-production-as-possible 1/2 length straight that's been painted and plated: Unfortunately, these require a different base from the PF version, and right now I have to machine the rails myself, so it wouldn't do anyone any good for me to upload them to Shapeways yet. Per legoman's request, I'm looking into adding a version that uses standard HO rails, but I haven't had a chance to really dig into that yet. Thanks! I've tweaked the studs several times to get it as best as I can with the printing, but I've left the connection on size. I can tighten that up a bit and will update the models on Shapeways.

Great, look forward to it Aaron! By all means, let me know if you see anything I've overlooked. Now is the time to catch that stuff.

I must admit I haven't tried the black yet, but the spray paint I bought did adhere nicely to the white and even after leaving out in the sun for a couple days (and rain one night) it still looked good. However, the white does show any places you miss. @JopieK, I haven't tried the acetone vapor trick yet, but I know people that have with good success. The key though is not to go too long, otherwise you can remove too much material.

Realized I forgot to put the 1/2 and 1/4 straights up on Shapeways. Those have been added now too.

I could probably manage that. Give me a day or 2.

Hi Jim, for the R200s, you'll need 16 curves/90°. For the R328s, 32/90°.

Hi Everyone! It's been a bit, but I have some news! I'm still working on the figuring out the tooling for everything, and that's taken quite a bit of time. As I've said before, I'm not going to Kickstarter until I'm ready to start cutting checks to suppliers. However, there is still a way you can help support this project and get something out of it. Several of you have asked me for it, and so I've gone ahead and uploaded the PF versions of the curves for sale onto Shapeways. The tracks aren't cheap, but that's mostly Shapeways; there's not much I can do there (the parts are already designed to minimize material). I've only marked them up a couple bucks, but that mark-up will go towards further funding this project. The less money we have to donate to Kickstarter, the better. This also is a good opportunity for you to provide feedback on the design. If I've overlooked something, best to find it now before we go into production with it. Here's the link: https://www.shapeway...m/shops/ltracks A couple reminders though: 1) 3D printed parts will not have that nice smooth finish of molded parts. My goal is to match the Lego tracks as closely as possible in fit & finish. 2) 3D printed parts also are not nearly as dimensionally accurate. I've modified things like the stud diameter and track connection features a number of times to try to find the best fit, so while I've done my best here, the clutch power of the 3D printed parts may vary. I know the dimensions for the molded part, this will not be an issue in production. 3) Shapeways does not offer a gray material, so you will need to either live with the black or order the white and paint it yourself. 4) While I've printed several of these before over many iterations, I would suggest getting just one piece first and seeing how you like it before you drop a few hundred bucks getting full rounds. I want your feedback, and I won't be offended if you find something wrong with it. I'm still also working out a few bugs for the switches with regards to the 3D printing, as well as figure out a way to effectively print the spring into the movable point. If I can get that, I'll then upload the PF switches as well. Thanks for all your support everyone. Every bit of even moral support helps. EDIT: Aaron, I threw your R328 curves up there too, just in case.

Here's roughly what your R328 single crossover would look like. Note that all this is is an R328 curve over some straights. Actually modeling the switch would take some significant time. It's about 45" long. We'd probably break it down into 3 pieces, Left-A, Left-B, and Left-C, such that a crossover would require 2x of each of these. For the double crossover, it's much the same: However, and this sort of plays nicely for us, we can use the same "A" and "B" segments, and simply create a special "D" segment for the double switch. So a double crossover would consist of 2x Left-A, 2x Left-B, 2x Right-A, 2x Right-B, and 2x D segments. I think this makes the most sense. Powering it though introduces a bunch more issues, but not insurmountable. It just becomes cost. I probably won't be able to take this on for a bit though, as I'm trying to get the rest of the project online. There are a lot of cost options with how to tool these that I'm trying to work out. I want to make these as economically as possible for everyone. I don't know enough about the old 4.5V switches to say one way or another. I suspect with the printed material though it'd be pretty flimsy. If nothing else, I have the 9V/PF design down pat, so it'd be easier for me to stick with that if it's alright.

Hi Aaron, well, at 1:38 scale, the R328 is almost exactly equivalent to a 100m curve, which I think would be the most realistic. I'll sketch out a switch layout, but just printing a switch of that size will probably run $300+ off Shapeways. Just wanted to give you a heads up.