Table is not nearly complete, but I got impatient and wanted to start playing. I purchased 2 International sets as a base. My 7 year old daughter and I made up this layout. It's just short term but the kids and I had a blast together. This stuff is great!!! :thumbsup:

nice....
Keep us posted...

That's cool -- nice track design. I'd lose the esses and make it a straightaway, but that's just me and I hate multiple S turns. That's a real nice start. :woohoo:

That's cool -- nice track design. I'd lose the esses and make it a straightaway, but that's just me and I hate multiple S turns. That's a real nice start. :woohoo:

The original plan was to build the "scenic 70" layout from hoslotcarracing.com, but I'm kind of liking the more technical layouts versus all the straights and sheer speed. We'll see, there's a lot of work still to be done. Should be a fun time regardless.

"Dad, how long do I have to marshal this corner before I get to race?"

:)

Looks like fun Aces!

2 S.I. sets = between $200 - $300, enough lumber to build a good table = $ more than it should, having the kids involved = priceless and worth every penny ! ! nd :thumbsup:

Aces, I have one question about your table (and by the way I love the table.) Like you I JUST got done building mine and by no means am I any great woodworker. On each end of your table, and your hands are resting on this, are the like ... sorry I don't know what to call these, barriers? so the cars won't fly off. I LOVE that. PLEASE tell me what you did there. I took and just stapled, because I'm such a noob at building tables, 1" thick foam padding. What sort of wood is that or what did you do there?

Also, as tjd so succinctly said it "having the kids involved = priceless and worth every penny."

When I have kids I definitely want them involved with dear old dad's slot car stuff.

Cheers,
Xence

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: rr

"Dad, how long do I have to marshal this corner before I get to race?"

:)

Looks like fun Aces!

Yea, that's my 3 year ols son Westin. He is really interested but cannot seem to watch his car and use the controls at the same time. It's either watch the car sitting on the track with no power or watch the controller in his hand at full blast, hence him looking at me to put his car back on the track after it smashes into the wall.

Aces, I have one question about your table (and by the way I love the table.) Like you I JUST got done building mine and by no means am I any great woodworker. On each end of your table, and your hands are resting on this, are the like ... sorry I don't know what to call these, barriers? so the cars won't fly off. I LOVE that. PLEASE tell me what you did there. I took and just stapled, because I'm such a noob at building tables, 1" thick foam padding. What sort of wood is that or what did you do there?

Also, as tjd so succinctly said it "having the kids involved = priceless and worth every penny."

When I have kids I definitely want them involved with dear old dad's slot car stuff.

Cheers,
Xence

The table is framed out of 2"x6" all around. I used 4"x4" for the legs and gussets supporting them. I attached a couple of pics of the underside during construction. As for the sides, I used cheap 1"x12"x10' boards from the HD. Cut them to length on the sides to give me 3 equal distances (48" on the ends & 48" opening in the middle), I didn't buy 12' boards because they do not give you exactly 144" plus you lose some length due to the saw blade cut. Used a compass to draw the quarter circle to cut off the corner, sanded down with a belt sander. Then I installed all sides, screwed togeter using 1" gold screws (I would suggest using a counter sink bit to drill and countersink pitol holes), sanded all edges flush with belt sander and routed all outside edges with 1/4" radius bit. The top is 7/16" OBS and I'm going to put down either a layer of ply or Homasite this weekend as well as build the driver stations. Hope this helps. If you need more detailed information or close up pics let me know. My wife is a picture freek, so there are many pics of the construction. Also, I'll have her send me some closeups on the sides later this morning and post them for you. :thumbsup:

:thumbsup: Nice table! Looks great and no one will ever break anything leaning on it or bumping into it - or climbing on it for that matter.

Aces,
If I am looking at the first picture correctly, you have an opening in the side wall right at a turn (near where your son is standing). Turns are where a car is going to launch itself off the track, so why would you leave that spot open, and therefore allow the car to leave the table? An open spot should only be along a straight, as you have on the other side of the table.

Joe

Aces,
If I am looking at the first picture correctly, you have an opening in the side wall right at a turn (near where your son is standing). Turns are where a car is going to launch itself off the track, so why would you leave that spot open, and therefore allow the car to leave the table? An open spot should only be along a straight, as you have on the other side of the table.

Joe

You are looking at it correctly. The track laid out there is not the one I'm planning on building as the permanent track. I just put that on there so we had something to play on until I finish the build. I will try and build the drivers stations this weeken as well as put on the top layer. I still have to order a bunch of track for the final configuration. I was originally planning on building the "scenic 70" track from hoslotcarracing.com. Even if I do not go with that track, I will have long straights along the sides. This is my first slot car table/track build, so I'm sure I'm going to learn that I am making all kinds of mistakes.

Aces I wouldn't sweat the mistakes man. That's part of the fun. :) I put my table up and I'm REAL happy with the track layout but I'm not so happy with the table itself. The table is fairly decent but it doesn't look as stable as what you have put together there. I'm probably going to be redoing certain portions of the table so that it will be sturdier/stronger. I know a few of the things I did wrong the first time so now I'm going back over some of those mistakes trying to correct them.

Cheers,
Xence

Aces I wouldn't sweat the mistakes man. That's part of the fun. :) I put my table up and I'm REAL happy with the track layout but I'm not so happy with the table itself. The table is fairly decent but it doesn't look as stable as what you have put together there. I'm probably going to be redoing certain portions of the table so that it will be sturdier/stronger. I know a few of the things I did wrong the first time so now I'm going back over some of those mistakes trying to correct them.

Cheers,
Xence

A neighbor of mine is a carpenter, so after I built what I thought to be a solid table, he came over and verified for me that it is WAY!!! overbuilt. But I'd rather overbuild than underbuild, though it does cost a bit more.

My brother is the same way. He's a shop teacher and knows wood real well. He was telling me that I didn't do a bad job but I needed to add a few X type braces so as to sturdy the table up. I believe I only need maybe 3 more fixes on the table and I should be good to go. hopefully.... hehehe

Cheers

A neighbor of mine is a carpenter, so after I built what I thought to be a solid table, he came over and verified for me that it is WAY!!! overbuilt. But I'd rather overbuild than underbuild, though it does cost a bit more.

I can relate to overbuilding. I built the attached stand for a 60gal aquarium. There are basically (8) 4x4's for legs. Then, we ended up with a turtle instead of fish, and the tank is never more then half full, and my stand nearly outweighs what it is supporting.

Oh well - at least I don't lose sleep that it might come crashing down.

I can relate to overbuilding. I built the attached stand for a 60gal aquarium. There are basically (8) 4x4's for legs. Then, we ended up with a turtle instead of fish, and the tank is never more then half full, and my stand nearly outweighs what it is supporting.

Oh well - at least I don't lose sleep that it might come crashing down.

Schweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!! :thumbsup:

Good job on the table, Aces. For my table, supporting a 3/4 in. 4x8 and homasote top, I resorted to stealing my own work table that was built on top of 2x4's. I took the design from an online woodworking site (I'll try to dig it up and post it up here).

What type of material would anyone use to soften the blow of slamming against side walls as an over-lay? My first thought, foam core, wouldn't seem to be so durable over the long haul.

Nice Table!
To protect the cars from slamming the wood on my track I used foam floor matts the ones that come like puzzle pieces about 3/8 inches thick and cut them into 2 inch strips. I got them from a dollar store. The srtips can be bent around corners or glued to the wood side. You can insert a nail through vertically and hammer them into the surface of the table too. It works really well. I painted them red and white stripes to look like the fisa tire barriers, the type that have a layer of plastic in front of the tires. You can see it a bit in the back of these pics. Sorry I don't have a shot of it.