Guide depth for wood tracks?

[GTI]

What size guide are you using for wood tracks? 7mm, 8.3mm. Best place to get some. I'm going from plastic to wood and the slot depth is 5/16" which is about 8mm but with the braid I wasn't sure what would work best. Any and all help appreciated.

Thank you!!

[chrisguyw]

Hello GTI,.........Generally (on most well made tracks) the slots are cut first, followed by the braid relief, ....so,...... while the slot may well be 5/16 deep from the surface of the track, depending on the amount of braid relief the "effective" slot depth maybe somewhat less than 5/16. .......It is wise to check,.........your guide should not bottom out in the slot, and a few extra thou. of clearance to clear any possible debris in the slot is always a good idea !!

Cheers
Chris Walker

[GTI]

Thanks Chris, appreciate the feedback.

[HomeRacingWorld]

Been using these on our wood tracks for quite awhile. Length is trimmable (as designed) and should easily clear your depth. They are 7mm without braid.

Get mine from SCC HERE

[Bal r 14]

I use these guides on all of my cars. They have the added advantage of extending outward in front much further than most stock guides. This can improve handling by a lot on cars that have a very shallow angle between the tip of the guide and the front wheels. .

[Michael Squier]

Bal r 14, I’m not sure I understand. Are you saying the longer leading edge on a guide can mimic having the post further forward, making it seem like a car with a longer guide to rear axel distance? Dose that make sense?

[GTI]

Are these available state side to order??

[HomeRacingWorld]

Yes sir, put the link up there but here it is

CLICK HERE

[GTI]

I guess it would help if I looked Thank you!!

[GTI]

Dang it!, I just made an order from that just shipped out!! UGHHHHH!!

[Aptosc6]

The Sloting Plus guides are high quality and (dare I say) inexpensive.
Pay attention to the slot depth of the track you are running on. It is easy to ignore this detail and it affects drag and handling if it is contacting the bottom of the groove.

[GTI]

Thank you

[Fathead59]

Ok , just a question here . Couldn't you get a guide and trim it to fit , as in for depth ?

[chrisguyw]

Absolutely,........a ton of folks do this.

[mattb]

Typical routed track has a 3/8 deep slot so you run 1/4 inch tall guides.

[chrisguyw]

Matt, while this is certainly true for most commercial tracks, there are many home based "Club" routed tracks that do vary..........this has been an issue with several proxy events...not all are created equal !!.
Thankfully, most proxy hosts are now indicating slot depth ....................pick the shallowest one and build accordingly

[HomeRacingWorld]

All guides are easily sanded/adjusted to suit the tracks you are on.

Slot.it are overpriced and have zero advantage. Sloting Plus and even Scaleauto you get TWO for the price of one. And unlike Slot,it, they have forward edge.

[SuperSlab]

What I like about the Scaleauto guides is the you get them in two different post diameters: 3.4 and 3.75mm. Makes life very easy for use in a variety of cars. You also get them in 7mm and 8.3mm depth, so between the two depths and two post diameters you can cover all bases.

FWIW I stick to the 7mm ones to avoid hassles as the 8.3mm ones are too deep for all our local tracks.

[Mickey thumbs]

I’ll have to check those two out. The slot.it ones are pricey. Recently bought some NSR hoping for a perfect it for their cars and am disappointed that they are too snug.

[HO RacePro]

When I was designing my new routed 1/32nd scale track I did a fair bit of research on what slot depth to use. The greatest depth I found recommended was 9mm (0.354 inches). So that is what I spec'd for the design I gave to the CNC shop.

As it turned out the shop actually routed my slots closer to 0.400 inches (10.2mm). As the MDF I used was nominally 0.500 inches thick I was concerned the track sections might fracture even with careful handling. But that hasn't been a problem.

I'm not saying you should rout your slots that deep. But there is more forgiveness there than you might think.

Ed Bianchi

[mattb]

I am surprised that any track routed on 1/2 would not have 3/8 slot depth and have clearance for a 1/4 guide as is common on big cars and lots of 1/32 cars. As Ed said, 1/2 inch is still strong, with a 3/8 deep slot. It will take plenty of banking and remain solid. Could be that guys that rout less then 3/8 in 1/2 stock are just guessing the mdf won't take a slot that deep.