Used to be that all the good controllers had brakes--at the very
least a "dynamic" braking system that shorted the motor for braking,
at the best, a reverse voltage to give serious braking. I was really
into slot cars in the early 60's, to the degree that I worked for
"Frank Malzone's Pit Stop" a short-lived commercial track in Boston.
I built my own stuff, including a two-speed axle that used a motor
reverser to shift. No brakes if you were in the low gear when you let
off, but if you were in high then you got an automatic downshift and
"engine" braking. The axle used two bevel crown wheels facing each
other on both sides of the pinion attached to the axle with ball
bearing sprag clutchs, and two pinion gears on the motor shaft. I
also built an automatic transmission that used a rubber wheel drive
on a steel disk that was pulled towards the inside of the disk (high
gear) by a light spring. The shifting adjustment was the angle of the
motor in respect to the disk. Under load the motor woud pivot so the
drive wheel slid to the outside edge and give lots of torque, then as
the wheel RPMs built it would work inward for higher gears--like a
snowmobile trans.
Of course none of this stuff delivered any advantage, the best setup
was a well-suspended light car with a hot motor. So I started
building motors. My meanest was a few turns of silver wire per pole
on an epoxied mabuchi armature carefully balanced on a razor blade
balancing fixture. It drew so much current that the pickups smoked.
It would toast a controller in about ten minutes of use.
Fun stuff. My favorite car was a BRM that I worked over for months
until the suspension functioned so well it could take serious turns
at nearly full speed. The big breakthrough was Z-type anti-sway bars
that transferred lots of force to the outside wheels, keeping the car
flat and the pickups on the conductors. The magnet trick wouldn't
work on those tracks, we used copper braid for the conductors.
I think I was about 14--I know I didn't have a driver's license. I
burnt out on the hobby and started building motorcycles, haven't
touched one since then, though someone gave me a Williams F1
Scalectric set a few years ago.
On Dec 17, 2006, at 9:27 AM, N197TR4@cs.com wrote:
> I was heavily into it in the 60s on a track much like
> Kas' ...routed groove
> and metal tape....it got fairly serious, but no secret braking system.
>
> Art D'Armond (FoT) has gotten back into it, too, and offers the
> sale of one
> of the best brands...I'll bet he would ship them anywhere if you
> asked him for
> a price.
>
> His primary business is Riverside Sportscars in Swisher, Iowa but
> easily
> distracted by these toys. I recommend contacting him.
> RIVERSIDE@CEDAR-RAPIDS.NET
>
> Joe A
>
>
>> Very odd - who knew that so many Fot'ers were into slot cars too? I
>> HEARTILY recommend you check out this site where numerous FAQ's
>> (Frequently
>> Asked Questions) about home slot car racing are presented.
>> http://www.slotcargarage.com/faq.htm
> _______________________________________________
> Fot mailing list
> Fot@autox.team.net
> http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/fot
_______________________________________________
Fot mailing list
Fot@autox.team.net
http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/fot
|