Making a loop

rockinthe5uburbs · Post by **rockinthe5uburbs** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 1:03 pm

Hi, Im new to bitpimps, but not xmods.
I am interested in making a loop that an Xmod could go completely around, and am wondering if anyone has done it before, and if so, what size they made it and what they made it out of.
I will post pics when I make it.
-rockinthe5uburbs

SICKOFHTA · Post by **SICKOFHTA** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 1:57 pm

Maybe some kind of bendable alluminum or metal. Good luck.

Tuner1989 · Post by **Tuner1989** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 2:01 pm

Ahhh not again

rockinthe5uburbs · Post by **rockinthe5uburbs** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 2:04 pm

Tuner1989 wrote:Ahhh not again

?

sg219 · Post by **sg219** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 9:41 pm

rockinthe5uburbs · Post by **rockinthe5uburbs** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 9:52 pm

sg219 wrote:

I LOL'ed.

Cheesehead · Post by **Cheesehead** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 11:25 pm

There are two good ways I can think of to make an "oval".
The first involves cutting sections out of a sheet of styrofoam. "fan-fold foam", which comes in several variants including the popular Bluecor which is sold at Lowes (Home Depot caries similar pink stuff) can be easily shaped with a bit of heat, and it has a dandy racing surface if you peel off the outer plastic on one side. (It's called fan-fold-foam because it's folded over on itself many times, much like one of those cheap-0 "oriental" fans you see at crappy boutiques.) This will let you build a track from scratch easily and cheaply; however, it will likely be time-consuming, and tricky if you've never messed around with styrofoam before. RCgroups.com's "foamy"-class RC airplanes webboard is a great resource. (NOTE: For cutting foam, a hot wire cutter is hard to beat. You can get one that plugs into the wall for about 30$, or the less powerful "wonder cutter", which operates on 2 D cells, for 15$.)

The second is to use sheet metal. You'll likely want to look at sheet aluminum because it is lighter and easier to work with; a good variety is called "ALEC valley roll". (I think it's used for flashing.) By moulding it around the sides of something rounded, you can create an oval pretty easily. However, seamlessly attaching pieces can be tricky, especially with aluminum, which cannot be soldered. (Rivets are the way to go.) Also, aluminum is VERY slick; for traction, you'll likely want to coat it with something a bit more rubbery.