... topic: 2734 3D Printed Track and Turnouts posted: 9 Aug 2015 05:18 from: Andrew Barrowman Greetings fellow Templotters, As some of you already know, I've been messing about trying to print turnout bases on a 3D printer. It's fairly easy to create a 3D model of the timbers in CAD from any Templot template. It's also fairly simple to drag models of the chairs into the correct positions and orientation and combine them to produce an STL file to drive a printer. What is not so easy is producing 3D models for chairs that a) actually work, and b) don't look too horrible! I think I have reached a point where I'm limited by the printing technology itself. The results are actually a lot better than I thought they might be when I started out. Anyway, I've been making some wild guesses about chair dimensions, and I have not had a lot of luck finding anything on the Web. Any information would be greatly appreciated. (Here's a bit of track I've been using to test the latest chair ...

... 16 Jan 2018 23:51 from: Andrew Duncan And here they are. I've also just realised that I've yet to build the catch point to protect the down main from carriages wandering out of their siding between the up and down main lines. A friend pointed out its absence a couple of months ago and sure enough when we checked the photos there it was... 2787_161841_420000000.jpg 2787_161844_160000000.jpg So little more trackwork before spraying and ballasting and I need to install the dummy point rodding as well. Andrew posted: 14 Jul 2018 05:11 from: Andrew Duncan I can barely believe that its been 6 months since I've reported any progress on Pen Mill. I've not been totally idle, nor have I made great leaps forward. The catch point is in on the carriage siding. I've added all the feeds/ droppers in now, so the amount of wires underneath have burgeoned. I've almost got all microswitches switching the correct polarity. I've even got close to getting the diamond crossings being switched by their adjacent turnouts. It remains to be seen whether ...

... template. 2436_311854_310000001.png This is the other hand from the first template. Now, here is the Save box where I entered the names of the Templates as I went along. 2436_311854_310000002.png I've tried to select the LH template so I can print others, but as you can see from the background, I can't get to it. I'm guessing that I need to find the Box File, but I've run out of ideas. I hope that this helps explain this time around. Cheers Max Last edited on posted: 1 Jan 2014 05:03 by MaxSouthOz posted: 1 Jan 2014 02:00 from: Trevor Walling Hello, You should find what you are looking for in E:\TEMPLOT_DEV\BOX-FILES\ Hope that helps trustytrev 1 Jan 2014 05:03 from: MaxSouthOz Thanks, Trev. Where do I find E:TEMPLOT_DEV\BOX-FILES? Now when I open the Storage Box, that bar has disappeared. Cheers Max posted: 1 Jan 2014 05:29 from: Martin Wynne MaxSouthOz wrote: I kept thinking that ...

... switch available. This is a temporary suggestion until gaunt turnouts are available in a later pug. (I will expand on this separately.) I set a 30ft straight switch. Change the V-crossing to "curviform" so that the radius on each side can differ (this is important). 5. 04:00- 04:55 This time run the peg along the main-road crossing rail. Omit the unwanted rails, and shorten template to a more convenient length. 6. 04:55- 05:20 Align it onto the 2nd turnout at the peg. It is likely to be facing the wrong way, so dab the Multiply key to correct that. (This works whenever the peg is already on the notch.) 7. 05:20- 06:25 Zoom in and snake it into position until the f.p. marker (white cross) is exactly aligned over the intersection in the underlying rails. Then put the peg there (Ctrl-4, this is important), and zoom back out ...

... repeated in future. Gloucester Docks is well worth a visit (assuming it is open in these difficult times): http://www.gloucesterdocks.me.uk/gloucester/forvisitors.htm cheers, Martin. 24 Sep 2020 18:20 from: Charles Orr Here is a Snagit image8_241320_260000000.png posted: 24 Sep 2020 18:28 from: Martin Wynne Charles Orr wrote: I can hear some stringed instruments- violins,cellos? Hi Charles, Here you go: http://www.rnz.co.nz/concert/programmes/musicthroughthenight Time now in NZ is 05:28 am. I hope no NZ copyright lawyers are awake yet. I'm using it to test the volume setting. Thanks for the screenshot -- that looks great. Better than here in fact, but that's because my broadband is working both ways at once. cheers, Martin. posted: 24 Sep 2020 18:32 from: Charles Orr Zen in Rochdale is my ISP. I consistently get 70 Mbits/sec download from them and that is unlimited. posted: 24 Sep 2020 19:18 from: ...

... doing a full plan, even though the chairs are blocks so they just need putting in the correct place. Attached is a simple A6 turnout, without the crossing chairs- it's a PDF, as the PNG I generated looked awful. Hi Richard, Did you draw it all in CAD or did you import a DXF from Templot? Andy posted: 17 Jul 2018 18:38 from: richard_t Everything bar the chair outlines is from Templot. I'm not that loopy (yet) :-) posted: 18 Jul 2018 05:35 from: Andrew Barrowman richard_t wrote: Everything bar the chair outlines is from Templot. I'm not that loopy (yet) :-) Correct answer! You get ten points (points, not turnouts) posted: 30 Jul 2018 17:14 from: Martin Wynne Rob Manchester wrote: Nice work with the chairing If it isn't too much to ask can you add some code to aggregate all the chairs used on templates in the storage box( like the timber/sleeper length one which is great). ...

... to switch clearance with the switch is open, this would be exacerbated in oo-sf, is this the case, would it be better to stick with fixed heel? any hints on how to make the Joggle, I havent worked out reliable way to do this( 0.2mm joggle) thanks dave I build loose heel switches as loose heel switches. I use plastic chairs. Reckon there's enough give in the heel chair for the switch to move as intended. This is 3mm/ft. Nigel posted: 14 Feb 2019 05:24 from: Andrew Duncan Nigel Brown wrote: I build loose heel switches as loose heel switches. I use plastic chairs. Reckon there's enough give in the heel chair for the switch to move as intended. This is 3mm/ft. Hello Nigel Would you say a bit more about this approach? What sort of plastic chair are you using and does this mean you also have the electrical break at the heel? Are there issues/cautions needed when track cleaning? Sounds interesting. Kind regards Andrew posted: ...

... only get the bits I want! As for Alan's proviso (above)- I would not claim to have that knowledge and would still say that it is possible to use TEMPLOT without it- like most software (including that designed by the so-called professional (or is it just commercial?) outfit run by Mr Gates) you do need to be using it to become fluent- like a foreign language. Take heart Martin and carry on the good work! best wishes Richard posted: 16 Jul 2013 11:05 from: Paul Boyd I think Matt has this right- many people (and I don't include John Lewis in this, as he's given it a good go) think Templot is just a layout design package. That's why I'm not sure it should necessarily be geared towards trying to make that sort of thing easier, but more towards making people think that by using Templot they're shifting up a gear towards prototypicality (if that's a word- the spell-check doesn't think so!) Cheers posted: 16 Jul 2013 20 ...

... selected the precise area, scanned it to my computer, edited it after scanning in a graphics editor, saved it in .PNG format, and subsequently made further edits to the actual code. Here is the result: 89 50 4E 47 0D 0A 1A 0A 00 00 00 0D 49 48 44 52 00 00 00 C8 00 00 00 51 08 00 00 00 00 B2 5A B6 C9 00 00 00 15 74 45 58 74 43 72 65 61 74 69 6F 6E 20 54 69 6D 65 00 07 DE 02 03 05 30 0E AC FD C2 BB 00 00 00 07 74 49 4D 45 07 DF 02 03 05 33 0F 25 D6 42 9E 00 00 00 09 70 48 59 73 00 00 5C 46 00 00 5C 46 01 14 94 43 41 00 00 2F 6B 49 44 41 54 78 DA 3D BB D9 8F 1C D9 B9 27 16...... and a lot more which I'm omitting simply to save space. Are you saying that I don't own the copyright to the above text? No- ...

... issue and may be lost in the process. The idea of the cold water is to keep the metal rail colder than the plastic so that it doesn't melt its way through the chair base instead of flattening it. Needless to say I haven't tried any of this. But it would be a lot of work -- not least having to thread them all twice. There remains the option of using them as cosmetic half-chairs with rivet or vero pin construction. cheers, Martin. posted: 21 Mar 2018 23:05 from: Andrew Barrowman The variability in model rail sections, even from a single supplier, is a serious problem for anyone who makes chairs but doesn't control the source of the rail. (Don't ask me how I know) Printing rails along with chairs and timbers eliminates that particular problem although it also creates other problems. Sigh! posted: 22 Mar 2018 00:00 from: Rob Manchester Hi Martin, Thanks for the suggestions re the( plastic) chairs. I was thinking of doing each chair in situ but ...