.
Before releasing 239a I had better say something about this dialog:
The
blue chair types in the list on the left are fully interchangeable (for the same model scale, flangeway gap and rail section). i.e. they can be used in any socket of the same type in any position on any template. They can therefore be printed in bulk and kept in stock ready for use as required during track construction. I will be posting some BOX files to make this easy, and STL files for 4mm/ft and C&L rail to make it even easier.
The
red chair types in the list are
not interchangeable. They will fit only in the corresponding socket in the template they came from. That's because they are generated programmatically to fit the rails for the specific template. This not only affects the fit of the jaws on the rail, but also the size of the chair and its socket. They could be interchanged on
identical templates if they really are
identical, i.e. both regular-type crossings, no timber shoving, no adjustments to check rails, etc. But it looks like a recipe for confusion if you don't keep careful records of which chair is what, if using the
red chair types interchangeably.
The loose jaws are interchangeable according to the colour code at the top of the dialog. i.e. any loose-jaw of a given colour will fit any corresponding chair on any template. They too can therefore be printed in bulk for use as required. The loose jaws shown in
black are
not interchangeable and will fit only the corresponding chair in the template they came from.
Note that the
XN knuckle chairs are a special case. In theory the outer jaws are standard
SC jaws, but there is a difference in the
key:
When outer jaws are printed as solid chairs, the keys have a taper at each end to allow for easier thre
ading onto the rail, and they make firm contact with the rail only in the middle of the key. When outer jaws are printed loose, they will never need to slide along the rail, so there is no need for a taper on the key and they are printed fully straight to make them a bit more robust.
However this doesn't apply to the keys on the XN chairs, which are always printed with end tapers, for a better fit to the rail curving through the knuckle bend. This means that the SC outer jaws for the XN chairs are not strictly identical with other SC jaws, but practical experience may find that the normal SC jaws with straight keys work ok in them. That would avoid making separate SC jaws for XN which are almost impossible to tell apart from the normal SC jaws. In the larger scales the straight keys could be filed to shape for a better fit to the rail.
I can't make up my mind about what to set as the switch-on defaults for this dialog. It is likely that anyone trying some 3D prints for the first time would want to see fully formed solid chairs. They may find it disconcerting to see all the jaws missing and only empty slots in their place. But as soon as someone has got well into building plug track, that is exactly what they will want, and having to change the default setting every time will become a nuisance. But maybe not for plain track?
Having abandoned my original intention of splitting the special chairs into two half-chairs, in practice having all solid jaws throughout is going to make assembly very tricky. Bash-fitting chaired rails will require 3 hands, or if pre-fitting the chairs in the base for later rail thre
ading it will be necessary to split the rail at the knuckle bend in the same way as in the Finetrax kits.
The loose jaws avoid all that and make assembly much easier and less frustrating. So at least for now I have set that as the default, as shown above.
When all is done and dusted I will provide some buttons which beginners can click to get started with plug track, without having to go through all the detailed settings.
cheers,
Martin.
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TEMPLOT is Martin's hobby project. Everyone is welcome to use it and join in the ongoing developments. Thanks for visiting Templot Club.
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