Experimental Plug Track: 3D-printed, CNC-milled, laser-cut

[Steve_Cornford]

Hi Michael,
I started afresh, set gauge to S, created plain straight track with 11 sleepers.
Then used the Gauge > modify current settings > modify track gauge & set it to 8mm (this is a trick Martin showed me to get the two rows of chairs closer together on the raft.
Then added a rectangle shape to encompass the resultant chairs.
Also real > chairing > chairs on the template & set all cahirs to be solid (aka fixed ) jaws.
Then store & background.
Then DXF/STl export, set custom rail using the values you posted. then exported the STL.
Uploaded to the formware site & fixed ok.

I think the step you are missing is to add the raft

Martin has desigtned Templot so that it outputs the raft for you.
As he pointed out earlier today he is just plugging options in to the most conveneient place whilst he experiments.
However this did not take me long to perform.

Attachments box file, shape file, Stl, fixed stl

The only troule for me is that the resultant fied stl is just slightly too big for Mars 2 Pro build plate, so in S scale i would need to reduce the number of sleepers to 10 (20 chairs)
Hope this helps.

 

[Martin Wynne]

@Michael Woods

Hi Michael,

That rail section is a bit chunky in head and foot, but I can't see any reason why it would be a problem:

I rather doubt that the model fish angle matches the prototype 1:2.75, it is usually steeper on model rail. Say 1:1.5 or 1:1.75

If you change it, it would make the section look a bit better with slightly less head and foot depth.

cheers,

Martin.

 

[Michael Woods]

thanks martin - i have reduced the head - measured that wrong - thank you.

 

[Michael Woods]

Hi Michael,
I started afresh, set gauge to S, created plain straight track with 11 sleepers.
Then used the Gauge > modify current settings > modify track gauge & set it to 8mm (this is a trick Martin showed me to get the two rows of chairs closer together on the raft.
Then added a rectangle shape to encompass the resultant chairs.
Also real > chairing > chairs on the template & set all cahirs to be solid (aka fixed ) jaws.
Then store & background.
Then DXF/STl export, set custom rail using the values you posted. then exported the STL.
Uploaded to the formware site & fixed ok.

I think the step you are missing is to add the raft

Martin has desigtned Templot so that it outputs the raft for you.
As he pointed out earlier today he is just plugging options in to the most conveneient place whilst he experiments.
However this did not take me long to perform.

Attachments box file, shape file, Stl, fixed stl

The only troule for me is that the resultant fied stl is just slightly too big for Mars 2 Pro build plate, so in S scale i would need to reduce the number of sleepers to 10 (20 chairs)
Hope this helps.

Thanks Steve - very useful!

 

[Martin Wynne]

Hi Michael,
I started afresh, set gauge to S, created plain straight track with 11 sleepers.
Then used the Gauge > modify current settings > modify track gauge & set it to 8mm (this is a trick Martin showed me to get the two rows of chairs closer together on the raft.
Then added a rectangle shape to encompass the resultant chairs.
Also real > chairing > chairs on the template & set all cahirs to be solid (aka fixed ) jaws.
Then store & background.
Then DXF/STl export, set custom rail using the values you posted. then exported the STL.
Uploaded to the formware site & fixed ok.

I think the step you are missing is to add the raft

Martin has desigtned Templot so that it outputs the raft for you.
As he pointed out earlier today he is just plugging options in to the most conveneient place whilst he experiments.
However this did not take me long to perform.

Attachments box file, shape file, Stl, fixed stl

The only troule for me is that the resultant fied stl is just slightly too big for Mars 2 Pro build plate, so in S scale i would need to reduce the number of sleepers to 10 (20 chairs)
Hope this helps.

Thanks Steve.

Here is that fixed STL in TurboCAD. Looks fine to me:

cheers,

Martin.

 

[Michael Woods]

Thank you both - reset the profile reducing the side of the head and followed instructions....back on printer now....lets see but feeling optimistic !

 

[Steve_Cornford]

Here is a version with loose jaw chairs & the loose jaws:-

I set gauge to 18mm, real > chairing > chairs on the template, then clicked [export all chairs with slots] button
store & background, then set gauge to 6mm then real > chairing > chairs on template (which means on the control template) then clicked [export only all loose outer jaws] button, store & background.
we now have two templates in background, one with the chairs and one with the loose jaws.
I then resized the raft to encompass all, then performed the export & fixed the file.
The idea being that you create a library of chair rafts, and note that these do not necessarily need to match (in quantity of chairs) the actual templates of your track plan that you will export as individual timber bases.

However when Templot is capable of exporting all the turnout chairs, these will not be general purpose.
For instance you will need separate sets of chairs for Left Handed B7 as opposed to right handed B7 (as I understand it from chats with Martin)

 

[Steve_Cornford]

MIchael,

Another tip.....

Once you have entered your custom rail data in the DXF dialogue box, it is worth clicking on the [save custom dat} button that also resides on that dialogue box

then next time you restart Templot and go into this dialogue box you can click on [load custom data] button to restore your S scale rail settings, it even set the custom rail radio button for you.
Saves having to re-create the S scale rail setting every time you load Templot.
STeve

 

[Martin Wynne]

@Steve_Cornford

Thanks Steve.

But don't fall into the trap of expecting everything to be in the custom settings file. It ought to be, and it will be one day, but it's one more thing that I haven't had time to keep up with.

You can see what is and isn't actually included in the SK4 file by opening it in a text editor such as Windows Notepad.

cheers,

Martin.

 

[Steve_Cornford]

HI Martin,
Earlier you mentioned the design of the crossing chairs. I think that it a good pragmatic approach that will allow us to get some turnouts built and tested. Worry about the fine cosmetic details later.
Also just stick bits of dialogue in where you can for now and shuffle it around at a suitable moment. Like just now for 238a when you move the chair parameters into the template from the DXF/STL export dialogue.

On that note, I did have a bit of a wobble when first going into the real > chairing > chairs on template screen.
It kept forgetting what I had clicked!
That is until I realised that I was just clicking on the red X in the top right corner!
As I could not see the ok button on my laptop screen!
Once I twigged this I clicked on the size slider in bottom right hand of trackpad & chose "smaller" & voila the [ok] button appeared on the chair dialogue screen.
Just mentioning this in case others have similar problem.

Steve

 

[Steve_Cornford]

I tested the save & load custom data for the custom rail & that seems to work ok.
Just inspected the file with notepad to see what else is there.
Regards Steve

 

[Martin Wynne]

That is until I realised that I was just clicking on the red X in the top right corner!
As I could not see the ok button on my laptop screen!
Once I twigged this I clicked on the size slider in bottom right hand of trackpad & chose "smaller" & voila the [ok] button appeared on the chair dialogue screen.
Just mentioning this in case others have similar problem.

@Steve_Cornford

Thanks Steve,

I will put a duplicate OK button at the top. Are there any other places in Templot where you have the same problem? Presumably the DXF dialog doesn't fit too?

cheers,

Martin.

 

[Steve_Cornford]

Although the DXF dialogue did not fit, it had a slider on the right hand side that allowed access to the bits at the bottom/top.
The "chairs on template" dialogue did not have the slider.
With "smaller" selected the whole DXF dialogue box is visible,

 

[Martin Wynne]

@Steve_Cornford

Thanks Steve. I will add the slider scrollbar to the chairs dialog. It should have been there anyway, because the list will be getting a lot longer before we are done.

Do you find the "smaller" program size convenient to see and click? Is your laptop smaller than most, or do you think lots of other folks are having the same problem? With my large desktop screen I have to be careful not to get carried away and fill it up! I don't have a laptop to try things on nowadays.

cheers,

Martin.

 

[Steve_Cornford]

I will let you know once I have used "smaller" for a few more days, but so far it is ok.
Adding the slider, sorry I mean "scroll bar" to give it the correct name (only been semi-retired for a couple of years and already forgotten most of the jargon) would save the problem.
Think I have an average size laptop screen, so far no problem, but if it was i could plug in my desktop monitor .
So far it is fine & i use it for your zoom sessions, chitubox & any other 64-bit programs I need to run.

Steve

 

[Martin Wynne]

@Steve_Cornford

Hi Steve,

Here you go:

The most-used buttons now at the top.

Scrollbar.

Two OK buttons.

Some new chairs -- which don't yet do anything.

Rails shown in green have loose outer jaws which are interchangeable on any template. It might be worth printing a stock of these loose jaws in advance, rather than making them at the same time as the chairs. These are the S1 , P , L1 , SC outer jaws:

S1 jaws have 2 ribs.
SC jaws have 1 rib.
L1 jaws have no rib.
P jaws have a bolt instead of a rib, and no key.

Rails shown in black have non-interchangeable loose jaws which will fit only in the chair they were created for.

cheers,

Martin.

 

[Steve_Cornford]

Very good Martin.
Thanks for the explanation too.
Near idea of coloured fonts to denote interchangeability across templates.
Midnight oil well spent

How do you get the blue background to the tick boxes with ticks?
Is that Templot setting or a Windows setting?
Steve

 

[Martin Wynne]

How do you get the blue background to the tick boxes with ticks?
Is that Templot setting or a Windows setting?

@Steve_Cornford

Hi Steve,

It's a Windows 11 change from Windows 10. Nothing to do with Templot or me.

I don't much like it -- the blue is too dark and the ticks are not bold enough. The menus have gone the other way in the latest Windows upgrade and no longer have the blue background when selected, which I don't like at all. Why can't Microsoft just leave things alone when they are working fine?

You can however get the blue and white menus back by clicking the blue bar on the left here:

which exploits a legacy setting in Delphi5.

The most infuriating change is the narrow scrollbars, which drive me nuts. I think it is all part of the change to touch-screens instead of a mouse.

It would in theory be possible to change some of this in the program manifest, but I don't know how it would respond on the many different versions of Windows in use without a lot of testing, so I tend to leave it alone. It will almost certainly change again in the next Windows upgrade, so there is no point in chasing a moving feast.

cheers,

Martin.

 

[Steve_Cornford]

Ah that explains it.
I am running under Windows 10 pro 64-bit
Steve

 

[Michael Woods]

Martin / Steve,

Thanks for your help.....work in progress, bit more to do to make the chairs always sit 100% but this is definately the way forward (for me).