Hi!

I'm about to lay just over 40 pieces of 2205 K-track flex track and want the process to be as painless as possible. What tools do you recommend for securing that the flex track gets the right shape? Straight, very gentle curve and more standard (r3-r4) radius?

What experience do you guys have with different tools?

All help is very appreciated!
Dennis

I have laid lots of K-flex track, and it is really much too rigid for R3-R4 curves. Even for R5.

But if you MUST bend it that tight, remember to "stagger" the ends of the track; Dont cut them both at the same distance, but allow some 10-15cm difference where flex track joins another flex-track. That will help you to avoid an ugly "break" in the curve. You will also need lots of screws, to maintain such a tight curve.

Other than that, they are nice to work with. I dont use the loose copper-tounges which are designed to connect the center pukos, but simply solder a feeder-wire to each flex track; Because of its zig-zag nature, the internal resistence is that of several normal sectional track pieces, so the extra feeder is just right.
You cant really solder to the outside rails, but the rail-shoes are ok though. One return wire for each two flex track pieces is good.

If you can get hold of some Krause-clamps, that would be great, otherwise some needles are enough to hold the track in place, in order to mark where the cut(s) should be. Cut with a Dremel or a fine metal-saw.
Important to file/smoothen the cut edges, so that you wont have electrical or mechanical problems, and the traction-tires wont be cut up.

The tracks are extremely fragile, so care must be taken when handling them. God knows how many edges of the sleepers I have broken off... <sigh>

Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the good advices! Very appreciated.

I had a few of these items before and I think that a combination of track clamps and Tracksetta is the way to go for me so I've ordered thes now. I'm sure they will do the work just fine!

D.

Wish I knew of these, they would have made installing flex track easier!

Michel

Fohrmann is great to deal with. The only confusing thing is the payment method and S&H fees which appear high at first glance. If you are a foreign buyer you need to checkout using Vorkasse. In that case you get the VAT deducted and an actual S&H price which is very good compared to the Euro45 if you pay immediately with PayPal. They send you an e-mail invoice when you use Vorkasse and you can still pay with PayPal once you get the invoice details.

Cheers
Peter

You don't need to buy the Fohrmann products. I found it easy to purchase the Proses product from Lippe:

PPT-H0-01
Parallel Track Tool (Metric & Imperial) for HO/OO
http://www.modellbahnsho...b-abg-0/ein_produkt.html

PFT-H0-01
Flexible Track Holder for HO/OO Scale, 2 pcs.
http://www.modellbahnsho...b-abg-0/ein_produkt.html

Yes, those are the clamps to use.

I made a cutting jog to do the job with my Dremel:
http://layout.mixmox.com...20020106Ktrackcuttingjig

ensure you buy the diamond cut wheels - they last ages. The brown standard cutting disks shatter way too often.

Trying to cut the St St track with cutters just makes pinched cuts.

Here's a picture of my Marklin 2205 flex track done as described on an earlier post.

Michel

I can agree on that! And it's a really good tool. As a newbie I've tried a few different options and I must admit that I like the Xuron the most. The other ones I've tried is dremmel, works really well as well but just not as convenient. I also tried the Proses rail cutter but the motor in that one was really crappy and started to smoke when I cut the K-track so I just put it aside.
Xuron seems to be the way to go!

D.

How does the Xuron work for cutting K track contact tracks, i.e. where you just want to have a power isolating gap in the rail?

The Xuron cutter cuts one side flush/flat and the other side gets a bit deformed/pinched. So its good for cutting off a segment, but not good for a clean cut dividing a rail. I'd use a rotary tool for that purpose to get two straight cuts. Your likely going to get an ugly and wider cut with the xuron.

Thanks Peter. I just never saw the 2175M in the Xuron product list on its website, because for reasons only it knows, that variant wasn't/isn't listed with the other 2175 variants at the top of the cutter list, but way at the bottom where I wasn't even looking:

This I am also very interested in. Sometimes when I cut the flextrack I don't get the two rails to line up exactly so there's a gap of a 1mm or so. I'd love to fill that gap with something.

D.