from Aspire to beyond: The Train Is a Comin!

When I lent my services to a collegue who was working on a film about 12 years ago, I was introduced to the world of cnc. I remember watching this huge machining centre milling out a slab of mdf and turning it into a fantastic set of gears. I knew that it would have taken me hours to achieve the same thing with traditional power tools. I decided then that I would invest in a cnc router for my own business Oxenham Design. At that time I could turn on a computer, but even to check email seemed like a crazy set of operations. I persevered and learned every piece of relevant software I could get my hands on. I am now fortunate enough to be using Vectric's ASPIRE software, and Techno cnc routers, which has helped us to create some amazing projects, both in part, or in full. I thought that this blog would be a great place to share "behind the scenes" adventures with the software, materials and equipment we use, as well as the projects we build.

Thursday 26 February 2015

The Train Is a Comin!

The actual railway tracks we're making from PVC. The profile won't be exactly the same proportions as their real life counterparts, but they'll still resemble tracks! You can see the alignment tabs, and the holes they fit into in the bottom section. These will fit into the slots and holes in the railway ties, and a screw through each tie will lock them together. Plus the tab and slot insures that they can only be assembled in Alberta the proper way!

Here's a better image of the cross section of the tracks. Each rail was made from 3 separate pieces, chem-welded into one piece.

The whole railway track system is broken down into 5 sections. and as the left and right side are identical, there won't be any confusion as to what pieces go where.