T-TRACK GRIP PROJECT

[seven]

my brother in law was looking at the track and he mentioned that they look for like closet track. It would be the male end that would be attached to the bottom of the door, while it rested in a track that was tacked down to the floor. Just a though in the search for the perfect style.

 

[SaberFreak]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(seven @ Apr 29 2006, 03:04 PM) [snapback]1235332[/snapback]</div>

my brother in law was looking at the track and he mentioned that they look for like closet track. It would be the male end that would be attached to the bottom of the door, while it rested in a track that was tacked down to the floor. Just a though in the search for the perfect style.
[/b]

I was just about to post this info and here it is.

I accidentally damaged the door of a cabinet that's been my house since I can remember, and broke off the track that the door slides on. When I tried to fix it back I realized that it look excatly like the grips that's been posted here. So I went around town to all the older hardware shops (the mama and papa shops that usually have stock that's been sitting there since biblical times) hoping to find more of it but no luck so far. If I find any I'll post here.

I'm now thinking of ripping out all the tracks on that cabinet and blame it on the neighbor's kid :lol

 

[Darth Lars]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SaberFreak @ Apr 29 2006, 10:12 AM) [snapback]1235361[/snapback]</div>

I accidentally damaged the door of a cabinet that's been my house since I can remember, and broke off the track that the door slides on. When I tried to fix it back I realized that it look excatly like the grips that's been posted here.[/b]

That's excellent. Please post pics and measurements.

 

[SaberFreak]

Sorry for the long silence. Been real busy plus wanted to have something solid before posting.

Below is a pic of the profile and mesurement of the t-track I broke off from the cabinet in my house:

As you can see its bottom is very uneven. I thought this could be due to degradation from being there for over 20 years or so, so I decided to find something more recent.

I search every shop that sells anything related to furnishing fixtures in my town and after countless wild goose chase, false leads and similar t-track which are too small, I finally found a company which has a few strips in their inventory which matched the one from the cabinet from my house.

It comes in strips of 8 ft length, is made of rather rigid plastic/rubber, but is pretty flexible nonetheless:

Here are the mesurements for the new track I found:

There only 2 things that don't match: The groove on the bottom, and the color. The one I found is a reddish brown, not black.

Don't know if this track is anywhere near anything screen accurate, but I sure have more then enough grips now for all my custom sabers, if nothing else.

 

[Darth Detroit]

If this stuff is legit, then I would be interested in purchasing some.

One thing I beleive we need to keep in mind, since it is plastic, and we are finding the track profile in all sorts of conditions, is the wear put on these tracks over the years. Hence the track sample that shows a flat side and a curved side as shown above.

 

[Darth Lars]

We know some of the T-track was brown plastic painted black.
Except for the curved bottom, the shape and dimensions is the same as the rubber T-tracks that are available from Blast-Tech and others.

Congratulations. It is the most accurate out there yet found.
If I were you, I would buy up as much as I could find, cut them up to order and sell in the Junkyard for a, albeit small, profit.

 

[SaberFreak]

<div class='quotetop'>(Darth Lars @ May 16 2006, 02:01 AM) [snapback]1244635[/snapback]</div>

We know some of the T-track was brown plastic painted black.
Except for the curved bottom, the shape and dimensions is the same as the rubber T-tracks that are available from Blast-Tech and others.

Congratulations. It is the most accurate out there yet found.
If I were you, I would buy up as much as I could find, cut them up to order and sell in the Junkyard for a, albeit small, profit.
[/b]

I'm glad that something good came out of my little accident with the cabinet... :lol

Is $10 + shipping for a set of 7, 4" strips a fair price?

I'd also like to trade them for cool prop parts as well.

 

[Darth Detroit]

I hope this isnt off topic, but, if youlook at the Luke ESB grips, this might explain the notched out riveted part of the grip. If the T tracks are mounted in the cabinet wouldnt it have screws on each end of the track, holding it down to the bottom of the cabinet? :confused

 

[SaberFreak]

<div class='quotetop'>(Darth Detroit @ May 16 2006, 08:48 AM) [snapback]1244844[/snapback]</div>

I hope this isnt off topic, but, if youlook at the Luke ESB grips, this might explain the notched out riveted part of the grip. If the T tracks are mounted in the cabinet wouldnt it have screws on each end of the track, holding it down to the bottom of the cabinet? :confused
[/b]

The t-track that I broke off from my cabinet was held down by a few very small nails on either side of the central spine. Glue might also have been used but there's none there now, probably totally disintegrated after so long. Don't think anyone would cut out notches to screw on the tracks, as it'd be a lot of extra work.

Thanks for all the interest guys.

I'll reply to your PMs later when I have more time.

Cheers.

 

[lonepigeon]

There were nail holes on either side of the ridge on the original T-track. They cut that part off when using it on the sabers, but some of the Sterling pieces are longer and have the holes.

They actually did use some brown T-track in SW. At one point they ran out of black and had to paint the brown stuff according to a guy who made the E-11's (paint didn't stick well though).

 

[SaberFreak]

Thanks for that info lonepigeon. I think we can finally nail (pun intended) the grip material :lol

 

[SaberFreak]

Posted this over at the Junkyard thread but thought I'd post it here as well.

The track bends real easy, but won't snap. The bent part do get discoloured and the ridge slightly distorted.

However it WILL snap if you bend it back and forth couple of times.

 

[SaberFreak]

Sanded & painted a t-track to see how it takes paint. I paid special attention to the top of the ridge area when sanding as this is the place that will get most knocked about or scuffed up after the tracks have been installed onto a saber or blaster.

I used flat back and put it under the sun for 15 minutes to allowed it to dry completele.

Here's the painted one next to an unpainted one. I rounded off the edges to make it look more screen accurate.

After that I carried it around with me and used it like a drum stick to knock on everything I come across. I even scraped the top of the ridge across the edge of a table.

Here're the scuff marks on the top of the ridge:

Looks like it takes paint very well.

 

[Darth Lars]

Good to hear. But did you use water-based, acetone-based or enamel paint?

 

[SaberFreak]

<div class='quotetop'>(Darth Lars @ May 21 2006, 06:20 PM) [snapback]1247853[/snapback]</div>

Good to hear. But did you use water-based, acetone-based or enamel paint?[/b]

I have no idea. The can said it contains Xylene & Methyl Benzene. Is that Acetone?

 

[TomSpinaDesigns]

For the curious... I got my track from Saberfreak yesterday and did some quick tests today.

This stuff works PERFECTLY. A little heat and you're there. Squashes into the holes just right, IMO. If you were a skeptic about somewhat rigid plastic being able to do it, this should cure you.

I still need to paint it and may use a hot nail to burn in the holes, we'll see. Anyone know the spacing on the holes off hand?

Tom

 

[GINO]

That's what I'm talkin about. Beautiful.

Way to go Saberfreak. :thumbsup

 

[lonepigeon]

That looks great.
The bends look just like on the real props.
Just so we have a comparison pic on the same page:

 

[Dann]

So where can we get this stuff? I somehow missed this whole thread. Is it accurate for Luke ANH needs?

 

[OdiWan72]

FINALLY I can finish my E-11

I never put the rubber t-track on my blaster...

Markus