Parallel track spacer.

[Ian MacMillan]

Quickly drew up some spacers in HO. These are 13' spacing keeps the track looking nice and purdy! Printed in AC white.

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[DKS]

Well, don't they look good! But... I'm just curious... why spend the time and money designing and printing these in 3D when you can make them in a couple of minutes with blocks of scrap wood (or styrene or Masonite or whatever) and a hacksaw (or a Dremel or some other cutting tool)?

[C855B]

Well, don't they look good! But... I'm just curious... why spend the time and money designing and printing these in 3D when you can make them in a couple of minutes with blocks of scrap wood (or styrene or Masonite or whatever) and a hacksaw (or a Dremel or some other cutting tool)?

Precision and repeatability. I need to do the same.

[John]

Well, don't they look good! But... I'm just curious... why spend the time and money designing and printing these in 3D when you can make them in a couple of minutes with blocks of scrap wood (or styrene or Masonite or whatever) and a hacksaw (or a Dremel or some other cutting tool)?

New toy (tool) .. need to use it for all things train to justify the expense to the CFO that you will have much better modeling because of it   ..

[DKS]

Precision and repeatability. I need to do the same.

Carefully cut a pair of parallel slots in a wide-ish piece of material, slice that material into narrow strips, and you've got precision and repeatability. But I think @John pegged it...

[wazzou]

I think John pegged it...

Based on that small snippet below your Avatar, I laughed out loud. 

[C855B]

Well, speaking for myself, and considering I have the tools and materials on hand to do it "old school" including a micro table saw for precise parallel cuts, I would just rather do it on the Photon. All the measuring is done on the computer and it's just less messy, plus no spinning blades with small parts. Total project time is reduced, too, with the printer being setup-and-forget versus getting the calipers out and resetting a balky saw fence for every cut, making sure it's vertical and parallel, et cetera, et cetera.

As to topic, I also already have a parallel track tool I cut in styrene that is getting worn out from use, so I've been there. I'll use the printer for the next one(s).

"Tea, earl gray, hot."

The Photon has completely changed my modeling outlook. Repeatability and precision with fabrication of small bits has been a big frustration during my adult years. I'm not Max @mmagliaro . In rifling through boxes of old train parts I'm amazed by what I did as a teenager with little more than an X-acto, needle files and a vernier caliper. So I know what's possible by manual methods, but I don't have that kind of skill (or patience, or time) to execute in the same way. Research to result is a much, much shorter path now, so I am counting on this 3D printer and its successors to fulfill a huge bucket list of "wanna haves" during the remainder of my existence. Including parallel track spacers.

[MK]

Because he can! 

[railnerd]

Maximum overkill— use a friend's Haas CNC machine to make a Free-moN parallel track gauge:

[Ian MacMillan]

Because it took me shorter time to draw and print 10 then it would have to make them and they are all there same! 

[rodsup9000]

Because it took me shorter time to draw and print 10 then it would have to make them and they are all there same!

 I agree

 Here is what I've been using for awhile now and was printed on a 12" FDM printer. Besides the straight, I have radius plates that range from 13" to 40" .  They make laying ME track a whole lot easier than tracksetta gauges.

[wazzou]

Nice Rodney.  That's really cool.

[reinhardtjh]

Dammit.  Now I want an FDM machine...   

[dem34]

Dammit.  Now I want an FDM machine...   

They're very good if the surface finish isn't a huge concern.

[reinhardtjh]

They're very good if the surface finish isn't a huge concern.

True.  But for a track jig it should be fine.