Reclaimed Pallet Hotwheels Loop

my 3 year old son and I were talking the other day (you know those serious daddy/son talks) and the subject of team hot wheels came up. (yup a boy and cars) so he told me, "daddy, I need a Team Hotwheels track, you build it?" as all good daddies that would rather build something instead of pay hard earned money for it, we went out in the garage to see what we could build.

First We Gathered Up Some Old Pallets Pieces

These were a handful of pallet pieces left from other various projects

Planed the Wood

got all of the stock ripped and planed down to a usable width of about ¼ an inch

Ripped the Wood Down

next I used the bandsaw to resaw several pieces into ⅛ " thick pieces

Soaked the Wood

I had always wanted to try bending wood, (i've spent enough time trying to straighten pieces out lol). so I got my son's swimming pool and put three gallons of water in the pool over the wood slats I had ripped down

Bending the Wood

after soaking the wood for 5 to 6 hours, it was time to see if it would bend. So I used part of my table saw and began shaping and bending the wood pieces and then clamping them into place. I put two of the boards into a 5 gallon bucket to give it the 360 loop that my son wanted in the track. Next time I do this project or one like it, I will build a form to put the wood in to bend it, but I was trying to be creative and use what i had in my garage.

Gluing the Loop Together

I took the time here to get the loop formed, glued and clamped before moving to the next step. oh yeah that is my son's hand, he wanted me to take a picture of some of the wood we were going to use with him holding a piece. Then he proceeded to tell me he wanted me to build a figure 8 track in the middle of the loop, it will be a christmas addition I guess, I am glad christmas is still 7 months away lol

Side Rails for the Loop

I took another piece that I had bent and decided to rip1/8" strips out of it to use as the guide rails along the side of the track. you can see the final group of bent strips that will be the rails

Glueing on the Rails

went piece by piece gluing and clamping both sides of the track with the rails.

Rough Finished Track

here is the track roughly finished. I had a scrap of plywood on so I added some structural pieces to the ramp and back

Now Choosing the Finish

my son wants it painted blue and orange, I guess I'll head to home depot tomorrow.

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