How to cut
00 Gauge Track
3 Ways to Cut Flex Track for your Model Railroad
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do you need to install flex track on
your layout but you're not quite sure
how to make the cuts in this video we'll
look at three different ways you can cut
flex track so you can produce the size
pieces that you need to fit your layout
so these are the three ways that I like
to cut flex track oh when I'm installing
it on my layouts so the first way is you
can use a miter box and a razor saw put
the track inside it here you get a nice
smooth cut when you do this but it is a
little bit harder to use there is also
the risk because of the teeth on the saw
they kind of you know sometimes snag on
the track itself you cannot you have a
tendency to sometimes rip the rail out
of the ties especially with this micro
engineering track that has various small
spike details on the side you can easily
rip the track out of those using a razor
saw and so what I like to do a lot of
times if I'm using a razor saw and a
miter box like this is use a quick grip
clamp and use that to help clamp the
track and really their rails very
tightly into here to help prevent them
from kind of rotating back and forth
when you're making the cuts the problem
of obviously as you can you can't lay
this flat on a workbench but you can put
it off the edge and still make a nice
cut that way and that is one way that
you can do that but look at that here in
a minute
the most common way probably and the way
that I typically do it most often as
well is to use a pair of rail nippers
this makes cutting track very easily you
can just quickly make cuts through the
track that are pretty nice at least on
one side and you can cut through a hole
you can make a whole bunch of cuts very
quickly do a lot of times do though we
need to take a file and touch off the
edges
after the cuts are made a lot of times I
have little burrs or things sticking out
that might possibly cause a derailment
issue and really the bigger problem
though is just that after you make the
cut a lot of times the edges are a
little bit too rough and it's hard to
get the rail joiners on so if you touch
up the corners a little bit with a file
it does make it a lot easier to slide
that rail joiner on now the third way
that I typically cut flex track is to
use a dremel rotary tool and this
produces a really nice fast cut it also
tends to prove some nice cut on both
sides of the cut if you use rail nippers
one side of the cut looks nice the other
side you know and the waste side of the
track has a very kind of jagged II you
know mushy looking cut it doesn't look
very good yet to cut it again if you
want to use that piece of track
the dremel tool though bruce's a nice
flat cut on both sides typically
produces the nicest cut in terms of
needing the least amount of filing
afterwards so this is also a really good
way to to make cuts however sometimes
it's just not as handy if worried about
AC power and so depending on where
you're working this might be a
limitation just you know from that end
but they do you make battery-powered
Dremel tools as well so that isn't an
option to consider so we'll go ahead
here and look at using these three
different techniques for cutting flex
tract you can kind of get an idea of how
each of those work and what the finished
product looks like so if you are going
to cut flex track with a razor saw and a
miter box again I do recommend that you
use a clamp if you can or some other
device to help hold the track from
bending when you're trying to cut it now
of course if you have a clamp in there
you can't obviously keep this on the
workbench easily so you have to kind of
extend this off the edge when you're
doing the cutting if I think I can go
ahead and do your cutting and get a nice
smooth cut okay so finally I made the
cut through again it's a little bit
slower using the saw the cut though does
tend to be pretty nice and flat again II
do you have to do probably a little bit
of filing on the edges there but those
for the most part work out pretty well
so that's one option for cutting track
option number two again is to use rail
nippers and so that's my preferred
method of cutting crack however if you
are going to use the rail nippers again
I do like to make sure I go ahead and
remove these sections of ties that are
in the way of where the cutting is going
to be ahead of time so you're not trying
to cut through the plastic which cuts
and sometimes I can kind of shift your
your nippers in there we are trying to
make the cut again to help the tract and
twisting I do like to use and clamp on a
quick grip clamp to help as tight as I
can to help keep the track from twisting
as you're trying to make the cut again
the rail nippers do have one side where
the blade is angle the other side where
it's flush you want to make sure the
flush side is pointed towards the area
where you want to keep the track so
the waste side gets the angled side and
decide to keep gets the flush side you
make the cut perpendicular you get a
nice cut
with minimal filing needed typically but
you do have to clean up the bottoms
usually a little bit so you need to have
a nice flat file that you can use for
cleaning up those edges whether it's
from the saw or from the rail nippers
and so you want to make sure you get the
bottoms the tops if they need it but
typically it's not going to be a problem
for the table let's be more of an issue
for the size and for the bottoms so the
third way I used to cut track is a
dremel tool and using a cut off to
scribe there you can very easily go
through the the rail however again these
cutting discs do tend to melt the
plastic ties and so just like using the
rail nippers if there's a section that
you know that you're going to be cutting
through and you know you're not doing it
with track it's already in place I have
to go through but in cut away the ties
where I'll be cutting and so I'm not
going to melt the tries because then it
just it looks you know for the most part
pretty bad and so I don't cut into the
workbench someone use a scrap of wood
put the track on top of that so when I
use a dremel tool I'm not going to be
cutting into the workbench itself and
just into this scrap of wood if I cut
too far and when using the dremel tool
it's important to let the dremel tool do
the work don't force it through too
quickly
just let it easily cut its way through
the track without really trying to force
it through
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so very easily you get a cut all the way
through I did actually on this piece
leave a little bit of a bottom there but
this gives you again a very nice smooth
cut and in fact for the most part out of
the three methods this probably produced
the cut that was the nicest in terms of
needing the least amount of filing I
mean if the most part it feels smooth to
the fingers and I could probably go
ahead and just use it as it is I'll go
ahead and touch up the corners a little
bit just to make sure there's no little
burrs there but this provides a very
nice smooth cut if you go ahead and use
a cut-off tool on the dremel again don't
do it too fast let it go through
smoothly and you get the I cut that
basically looks like what you get it on
the end of flex track when you buy it
fresh and one thing with the Dremel too
is well because it is cutting straight
through I'm like the nippers which
produce one side it looks nice one side
that looks kind of goofy you can
actually use both sides of the cut and
you're gonna have a nice cut on both
sides and so don't worry about finishing
the other side whereas if you use the
rail nippers you're gonna end up with
one side of the track that looks you
know pretty bad and so you have to go
ahead and make another cut there if you
want to use that section of track with
the dremel tool if you cut through the
track both sides of the cut are going to
look equally flat and good and you can
use both of those sections without any
further work besides a little you know
filing on the edges around the nippers
are really fast and you can get really
nice cuts with them as well I'll be
Center one side and this is a really
handy way to make the cuts using the
miter box and the saw is probably the
hardest way it's also the slowest way
however like the Dremel you do get a
nice smooth cut on both sides and so you
are going to be able to use both sides
the track on both sides of the cut
without any further cuts being made to
it so anyway those are three ways you
can cut flex track for your layout let
me know in the comments below what your
favorite way of cutting flex track is
and what tends to work best for you so
anyway that's all for now and I'll see
you in the next video
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