I print my own track. I only have standard gauge. It is really hard to get tolerances perfect with 3d printing. For what the cost of buying printed track vs printing your self, depending on how big you go it can be cheaper to make your own. A budget printing set up is around $300, plus you can control the quality.
@@alexnunes 3d Printing is a great hobby, but it is indeed a full hobby in and of itself ;) Especially in the model railway scene however, a lot of people do combine the two hobbies. Pretty sure some AFOLs are doing it too.
for that quality showed in the video they printed on 5 years old ANet smth... my anet A3 can print with better quality... shame they send such bad 3d printed rails... and yes you can buy it for 200-300 with 250x250x300mm plate
@@alexnunes It wouldnt be too difficult to create an injection molding set up for far higher quality parts. You could 3D print a base, cover it in clay (Making sure the final sizing is just on par for lego, which can be very tricky), and cast that in resin, creating a smooth mold for injecting. The main issue with that is creating more molds, and the mold quality itself. A more professional set up will likely have several aluminum cast molds, which are very nice and quick to work with. But what surprises me the most is that for the price, those tracks are disastrous. Clear signs of FDM, which are the typical layer by layer printers you see. For that cost they should be using resin printers, which cures a bath of resin with a UV LED bed, curing it into the desired shape. With my 3D modelling experience, thats an afternoon project recreating the basic tolerances of Lego and creating those tracks. Its a serious scam, the only thing they have going for them is a platform where they can sell it. Filament only costs about $20 per spool, selling them for that much is a great return on investment, but double that is staggering. Especially with how little material is going on with them.
@@pauldeddens5349 UV-cured SLA resin printers generally come with a smaller size limit than FDM, so you're going to hit issues printing parts as large as these rails. However, if you can find a big enough printer, I bet you could print each of these tracks in 30-45 minutes not counting the wash and cure, and in significantly higher quality than what was done here. It makes sense that a company making Lego-compatible parts would avoid resin, though. Lego is ostensibly a children's toy and resin can be pretty toxic.
LEGO could improve a lot for their trains. Instead of making complete sets, they could do seperate carriages, so there can be more variation, or you can have multiples of some. With the cargo train this isn't a big problem, but for passenger trains you either have to buy another set or part out extra carriages. You really made a point with this video.
Somehow they don't like trains, so they only make mediocre ones and don't really offer a lot of options for rails and stuff. So when the sales of the stuff they have go down they can tell themselves its the customers not liking trains and cut the program even further.
Lego is not interested in trains any more. In my childhood, I had a 12V train system, which was gorgeous. If you want to know what Lego is doing today, just take a look at current City products, especially the new road system. Luckily, there are other suppliers that deliver great products where Lego just fails.
I went with TrixBrix track and it was a total life changer. Saved me a LOT of space and allowed me to configure my layout in a much better way. Lego track is soooo limiting.
That quality is fairly poor from my experience with other 3d printed companies. I have various parts from TrixBrix and the quality of their items is very good, I've only had one part that had a small misprint area of anti-stud preventing me to connect on to a base plate but a craft knife cleaned that up for me. With the curved switch track I made my own by cutting and glueing Lego track and that works really well, ideal if you have surplus track.
My biggest issue with Lego train sysem are short "tram" points which causes unrealistic turns. With 3D printing you can make any lengh and shape of point.
This is where resin 3d printing would shine, being far smoother than the regular filament layering, and for the most part better consistency for each part.
Weird that they've chosen that style of 3D print for this, they'd have much higher print quality and faster print times if they weren't using Baby's First Filament instead of an SLS system.
I bought a lot from the European company "Trixbrix" and honestly had not nearly as much quality/QA issues. Their approach to switch levers is also a lot more compact and flexible in my opinion. They also have a huge catalogue.
I also have Trixbrix track and the quality does seem quite a bit better. I also added copper tape to the track allowing them to function with old 9V trains! Only issue I've had is that their clutch power is slightly less then official LEGO track, on bare wood floor I have ocationally had an issue with their R72 and 488 curves disconnecting as a train passed over it, though adding a few 2x2 tiles to the connections prevents it from happening. This was also a very heavy custom 8-wide train running at max speed, one that still had some kinks to work out too, so it is possible something on the train broke first and caused it to derail, separating the track in the process.
Appreciate you doing these reviews on small producers. Before I can put out that sort of money I need to know I will receive a product that will have no issues.
I bought a lot of the switch motors and buttons from 4dbrix and it was well worth it. I can control all my points from a long distance away. Tom will happily help you with replacements even if like me you are in a country very far away. I think people who view the 3d printed tracks as a bit rough really dont appreciate how difficult and expensive it is to print at close to Lego tolerances.
In the old days Lego used to put on its boxes an illustration of how to eliminate tension in track configurations that use their splitter. Nowerdays they just have those terrible flex tracks and there's tension everywhere. My configurations never have tension and I bolt the tracks down to the base plates. To me, the most important track they don't make anymore is the crossover (one track at 90 degrees to another). This is The best track for train crashes, which is probably why they don't make it. Those complex junctions like the one you bought, I think it's actually fun to do the equivalent with Lego tracks - the only problem is it takes a lot of space!
Tolerances of injection molded Lego are almost impossible to get as right with FDM printing. Even with extreme care you'll probably straddle along between a bit too much and too little clutch. And if those things are printed in PLA as are most 3D prints one gets on Etsy and co, one has to be fear creep, that means under long term force, the pieces will warp, which is problematic for something like lego where the connection is based on permanent clutch power. If 4D Bricks prints in other materials I stand corrected of course, however other materials are challenging because of warping when you print very flat like those tracks. I was curious myself and tried printing just regular 2x4 bricks and it worked out, somewhat but compared to injection molded bricks, even Chinese ones quality was rather terrible for sure. Maybe I could do better nowadays ith more experience and with more optimisation but one simply can not reach the consistency and quality of injection molding. Bricks rely actually on surprisingly high precision and consistency.
1:11 when I think of lego, high prices, stickers unnecessary colors and quality issues (especially color quality) is what comes in my mind. So please don't say we, use 'some people' or 'fanboys'. I bought sets where parts are missing, (when applied) crooked prints or red pieces with different colors -_- So Lego and quality is a combination of my youth, nowadays it isn't.
Hmmn, had nothing but problems with the monorail track I bought. As for being "too tight" for the motor- not even the replacement track worked either. Just gave up on 3d track after that.
I guess individual results may vary? We shouldn't have such a wide range of functionality. I guess we are just too used to the high quality of bricks we get from LEGO.
depends on how its printed and what kind of printer was used. Also material matters as well. Lego Bricks themselves are made out of ABS, which is a printable material for FDM printers. But you can use ASA, which is a UV resistant version of ABS and is a little stronger (do notice how Lego Bricks will discolor if left in the sun too long). It does look like some of their parts are printed kind of weakly (orientation of the part) making it work against the layer lines. Also seems like they are using a large layer height (looked like .3) in order to print quickly, but this makes for fewer layers for strength. Either way if anyone has a 3d printer you can freely print bricks, tracks ect as much as you like. Reason is LEGO doesn't have a Copywrite to the brick itself, but they DO have the copywrite to HOW those bricks go together (aka the sets). Prices seemed a little high for each part, it doesn't take a lot of material to make each of those parts and even the time it would take wouldn't be very long either. Look into a company called FX Brick, they make 9v rail and other parts for the trains that basically make it into a full fledged Train Scale. They were working on getting a brick or a powered truck that would work with NMRA DCC systems like Digitrax or NCE.
This reminds me of those scenes from the Addams Family T.V. show where Gomez is playing with his trains where he set up his trains to collide with each other before blowing them up.
Fantastic to see you using custom track at last! It’s amazing how it makes such a difference to models and layouts. I’m assuming you won’t be using wide radius curves and points due to layout maximisation over extreme realism? The wide radius curves undoubtedly eat a lot of space. I’m a regular on the Eurobricks Forums Train Tech and speak to some of the custom track gods fairly often. There’s been a lot of discussion on the topic over the years and numerous companies - 4D Brix, ME Models, Fx Bricks, Bricktracks, Trixbrix…. But there we go. LEGO seems unwilling to put any money into the train hobby other than through the 4 year cycle and the occasional other, meaning countless third party parts are available - probably more than in almost any other part of the entire LEGO hobby.
Honestly, you should think about just pulling the trigger and getting a resin printer. There are a number of reasonably priced, large format printers that could print these *INCREDIBLY* fast with horizontal resolutions down to 0.05mm and beyond. (Because they print the entire plate at once, per layer, something flat like rails wouldn't take long at all.) ...and if you don't mind paying more than three times as much, the Phrozen Sonic Mega 8k has a build plate thats 330mm x 185mm and a horizontal accuracy of 0.043mm! Heck, with THAT sitting in your shop, YOU could do printing for 4D bricks and easily pay off your printer.
3d printed stuff just looks so cheap compared to the actual injection molded track. And the pricing is pretty high too. I do agree: I wish Lego would offer the track separate with more options. I think they are leaving a lot of cash on the table. I understand why they don't want to since people buy the sets. They could always make it a big purchase item. Need a minimum amount of track for a custom track order. Plenty of people wouldn't care about a $200+ order if it has all their desired track.
@@osmanpasha_diy They absolutely do. As a 3D modeller, I see that junk _everywhere._ They have a printer, and they have a easy route to the post office, they are going to run with it. I want to sell 3D prints, but I would only sell my own original models, it just feels scummy to use other peoples work for commercial gain. And the pricing is terrible. A spool of filament costs anywhere from 10-40 dollars, typically 20 for decent plastic. And a spool lasts dozens of prints. You could theoretically print that large X track about 10 times before running out, charging 40 for each is awful. Do that math, 20 buck filament, 10 prints, roughly 2 dollars per print. Shipping (assuming its free) is usually 10-15 dollars at the most. Leaving a profit margin of a staggering 25-30 dollars per track.
The real value is in TrixBrix and BrickTracks injection mould track. Those hold together as well as normal lego track. Trixbrix’s 3D printed stuff works fine but it has trouble holding together, if you ballast your tracks you’ll be fine.
I only had issues with Trixbrix when I set it up on hardwood floor and was running a very heavy 8-wide train over it at max speed. Just added some tiles to the top of the connections was enough to fix it. Still not 100% sure if it was the track either, could have been my custom train loosing a part, then running it over and pulling the track apart in the process of derailing.
Another option would be the switch crossing made by BlueBrixx in Germany. They did develop their own mould for a switch crossing coming in two pieces snapping together with a distance between the inside studs of 8 apart so you can seemlessly integrate it with your existing switches before and after the crossing. Other than regular straights and curves they also offer flex tracks and two larger curve radius for very reasonable prices if you are a train enthusiast looking to change up your layout some. When outside the EU shipping is a bit costly though but in the EU its just about 10 Euros no matter your basket size.
I printed from 4dBrix. Is very nice they let you download the STLs for free, but as in the video, the switch mechanism breaks very easy due to the poor design. I printed in PLA, maybe PETG would be better. The issue is that they mimic an arc using some thin printed parts which break extremely easily. You need to see the model and you will understand immediately. I will try with PETG and if is still failing, I will try to make the parts thicker.
I didn't even know they were 3D printed. I just assumed they were moulded. I guess it's better than nothing, but yeah, I really wish Lego made more tracks again. I know there probably aren't a ton of people who have the room for anything larger than an oval, so it probably wouldn't pay off to mass-produce a ton of very specific track parts... But I don't know why they couldn't add unique tracks to something like the pick a brick service. They wouldn't have to spend a ton on marketing or packaging, it could just be a niche product for the hobbyists.
If you would like to replace those flexible track pieces with injection molded parts, there's a company called "brick tracks", they make an assortment set with 1/2 long, 1/4 long and some 1.6 stud long straight pieces of track (unless your using different size curves, those 1.6 stud long pieces don't really have a use)
Couldn't helps but notice at the start of the video. Yes there rough but a little bit of sanding with a small bit of sanding paper can fix that issue fairly easily
I got a similar part from trix brix for the double crossing, and it is more expensive, but it works great. The switching mechanism is also inside the tracks, so it is easier to use in your layout.
As expected, Lego cannot be replaced with 3D-printing on consumer equipment in terms of quality. Even chineese Lego clones with access to industrial injection molding machines have not been able to get to the same level of quality for many, many years.
Lego just has very high precision parts. And brick shaping techniques that arent obvious why they are there until you learn the engineering the bricks have. Like how the studs (pips) are slightly squared to give better clutch power. One day consumer 3D-printing will reach that level, its inevitable. But I see that being decades off, current 3D printing is fine with its cruder tolerances. Finer 3D printers will be reserved for prototyping and artists, they arent consistent enough to get to Lego quality with every brick.
@@Nikioko Because FX isnt exactly a clone. Its trying to reach a market that _doesnt_ exist, not piggyback off of the giant Lego hoping to swoop up unwitting or cheap customers. Its selling parts complementary to Lego and its sets. Parts that do not exist, or are no longer produced. While clones are only trying to get the same market as Lego, producing copies of the sets they produce, or double knockoffs using IPs Lego doesnt have access to.
@@pauldeddens5349 If you make that distinction, yes. There are several brands of alternative bricks that serve niches which Lego doesn‘t cover. Like Cobi with their ship models. Or BlueBrixx with trains and the Star Trek franchise.
Depending on what plastic is used you could probably clean up the print edges with appropriate solvent (just a tiny bit on a cloth and rub it so it smooths it out, just make sure none is left afterwards or it could start to eat into the plastic), and fix the loose bits by applying a couple of tiny drops of glue (again, look for appropriate glue for the plastic used) to make the tolerances tighter. The problem with (most) 3d printers is that at the size these pieces are, they lose in accuracy, so you end up with loose tolerances. However this is a process that's bound to improve so personally I'm just waiting a bunch more years before either buying a 3d printer or buying 3d printed parts online, as the quality is just not even comparable to even 3rd party ABS injected mold parts.
I can understand wanting to go for 3rd party track for bulking up for a lower price, but those switch tracks were individually more then I spent for a lego official junction expansion set and the quality is terrible for the price. There has to be a better option then that
man i built my own 3d rpinter in 2012, and even that thing has better print quality than what you got, i wish they had the files available i'd make em my damn self
You seem like the absolute perfect candidate for your own 3D printer! The quality you showed is below standard for even a couple hundred dollar printer. A Creality Cr10s pro v2 for $500 would allow you to build 300mmx300mmx400mm(11.8x11. 8x15.) I’d say you could print out that double crossing in two pieces in around 6 hrs and have maybe $3 or $4 in filament and electricity. For a little more a new Bambu Labs X1 Carbon ($1,000ish) could print the same print in 1.5 hours.
I 3d print tracks all the time and works well. even the switch levers which can also be customized. haven't made the shuttle track as i don't have a shuttle. but I only make them for myself and really don't mind, and yes clutch can be an issue, but glue helps that. as for joining them to reg LEGO track it works great. plus you can print custom radius turns as well. the copper foil tape is what i use as well. LEGO needs to come out with another shuttle IMO. oh yeah coaster track works well that is 3d printed as well. i tried it.
Tbh, from your video it looks like 4DBricks is quite behind on quality compared to TrixBrix. I wasn't aware of that. (I haven't tried 4DBrick myself, though.) Regarding the copper foil, you did this with LEGO RC track in the past, too, right? Why did you move away from it? Were there reliability or durability issues?
With the growing number of folks building massive LEGO cities and incorporating train tracks, LEGO is really missing a golden opportunity to make money off of larger portfolio of train track parts.
I don't understand Lego with this, it seems they are content to simply recycle their "passenger train" set every few years with slightly different looks. But they could probably find a larger than niche market for some "Trainz" line that maybe runs like Speed Champions, having a yearly set that consists of a locomotive, some cars, buildings, and of course the track to make it all go where they could rake in the money.
Great video, very neat solutions! Tja, LEGO is targetting on the sets/items with the highest market potentional, those tracks are nice, but only for a limited audience. It's also just business, I can't blame them.
I would've bought from trixbrix if i were you, mostly because it is plastic injection moulded (like real lego) however not all elements that they make are injection moulded.
Those prints are pretty rough for something that costs this much, at least do some cleaning up of the parts before you ship them. Honestly if I were to provide a service like this, I'd go the 9v route no matter what the base material is, just to ensure quality of the rail itself and compatibility, plus metal rails are generally nicer in the first place. I'd also go with MSLA over FDM, again for quality, plus a tub of resin would probably have a higher yield for these kinds of parts, not to mention a higher scale of manufacturing per process. The margins are there to look at better options, especially as business scales, but the problem is that business won't scale if your parts aren't quality for the price you're asking. All things considering, these parts feel like they came out of someone's garage where they're still using a MakerBot from a decade ago, FDM has progressed enough to have decent parts on modern machines, but MSLA is also affordable enough to replace an FDM print farm.
that X crossover, doesn't look like a complicated mechanism, wish you had explained what it looked like wasn't working. Was the stick on the knob not engaging the drawbar? Was the drawbar moving back and forth but not attached to the points? Is it something you could fix with a bit of plastic and superglue? Granted for a $50 part they should make it work and replace it for you. Clearly this is not a hobby to do on the cheap.
Have you checked if there’s a public use 3d printer at your local library or generally in your local area? If you can get the right files, that may be the cheapest way to achieve the best results :)
hi the cost of making the tooling is just to high for lego a 3rd party is better in the long run you know the new 9 v track that's out in the eu it's far better than any thing lego could make do some looking into ship to the usa would cost money
grab some fine sandpaper and fix those rails. Kinda sad that they don't finish the products properly themselves though. It literally looks straight out of the 3D printer.
I'm not familiar with the old school conductive metal rail, but how smooth does the old train motor roll? Can they coast a short distance on momentum alone?
The only design flaw I knew of with it is that both tracks shared a common track switch, so you couldn't throw your switches independently. Throwing one would throw the other.
3D has never been intended for mass production. It has always been designed to make one offs that could then be mass produced. The fact that so many companies these days are using 3D printers to produce products is crazy stupid.
No it is not. 3D printing is not just for one offs, it is also for very small series too. The market of those tracks is modest, even if there is a sizeable community having Lego railways. I mean, Prusa is printing for more than just small series and does so at a profit. One does have to know and live with the limitations of the FDM technology however.
I say if lego will never bring back the airport shuttle atleast give us more train track in a different variety in the city line and quit giving us a space sub theme every 2 years. I know we get trains every 3 years but space sets every 2 is a lot when there is no way to use them in a city if you have the 2010 or 11 ones or even classic space from the 80s and 90s. If I had just enough pieces in dark red to do one of my current mocs correctly then I would I think have enough room todohome alone next to my train yard in my city. Though small I like it.
@@alexnunes True, but I think the "cheapy" ones are at least injected molded and not 3d printed (e.g. the lined look), not even sure if it'd be a comparable priced (or cheaper) product. All I know is the way Lego has handled the train track side of things is abysmal
Looks like they need to tune their printers better. 3D printing and especially home 3D printing is not a mature technology, it takes a lot to get them consistent.
as someone who designs Lego compatible track I wasn't overly impressed with 4D bricks. The QC wasn't verry good, parts didn't fit together properly, the material choice is poor (too brittle not enough flex) and the 3D models on their site don't fit with what there print partners sell.
1:14 not that true. Think about the different colours in one colour or the amount of stickers or the colours that do not match the overall set like blue pins or pink bricks inside you see from the outside. Just think about the Star Destroyer behind you
Not yet, and not R40. Brickworld Chicago the switch tracks were shown, but they are R104 rather than R40 like the ones Alex has got, which fit the standard curves. Fx Bricks is going for maximum realism, for which the wider radius curves are on demand, so they are producing R56, R72, R88, R104, R120, R136, R152, S8, S16, S32, and the R104 switch tracks. For many this is of interest, but unfortunately this doesn’t suit this kind of city - it’s better for the exhibition/show displays.
Why should you 3D print your tracks if you can get good quality and large variety tracks from FX Track? You should stop focussing on the market leader and take a look at what other companies have to offer.
Oof that print quality is ROUGH. Especially for that price. That has so much clear overextrusion on it wtf are they even doing. No way someone QC'd that.
I always wondered how the quality of these custom made ones are. Was thinking of getting one but then I very much lucked out recently finding one of the Lego made double crosses online in a lot. Ended up getting it for an insanely good price.
I print my own track. I only have standard gauge. It is really hard to get tolerances perfect with 3d printing. For what the cost of buying printed track vs printing your self, depending on how big you go it can be cheaper to make your own. A budget printing set up is around $300, plus you can control the quality.
That sounds like a good investment to me. Plus the experience of doing it yourself too.
@@alexnunes 3d Printing is a great hobby, but it is indeed a full hobby in and of itself ;)
Especially in the model railway scene however, a lot of people do combine the two hobbies. Pretty sure some AFOLs are doing it too.
for that quality showed in the video they printed on 5 years old ANet smth... my anet A3 can print with better quality... shame they send such bad 3d printed rails... and yes you can buy it for 200-300 with 250x250x300mm plate
@@alexnunes It wouldnt be too difficult to create an injection molding set up for far higher quality parts.
You could 3D print a base, cover it in clay (Making sure the final sizing is just on par for lego, which can be very tricky), and cast that in resin, creating a smooth mold for injecting.
The main issue with that is creating more molds, and the mold quality itself. A more professional set up will likely have several aluminum cast molds, which are very nice and quick to work with.
But what surprises me the most is that for the price, those tracks are disastrous. Clear signs of FDM, which are the typical layer by layer printers you see. For that cost they should be using resin printers, which cures a bath of resin with a UV LED bed, curing it into the desired shape.
With my 3D modelling experience, thats an afternoon project recreating the basic tolerances of Lego and creating those tracks. Its a serious scam, the only thing they have going for them is a platform where they can sell it. Filament only costs about $20 per spool, selling them for that much is a great return on investment, but double that is staggering. Especially with how little material is going on with them.
@@pauldeddens5349 UV-cured SLA resin printers generally come with a smaller size limit than FDM, so you're going to hit issues printing parts as large as these rails. However, if you can find a big enough printer, I bet you could print each of these tracks in 30-45 minutes not counting the wash and cure, and in significantly higher quality than what was done here.
It makes sense that a company making Lego-compatible parts would avoid resin, though. Lego is ostensibly a children's toy and resin can be pretty toxic.
LEGO could improve a lot for their trains. Instead of making complete sets, they could do seperate carriages, so there can be more variation, or you can have multiples of some. With the cargo train this isn't a big problem, but for passenger trains you either have to buy another set or part out extra carriages.
You really made a point with this video.
They use to in the early 2000s with the Santa Fe and My Own Train......we were spoiled then and didnt even realize it.
It baffles me that they don't do more trains/sets like model railways do.
Somehow they don't like trains, so they only make mediocre ones and don't really offer a lot of options for rails and stuff. So when the sales of the stuff they have go down they can tell themselves its the customers not liking trains and cut the program even further.
Lego is not interested in trains any more. In my childhood, I had a 12V train system, which was gorgeous. If you want to know what Lego is doing today, just take a look at current City products, especially the new road system. Luckily, there are other suppliers that deliver great products where Lego just fails.
I went with TrixBrix track and it was a total life changer. Saved me a LOT of space and allowed me to configure my layout in a much better way. Lego track is soooo limiting.
That quality is fairly poor from my experience with other 3d printed companies. I have various parts from TrixBrix and the quality of their items is very good, I've only had one part that had a small misprint area of anti-stud preventing me to connect on to a base plate but a craft knife cleaned that up for me.
With the curved switch track I made my own by cutting and glueing Lego track and that works really well, ideal if you have surplus track.
My biggest issue with Lego train sysem are short "tram" points which causes unrealistic turns. With 3D printing you can make any lengh and shape of point.
This is where resin 3d printing would shine, being far smoother than the regular filament layering, and for the most part better consistency for each part.
Weird that they've chosen that style of 3D print for this, they'd have much higher print quality and faster print times if they weren't using Baby's First Filament instead of an SLS system.
I was thinking the exact same thing. However, the SLS investment might be too high for such a niché market.
I bought a lot from the European company "Trixbrix" and honestly had not nearly as much quality/QA issues. Their approach to switch levers is also a lot more compact and flexible in my opinion. They also have a huge catalogue.
I also have Trixbrix track and the quality does seem quite a bit better. I also added copper tape to the track allowing them to function with old 9V trains!
Only issue I've had is that their clutch power is slightly less then official LEGO track, on bare wood floor I have ocationally had an issue with their R72 and 488 curves disconnecting as a train passed over it, though adding a few 2x2 tiles to the connections prevents it from happening. This was also a very heavy custom 8-wide train running at max speed, one that still had some kinks to work out too, so it is possible something on the train broke first and caused it to derail, separating the track in the process.
Appreciate you doing these reviews on small producers. Before I can put out that sort of money I need to know I will receive a product that will have no issues.
I bought a lot of the switch motors and buttons from 4dbrix and it was well worth it. I can control all my points from a long distance away. Tom will happily help you with replacements even if like me you are in a country very far away. I think people who view the 3d printed tracks as a bit rough really dont appreciate how difficult and expensive it is to print at close to Lego tolerances.
In the old days Lego used to put on its boxes an illustration of how to eliminate tension in track configurations that use their splitter. Nowerdays they just have those terrible flex tracks and there's tension everywhere. My configurations never have tension and I bolt the tracks down to the base plates. To me, the most important track they don't make anymore is the crossover (one track at 90 degrees to another). This is The best track for train crashes, which is probably why they don't make it. Those complex junctions like the one you bought, I think it's actually fun to do the equivalent with Lego tracks - the only problem is it takes a lot of space!
Return them Alex… 100$ really not cheap for that type of plastic…thanks for that video by the way…
Tolerances of injection molded Lego are almost impossible to get as right with FDM printing. Even with extreme care you'll probably straddle along between a bit too much and too little clutch. And if those things are printed in PLA as are most 3D prints one gets on Etsy and co, one has to be fear creep, that means under long term force, the pieces will warp, which is problematic for something like lego where the connection is based on permanent clutch power. If 4D Bricks prints in other materials I stand corrected of course, however other materials are challenging because of warping when you print very flat like those tracks.
I was curious myself and tried printing just regular 2x4 bricks and it worked out, somewhat but compared to injection molded bricks, even Chinese ones quality was rather terrible for sure. Maybe I could do better nowadays ith more experience and with more optimisation but one simply can not reach the consistency and quality of injection molding. Bricks rely actually on surprisingly high precision and consistency.
I need a double switch and didn’t want to pay $100 plus so I’ll look into this!
1:11 when I think of lego, high prices, stickers unnecessary colors and quality issues (especially color quality) is what comes in my mind.
So please don't say we, use 'some people' or 'fanboys'. I bought sets where parts are missing, (when applied) crooked prints or red pieces with different colors -_-
So Lego and quality is a combination of my youth, nowadays it isn't.
Hmmn, had nothing but problems with the monorail track I bought. As for being "too tight" for the motor- not even the replacement track worked either. Just gave up on 3d track after that.
I guess individual results may vary? We shouldn't have such a wide range of functionality. I guess we are just too used to the high quality of bricks we get from LEGO.
Epic new tracks, very nice find!
Really wish I got in on the monorail stuff when I could. Keep checking back now and then to see if they're back in business.
I had not actually seen these up close - thanks for sharing both types of the switch tracks!
depends on how its printed and what kind of printer was used. Also material matters as well. Lego Bricks themselves are made out of ABS, which is a printable material for FDM printers. But you can use ASA, which is a UV resistant version of ABS and is a little stronger (do notice how Lego Bricks will discolor if left in the sun too long).
It does look like some of their parts are printed kind of weakly (orientation of the part) making it work against the layer lines. Also seems like they are using a large layer height (looked like .3) in order to print quickly, but this makes for fewer layers for strength.
Either way if anyone has a 3d printer you can freely print bricks, tracks ect as much as you like. Reason is LEGO doesn't have a Copywrite to the brick itself, but they DO have the copywrite to HOW those bricks go together (aka the sets).
Prices seemed a little high for each part, it doesn't take a lot of material to make each of those parts and even the time it would take wouldn't be very long either.
Look into a company called FX Brick, they make 9v rail and other parts for the trains that basically make it into a full fledged Train Scale. They were working on getting a brick or a powered truck that would work with NMRA DCC systems like Digitrax or NCE.
I bought some straight Monorail pieces off these guys about 3/4 years ago. They've been great. No complaints.
This reminds me of those scenes from the Addams Family T.V. show where Gomez is playing with his trains where he set up his trains to collide with each other before blowing them up.
Fantastic to see you using custom track at last! It’s amazing how it makes such a difference to models and layouts. I’m assuming you won’t be using wide radius curves and points due to layout maximisation over extreme realism? The wide radius curves undoubtedly eat a lot of space.
I’m a regular on the Eurobricks Forums Train Tech and speak to some of the custom track gods fairly often. There’s been a lot of discussion on the topic over the years and numerous companies - 4D Brix, ME Models, Fx Bricks, Bricktracks, Trixbrix…. But there we go. LEGO seems unwilling to put any money into the train hobby other than through the 4 year cycle and the occasional other, meaning countless third party parts are available - probably more than in almost any other part of the entire LEGO hobby.
Honestly, you should think about just pulling the trigger and getting a resin printer. There are a number of reasonably priced, large format printers that could print these *INCREDIBLY* fast with horizontal resolutions down to 0.05mm and beyond. (Because they print the entire plate at once, per layer, something flat like rails wouldn't take long at all.)
...and if you don't mind paying more than three times as much, the Phrozen Sonic Mega 8k has a build plate thats 330mm x 185mm and a horizontal accuracy of 0.043mm! Heck, with THAT sitting in your shop, YOU could do printing for 4D bricks and easily pay off your printer.
Might not hurt to take a little sandpaper to the rough edges
You can sand the plastic so the tracks are smoother and action is quieter.
3d printed stuff just looks so cheap compared to the actual injection molded track. And the pricing is pretty high too.
I do agree: I wish Lego would offer the track separate with more options. I think they are leaving a lot of cash on the table. I understand why they don't want to since people buy the sets. They could always make it a big purchase item. Need a minimum amount of track for a custom track order. Plenty of people wouldn't care about a $200+ order if it has all their desired track.
Moreover, I believe the sellers of 3D-printed parts take open-sourced 3D models, print them and charge 100x the printing cost.
@@osmanpasha_diy They absolutely do.
As a 3D modeller, I see that junk _everywhere._ They have a printer, and they have a easy route to the post office, they are going to run with it.
I want to sell 3D prints, but I would only sell my own original models, it just feels scummy to use other peoples work for commercial gain.
And the pricing is terrible. A spool of filament costs anywhere from 10-40 dollars, typically 20 for decent plastic. And a spool lasts dozens of prints. You could theoretically print that large X track about 10 times before running out, charging 40 for each is awful. Do that math, 20 buck filament, 10 prints, roughly 2 dollars per print. Shipping (assuming its free) is usually 10-15 dollars at the most. Leaving a profit margin of a staggering 25-30 dollars per track.
The real value is in TrixBrix and BrickTracks injection mould track. Those hold together as well as normal lego track. Trixbrix’s 3D printed stuff works fine but it has trouble holding together, if you ballast your tracks you’ll be fine.
I only had issues with Trixbrix when I set it up on hardwood floor and was running a very heavy 8-wide train over it at max speed. Just added some tiles to the top of the connections was enough to fix it. Still not 100% sure if it was the track either, could have been my custom train loosing a part, then running it over and pulling the track apart in the process of derailing.
One the amzing uses for 3d priting
I still have my Lego cargo train set and passenger station my parents got me in 1988 for Christmas. I'm gonna have to start buying lego trains now. :)
The rough area is a Feature for Rubber traction tires to grip the rails
I wish lego would have a train system like what the 12V trains were, and having multiple options for creating train layouts
Another option would be the switch crossing made by BlueBrixx in Germany. They did develop their own mould for a switch crossing coming in two pieces snapping together with a distance between the inside studs of 8 apart so you can seemlessly integrate it with your existing switches before and after the crossing. Other than regular straights and curves they also offer flex tracks and two larger curve radius for very reasonable prices if you are a train enthusiast looking to change up your layout some. When outside the EU shipping is a bit costly though but in the EU its just about 10 Euros no matter your basket size.
I printed from 4dBrix. Is very nice they let you download the STLs for free, but as in the video, the switch mechanism breaks very easy due to the poor design. I printed in PLA, maybe PETG would be better. The issue is that they mimic an arc using some thin printed parts which break extremely easily. You need to see the model and you will understand immediately. I will try with PETG and if is still failing, I will try to make the parts thicker.
I didn't even know they were 3D printed. I just assumed they were moulded.
I guess it's better than nothing, but yeah, I really wish Lego made more tracks again.
I know there probably aren't a ton of people who have the room for anything larger than an oval, so it probably wouldn't pay off to mass-produce a ton of very specific track parts... But I don't know why they couldn't add unique tracks to something like the pick a brick service. They wouldn't have to spend a ton on marketing or packaging, it could just be a niche product for the hobbyists.
Alex, for your LEGO 9V trains, you can try the FX tracks from FX Bricks, the quality is equal to the ones LEGO produced in the past.
Thanks, I'll go with them next time.
If you would like to replace those flexible track pieces with injection molded parts, there's a company called "brick tracks", they make an assortment set with 1/2 long, 1/4 long and some 1.6 stud long straight pieces of track (unless your using different size curves, those 1.6 stud long pieces don't really have a use)
Couldn't helps but notice at the start of the video. Yes there rough but a little bit of sanding with a small bit of sanding paper can fix that issue fairly easily
There are a company that do injection molding, have switches and other radius of curves.
I got a similar part from trix brix for the double crossing, and it is more expensive, but it works great. The switching mechanism is also inside the tracks, so it is easier to use in your layout.
As expected, Lego cannot be replaced with 3D-printing on consumer equipment in terms of quality. Even chineese Lego clones with access to industrial injection molding machines have not been able to get to the same level of quality for many, many years.
Lego just has very high precision parts. And brick shaping techniques that arent obvious why they are there until you learn the engineering the bricks have. Like how the studs (pips) are slightly squared to give better clutch power.
One day consumer 3D-printing will reach that level, its inevitable. But I see that being decades off, current 3D printing is fine with its cruder tolerances. Finer 3D printers will be reserved for prototyping and artists, they arent consistent enough to get to Lego quality with every brick.
As far as I am aware there is actually some competition to LEGO that's able to produce bricks in similar quality.
Depends on the clone. Which not necessarily comes from China. FX Track is even better than Lego.
@@Nikioko Because FX isnt exactly a clone. Its trying to reach a market that _doesnt_ exist, not piggyback off of the giant Lego hoping to swoop up unwitting or cheap customers. Its selling parts complementary to Lego and its sets. Parts that do not exist, or are no longer produced. While clones are only trying to get the same market as Lego, producing copies of the sets they produce, or double knockoffs using IPs Lego doesnt have access to.
@@pauldeddens5349 If you make that distinction, yes. There are several brands of alternative bricks that serve niches which Lego doesn‘t cover. Like Cobi with their ship models. Or BlueBrixx with trains and the Star Trek franchise.
Depending on what plastic is used you could probably clean up the print edges with appropriate solvent (just a tiny bit on a cloth and rub it so it smooths it out, just make sure none is left afterwards or it could start to eat into the plastic), and fix the loose bits by applying a couple of tiny drops of glue (again, look for appropriate glue for the plastic used) to make the tolerances tighter.
The problem with (most) 3d printers is that at the size these pieces are, they lose in accuracy, so you end up with loose tolerances. However this is a process that's bound to improve so personally I'm just waiting a bunch more years before either buying a 3d printer or buying 3d printed parts online, as the quality is just not even comparable to even 3rd party ABS injected mold parts.
Tricks bricks generally have a lot better quality
The are named trixbrix ;) but yes, they are awesome. Love the double turn switch and the triple switch in our city
Have you considered cutting lego track/switches and gluing it back together? or buying from someone that does that?
I can understand wanting to go for 3rd party track for bulking up for a lower price, but those switch tracks were individually more then I spent for a lego official junction expansion set and the quality is terrible for the price. There has to be a better option then that
man i built my own 3d rpinter in 2012, and even that thing has better print quality than what you got, i wish they had the files available i'd make em my damn self
I wonder if a large resin printer would do a better job instead of filament? I know they do great work with miniatures
I hope they send replacements. Great mini update on your tracks anyway 🙂👍
You seem like the absolute perfect candidate for your own 3D printer! The quality you showed is below standard for even a couple hundred dollar printer. A Creality Cr10s pro v2 for $500 would allow you to build 300mmx300mmx400mm(11.8x11. 8x15.) I’d say you could print out that double crossing in two pieces in around 6 hrs and have maybe $3 or $4 in filament and electricity. For a little more a new Bambu Labs X1 Carbon ($1,000ish) could print the same print in 1.5 hours.
Thanks Alex, Very Cool City!
I 3d print tracks all the time and works well. even the switch levers which can also be customized. haven't made the shuttle track as i don't have a shuttle. but I only make them for myself and really don't mind, and yes clutch can be an issue, but glue helps that. as for joining them to reg LEGO track it works great. plus you can print custom radius turns as well. the copper foil tape is what i use as well. LEGO needs to come out with another shuttle IMO. oh yeah coaster track works well that is 3d printed as well. i tried it.
FX Track could be an other alternative, espacialy for 9V sections.
FX Track IS an alternative.
I had the similar issue with switch tracks from PHYNEDI, so I did a little work on them and they work well now.
Tbh, from your video it looks like 4DBricks is quite behind on quality compared to TrixBrix. I wasn't aware of that. (I haven't tried 4DBrick myself, though.)
Regarding the copper foil, you did this with LEGO RC track in the past, too, right? Why did you move away from it? Were there reliability or durability issues?
As I type this, one of the components for the crossover is printing in my garage and will cost me about a dollar in filament cost
With the growing number of folks building massive LEGO cities and incorporating train tracks, LEGO is really missing a golden opportunity to make money off of larger portfolio of train track parts.
I don't understand Lego with this, it seems they are content to simply recycle their "passenger train" set every few years with slightly different looks. But they could probably find a larger than niche market for some "Trainz" line that maybe runs like Speed Champions, having a yearly set that consists of a locomotive, some cars, buildings, and of course the track to make it all go where they could rake in the money.
@@Mike__B Yeah I hope they will make more real trains like what they did with horizon express, BNSF, etc
It is pretty hard to get a completely flat surface with 3D printing but they still should have used a lower diameter nozzle for better quality
no its not, just use ironing
I use trick brick for my track. Better than the Lego track and better grip for the train wheels
Ohh, esp when I buy something THAT IS LEGO, the question of quality comes to my mind...
Great video, very neat solutions!
Tja, LEGO is targetting on the sets/items with the highest market potentional, those tracks are nice, but only for a limited audience. It's also just business, I can't blame them.
I would've bought from trixbrix if i were you, mostly because it is plastic injection moulded (like real lego) however not all elements that they make are injection moulded.
Why not resin printed? Not plastic but its incredibly precise and smoother.
Those prints are pretty rough for something that costs this much, at least do some cleaning up of the parts before you ship them. Honestly if I were to provide a service like this, I'd go the 9v route no matter what the base material is, just to ensure quality of the rail itself and compatibility, plus metal rails are generally nicer in the first place. I'd also go with MSLA over FDM, again for quality, plus a tub of resin would probably have a higher yield for these kinds of parts, not to mention a higher scale of manufacturing per process. The margins are there to look at better options, especially as business scales, but the problem is that business won't scale if your parts aren't quality for the price you're asking. All things considering, these parts feel like they came out of someone's garage where they're still using a MakerBot from a decade ago, FDM has progressed enough to have decent parts on modern machines, but MSLA is also affordable enough to replace an FDM print farm.
that X crossover, doesn't look like a complicated mechanism, wish you had explained what it looked like wasn't working. Was the stick on the knob not engaging the drawbar? Was the drawbar moving back and forth but not attached to the points? Is it something you could fix with a bit of plastic and superglue? Granted for a $50 part they should make it work and replace it for you. Clearly this is not a hobby to do on the cheap.
Always thought these were good but so pricey. Ah the copper tape. That old how to video May be how a found your channel. And I’m still here bud
Have you checked if there’s a public use 3d printer at your local library or generally in your local area? If you can get the right files, that may be the cheapest way to achieve the best results :)
hi the cost of making the tooling is just to high for lego a 3rd party is better in the long run you know the new 9 v track that's out in the eu
it's far better than any thing lego could make do some looking into ship to the usa would cost money
grab some fine sandpaper and fix those rails. Kinda sad that they don't finish the products properly themselves though. It literally looks straight out of the 3D printer.
Can you print it on to your own printer?
Can I also buy them from Europ?
I'm not familiar with the old school conductive metal rail, but how smooth does the old train motor roll? Can they coast a short distance on momentum alone?
Extremely smooth. The trains will roll for quite some distance on their own.
@@alexnunes Will that let the train roll back onto the conductive tracks to continue, negating the need to put coper tape on the printed tracks?
Trix Brix 4D printing and quality is a lot better
I thought lego Retired/ recalled the double switch back in the day because some design flaw messed with the switches
The only design flaw I knew of with it is that both tracks shared a common track switch, so you couldn't throw your switches independently. Throwing one would throw the other.
@@Pyth110 that makes more sense yeah
3D has never been intended for mass production. It has always been designed to make one offs that could then be mass produced. The fact that so many companies these days are using 3D printers to produce products is crazy stupid.
No it is not. 3D printing is not just for one offs, it is also for very small series too. The market of those tracks is modest, even if there is a sizeable community having Lego railways. I mean, Prusa is printing for more than just small series and does so at a profit. One does have to know and live with the limitations of the FDM technology however.
Hello I am a big fan
I say if lego will never bring back the airport shuttle atleast give us more train track in a different variety in the city line and quit giving us a space sub theme every 2 years. I know we get trains every 3 years but space sets every 2 is a lot when there is no way to use them in a city if you have the 2010 or 11 ones or even classic space from the 80s and 90s. If I had just enough pieces in dark red to do one of my current mocs correctly then I would I think have enough room todohome alone next to my train yard in my city. Though small I like it.
I wonder how this 3d printed track compares to the "knock off" (is it even considered that anymore?) track you can get on places like Aliexpress.
To me that seems like a larger risk. At least with what I would call reputable sites you can get some form of customer service. Not always, but still.
@@alexnunes True, but I think the "cheapy" ones are at least injected molded and not 3d printed (e.g. the lined look), not even sure if it'd be a comparable priced (or cheaper) product. All I know is the way Lego has handled the train track side of things is abysmal
Unfortunately the price is too high in Asia because there’s no warehouse and distribution
That sucks! Sorry
Very rough prints I'd say, also on the doublecross the center sqaure bit of track seems like the gaps are too wide. Causing the wheels to 'clunk'.
why 3d printed? and not injection moulded?
Sould be printed on an SLS printer.
Have you use the company trixbrix
No, I need to check them out. Others have recommended them since I uploaded this video. Thanks!
Worth what risk?
Use copper tape
Lego made a cross rail track like this back in 2007 didnt they?
Yup, they sure did.
Looks like they need to tune their printers better. 3D printing and especially home 3D printing is not a mature technology, it takes a lot to get them consistent.
Wouldn't it be cheaper to get your own printer
as someone who designs Lego compatible track I wasn't overly impressed with 4D bricks. The QC wasn't verry good, parts didn't fit together properly, the material choice is poor (too brittle not enough flex) and the 3D models on their site don't fit with what there print partners sell.
1:14 not that true. Think about the different colours in one colour or the amount of stickers or the colours that do not match the overall set like blue pins or pink bricks inside you see from the outside. Just think about the Star Destroyer behind you
if you dont want 3D printed tracks, with a little effort and little tools you can make it yourself from original tracks
Doesn't FX Bricks make 9v switch tracks?
Not yet, and not R40. Brickworld Chicago the switch tracks were shown, but they are R104 rather than R40 like the ones Alex has got, which fit the standard curves. Fx Bricks is going for maximum realism, for which the wider radius curves are on demand, so they are producing R56, R72, R88, R104, R120, R136, R152, S8, S16, S32, and the R104 switch tracks. For many this is of interest, but unfortunately this doesn’t suit this kind of city - it’s better for the exhibition/show displays.
Why should you 3D print your tracks if you can get good quality and large variety tracks from FX Track? You should stop focussing on the market leader and take a look at what other companies have to offer.
For the price of 40$/piece, I would have expected it to be printed in resin at the very least.
The german company BlueBrixx develop something simular for €30. It is called "Double switch". It is not available yet.
Get a better printer. You should use uv resin for smooth tight tolerances. These printers are the cheapest and easiest to use.
Oof that print quality is ROUGH. Especially for that price. That has so much clear overextrusion on it wtf are they even doing. No way someone QC'd that.
I always wondered how the quality of these custom made ones are. Was thinking of getting one but then I very much lucked out recently finding one of the Lego made double crosses online in a lot. Ended up getting it for an insanely good price.
Big issue with the official LEGO one is it doesn't allow for both tracks to go straight.
the quality of print settings they use is trash, only speed and such profit optimized...
It's not 9 volt that's sad 😔
I made my own 9 volt switch track
Do you have ninjago sets
Yes, but just the larger modulars and Destiny's Bounty