building a slot track setup for newbie

Thanks Peter
I know I'm gonna go with the power supply at first I'm gonna go with kinda a cheap-o so its adjustable. I have to have one for my cars and so it can be turned to a specific volt and amp for my daughter to test hers at school. I'm gonna get a used one from a friend of mine that has a old one in his tattoo parlor would it be very hard to route one into a 2x12 and cover it with some kind of epoxy.

You've got the right idea. I've got the Slot Dragon timing system,Tomy Tri Power power packs and the standard A/W power packs. One of each for each lane. It doesn't have to be fancy to have fun.

Fence , guide ........ both would be better. Do you have access to table saw ? A lot goes into building track. Have you thought about or decided to use rail, tape, braid or something else for powering cars ?

....... Peter

Rebar wire that I have seen is unshielded, solid core, and generally made of steel
,(not a good conductor), which would be very a poor choice in my opinion.
The best wire for our purposes is stranded, and stranded audio wire is a good choice.
I don't know how fast you are intending to go but I used #10 stranded audio
wire connected to the start middle and end of my track. This along with 2
10 amp power supplies allowed us to hit speeds in excess of 50 mph on our track
at only 20 volts in the recent Outlaw race.
One big disadvantage of copper braid is that the magnets that most HO cars use
have no effect. I understand that the cost of the braid is high but I never
checked that out. I think there is steel braid available which would solve
the magnet problem but it might also be susceptible to pulling up when strong
magnets are applied, especially when you go to pick a car up.
My Maxtrax track is 8.5" wide with the guide slot center to center being 3.5".

Yes that is the distance from the center of one guide slot to the other.
Slot size is 1/16th of an inch or .061 thousandths.
The rails on the Maxtrak track measure only .020 thousandths which would be to narrow for
any braid. I have some 2mm copper braid that measures .075 thousandths which looks like
it would be ideal for a track.
From the center of the rail to the center of the guide measures .284 thousandths.
If you look at some of the tracks many of the guys on this site race on they use two
AW tracks side by side to give some racing room. It would surely be easier than routing
your own and the cost would be very low especially if you look on E bay where there is
a lot of used track for sale at low cost.

Thanks guys I'm gonna send a piece if mdf to the school and let them have a go at it if it works out then I will have about $40 in the track its self without paint rails or power. But if they mess up I could of thought of worse ways to blow the money lol then again $40 worth of beer sounds pretty good too.