Pinewood Derby
 

This sucker gonna kick some cub scout butt :soon:


Come out pretty good. Got a few fisheyes not sure why.

There's 5 large belly weights in the tail and the smoke stacks are custom adjusted for balance. micropolished axles on my lathe and 3 wheels exactly the same diameter one small :hee:

can I borrow that when your done? Next month, I will have to demonstrate to my son that his Dad cant nail to pieces of wood together never mind construct a decent pinewood derby car. My super hero image will be shattered.

if you get stuck drop me a PM....I can give you a few pointers along the way

Just remember....Pinewood derby secrets are like Spots

Yup,they have all been posted on the internet.

make sure it tracks straight... looks great

Did you cup the wheel-axle hole?

you can give me all the secrets in the world....I cant put together a snap together model with 10 pieces without 5 hours of swearing and having it look like crap.
What the lord gave me in brains, good looks, wit and charm, he took away from me in craft abilities,,,,,,, and hair too.

Something tells me he shorted you on a few Self-Assesment tools too..:hee:

didja camber the wheels? :rtfm:

illegal I believe by bsa rules. Got to show the little nubbies on side of tires... I seen a kid get disqualified for that before.

Wow, how rules have changed.

Was pretty much a free for all back in the day.
Mostly my dad, and I trashed Anawan way back when.

Still got the car somewhere in MA.
Turned the wheels and axles at TI in their big machine shop. :rotf2:

Have they gotten better with their scales? Used to be half a@@ed.

No Such Thing as BSA Rules.....the rules are dictated by the Unit/District/Council running the event.

Always read the rules that are for your particular race.

Yeh, holler if you want some tips. Dangles and TDF gave me the most important tips: alignment, alignment, alignment - friction, friction, friction

:rotf2:

Don't cup, used to cone axle hubs. Fortunately, kits starting last year have improved wheels that come pre-coned, and are a lot more competitive out of the box. The difference between the worst kid's car in the pack and the best, has gotten a lot closer - and I think that is good for the kids.

My son will do everything this year except for power tools (excepting the sander). Last night he drew out the shape on a template so this years car will be a bike, sort of, Tron

template: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...D_Template.pdf



RIJIMMY - this is a great project for you to do with your kid. I recommend you start early on it so you don't rush at the end. Also make it a bit of a science project with your kid. Not only what to do but why.

Key topics:

Friction
Alignment
Weight
and most of all FUN

im jusy hoping mine rolls!
I have mine that my dad and I built years ago, it was heavily weighted in the front and shaped like a whale, came in first place.
what do you use to shape the wood, table saw? File? I have no clue, Im really not exaggerating that I cant build anything.

I use a small Band Saw. But you can easily use a small coping saw. In fact, many BSA folks want the kids using the hand tools when older to do the cutting.

A dremmel is your friend.

Obviously don't let your kid handle lead.

PM me your email address ;)

And read this thread: http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...ood-derby.html

Well it was consistent if nothing else.

A consistent loser.


Care was 20 mph average slower than all the others. Not sure why. Thought I had it pretty dialed in.

We raced Thomas's old cars in the "other" category and he won all the races with his "purple death" car, mine was "lookout here I come" and it came in second overall so at least two cars were still confirmed winners.

LOL we threw them in when we got there, didn't even graphite the wheels or anything just ran them straight out of the bag.

They had a chili contest there and I ate 7 kinds of chili. It's gonna be a rough night for the wife :hee:

Honey, the dog farted again...

Looks like I was a little better than I thought.
the race was Saturday. My son's car finished first for the tiger scouts and 5th overall. I think he would have done better overall but he raced it 100 times goofing around before the finals and I think something loosened or wore down. Out of 8 official races, he came in first 7 and third in 1 race. It was fun and he won an award for best muscle car. Thanks to all that sent along the tips. Overall all great day and I have a little more confidence in my design skills.

Congrats... I know exactly what you mean about having the car bumped around and having it slow down ... one of the kids I helped several yrs ago had the fastest car until the final race... some kid bumped a wheel just before the race and it was never as fast after that bump

Standard NASCAR trick!:rotf2:

Good to see you all did top notch work :btu: - one excited Scout (and dad)!



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