Pinewood Derby

[Mtnman1830]

My son is in cub scouts and it is time for "The Derby". I think I was more excited than he was - He didn't even know what was in the box they gave him.

When we started, we got some of his hotwheels for some ideas...



Then made a stencil and transfered it to the block of wood



We went to use Grandpa's shop, and three generations worked on the car for a while. Kory wanted Grandpa to cut it out and him and I the sanders.




When we got home, I brought out my rotary tool. I let him have at it, showing him where he was supposed to carve away some wood, where it needed sanding, ect.,


After he went to bed, i fixed some 'oops' and "oh'ohs". The next day was paint day.

Primer on and Stenciled


Black Paint + White shirt = bad idea. He didn't get too messy.


Nearly Finished


Now I just have little things to do: get it up to weight, polish axels, true the wheels... He is excited to race it, and well, so am I.

[DiscGo]

Wow. That is cool!




[Hijack] You guys know what we should do? We should have a Bogley.com Pinewood derby. Adults against adults. I think that would be fun!

[Mtnman1830]

[Hijack] You guys know what we should do? We should have a Bogley.com Pinewood derby. Adults against adults. I think that would be fun!

I'd be in.

[DirkHammergate]

[Hijack] You guys know what we should do? We should have a Bogley.com Pinewood derby. Adults against adults. I think that would be fun!

I'd be in.

I'll kick all your asses!

[DiscGo]

I'll kick all your asses!

Whatever. I know 2 great designs. Your best bet hammergate is some sort of congeniality prize, cause I'd take speed and design.

[denaliguide]

pinewood derby is easy. wait til he asks for help with calculus. good luck to the lad.

[accadacca]

Nice looking car, what a great Dad.

[Iceaxe]

I've never been beat in a pinewood derby. Champion 3 years straight.

Bring it on!!!!!



Hey... and something else I noticed the other day. You can buy guaranteed fast derby cars on eBay. Here is one for $400....

http://cgi.ebay.com/SUPER-FAST-PINEW...QQcmdZViewItem

.

[Jaxx]

I've never been beat in a pinewood derby. Champion 3 years straight.

you mean your child hasn't been beat? Or do you race them against kids

That is an awesome design, how do you true the wheels?

[Iceaxe]

you mean your child hasn't been beat?

When I was a kid....

I know it's hard to believe, but I was once a little kid. Of course I had help from some of the finest motocycle racing engineers in the world.... It's all in the axles and wheels baby.

[Jaxx]

HAHA. I didn't even think about you talking past tense. Having engineers does help. I won one year, it was awesome.

[Scott Card]

Bahhhh. What is with the power tools and Rotozips and engineering???? Engineering??? You got to be kidding! In the old days ya just got out your dull swiss army knife and carved away until you needed a bandage. Then you got out the hammer and just pounded the nails through the center hole of the plastic tire into the slot on the bottom. Next, you got out the graphite and used liberally. And now the most important part, you got your mom's Weight Watcher's scales and weighed it. If it was too heavy, carve away. If it was too light, grab the lead fishing sinkers and pound them into the car. Paint and race. Then screw an eye hook into the front of the car and drag it behind your bike till it was a stick. I wonder why I never won.....

[Iceaxe]

Heck, my dad wouldn't let me out the door unless my car was sporting a minimum of 5 coats of hand rubbed lacquer. One big trick we always used was we would bring the cars to the meet a little overweight. The scales used back in the day were old mail scales and not always real accurate, about half the time whomever was running the meet would just say close enough. We would also bring a drill and drill our car down to weight if they ever said anything.

First rule of racing..... if your not cheating, your not trying.

[DiscGo]

My son is in cub scouts and it is time for "The Derby". I think I was more excited than he was - He didn't even know what was in the box they gave him.

Hey I am sorry about hijacking this thing. I just love the pinewood derby. I really am impressed with your car, and I love seeing what great parents people often are on this site.

[Iceaxe]

Oh yeah.... almost forgot.... that is a good looking design.... when I was in scouts they also had a car show (beauty contest) and gave awards for best looking. Do they still do that?

[DiscGo]

I think what really makes this car is the rims around the back tires.

My car when I was a kid wasn't that good, but my Dad painted it to look neat. That "Best looking" award is the only reason anyone would ever notice mine.

[Mtnman1830]

I think what really makes this car is the rims around the back tires.

Thanks. I saw them at the Boy Scout Office. A sheet of plastic with all sorts of extras were on it. Too bad I came across it after I had cut the car out, or I could have put front fenders on and made them fit a bit better.

[Rented mule]

In our old scout troop, the dad's shanghai'd the cars and took them over completely. So, the poor cubbies never got to even work on them. So, the pack decided to have a "DAD" derby. The kid derby was strict rules that the kid had to do the work all my himself. You could instruct, show, teach, but the kid had to carve and do the ACTUAL WORK all by himself.
It turned out great!

[sparker1]

I gave my sons very little help, mostly advice. They did pretty well. One year my oldest son had a really fast car, winning several prelim heats. The in the finals, a kid won it it with the most radical design his engineer dad could dream up and work out with his fancy equipment that no one else had. It was not only exactly the right weight, but the weight was optimally placed for maximum speed. i don't even know how he lubricated the axles. I'm guessing his kid never touched it except to place it on the track that night and holding it for the photo of the winner. I hated that kid's father.

[waltny]

We had a pinewood derby for the youth group at my church and even had a group for us adults. My girls took 2nd in each of their groups and I took 3rd in the adults. The rules on ours was more strict than the scouts. No trimming of the wheels, have to use kit wheels and axles, only use dry graphite "lubercant". We had a "kicker" track, one that slopes down and has a long runway. We all ran about 2.40 on the average.