OT - Is Anyone Building a Pinewood Derby Car?

Fred19Flintstone

This is a typical event for Cubscouts, but the AWANA club does them as well.  My daughter's are both entering cars.  They finally picked designs and I'm cutting them out on the bandsaw tomorrow.  They sand and finish their cars and then I install the wheels.  My 8 year old took 4th place out of 17 cars last year in her division.  This is the first year my college age daughter is entering.  Her and I will be competing against each other in the Leaders Division.  I took home 3rd place last year, but my 8 year old be me in an informal family race.  I'll post some pics of our cars from time to time starting tomorrow after I cut them.  My car is going to be untraditional, but it's kind of a hot mess right now.

Is anyone else building one of these?  I would love to see it.

NPHuskerFL

Still have several of mine from Circa late 70s. 

lousubcap

Haven't done it for years but the graphite on the wheels/axles will pay dividends.  
Did use that trick to win a bet with the local Cub Scout Master.  He was really talking up his design and car.  I offered that I would bring the box kit, assemble it right there and we would race, "Loser wears a dress to the next meeting."
Race on-no dress here.  That was around 20 years ago-dresses may be off-limits now  

NPHuskerFL

@lousubcap 20 years ago Boy Scouts were boys only. 

JRWhitee

I built plenty but those days are over.

nolaegghead

Paint your car with a strong dessicant.  Dry it and keep it in a plastic bag.  Take out to weigh.  It will start gaining weight through moisture.  Weight = victory.

YukonRon

Have not had to in a very long time.

YukonRon

Is it still legal to file the tire edges, and lift a wheel? Reduction of friction wins more along with strategic weight placement. Like @lousubcap said "graphite" wins.

Fred19Flintstone

I polish the axles in a series of grits going up to about 1500 grit.  I'm going to the auto parts store for more sandpaper today and will get the highest grit I can get.  The wheels can't be shaved or deformed from stock, but they can be smoothed.  I polish the hubs using pipe cleaners and whitening toothpaste.  Edit: Graphite is used liberally.  Our only rule is don't make a mess on the track and clean up your pit area.

Moisture does equal weight, but that's not a factor this time of year in Michigan.  We router out a pocket just in front of the rear axle for weights to get epoxied  in place.

Lifting one wheel creating a "rail rider" is legal and a good strategy.

Oh, the AWANA club is through church and has no connection to the Boy Scouts.

Legume

Haven't done this since my kids were in YMCA Indian Guides.  I had a friend at the time that was a dentist.  He was incredible with my dremel, made some great looking cars.

Fred19Flintstone

Legume said:

Haven't done this since my kids were in YMCA Indian Guides.  I had a friend at the time that was a dentist.  He was incredible with my dremel, made some great looking cars.

I was not in Scouts.  My Dad, brother & me were in the Indian Guides. I like to refer to them as the politically incorrect Indian Guides.  Had a great time!   My Dad's favorite story about it was me & my brother were given 3 matches to start a campfire in winter.  We failed and my Dad "froze to death."

Fred19Flintstone

Epilogue:  I came in first for speed in the leader division.  My 3rd grader was eliminated in the first heat.  My eldest daughter picked up 3rd place for design.  I don't have hers pictured on my phone.

Brisket_Fanatic

My little Wolf cub scout did one a few weeks ago. I cut the car out to his design and then made him do the rest with guidance. I used my 6000 grit belt on my Wok Sharp knife sharpener to polish the axles and got in to weigh exactly the maximum of 5 oz. He did a good shop of painting and assembling and came in 3rd for his pack. Boys have a lot of fun and some of the open class leader cars are rather creative.

GregW

JRWhitee said:

I built plenty but those days are over.

Fred19Flintstone

Both of my daughter's pointed to a design they wanted and I cut it out.  I polished all the axles & hubs.  They sanded their cars and painted them.  I was rushed for time so I brought the cars to our Pinewood Derby workshop.  One of our guys has a jig for routing out a weight pocket.  Because I changed the wheelbase on all our cars at home, they didn't fit his jig so we put the weight on top with epoxy.  It looked like crap, but it worked.

Spaightlabs

It's great that you can build your kid's cars for them...

WeberWho

Spaightlabs said:

It's great that you can build your kid's cars for them...

8 year olds using jigsaws might get a little sketchy. Maybe it's just me.

northGAcock

Oh the memories. I even had to build sail boats in the same vain of competition. They were good time though. Enjoy them while they last.

Fred19Flintstone

northGAcock said:

Oh the memories. I even had to build sail boats in the same vain of competition. They were good time though. Enjoy them while they last.

Rain Gutter Regata?  I'm working on doing that in the fall.

Color_My_World_Green

I am a big fan of the Regata. What great fun.

Fred19Flintstone

WeberWho said:

Spaightlabs said:

It's great that you can build your kid's cars for them...

8 year olds using jigsaws might get a little sketchy. Maybe it's just me.

I used a band saw.  Still a sketchy situation.

SemolinaPilchard

This stuff works much better in locks than graphite. I wonder if it would work better on derby cars.
http://www.performancelubricantsusa.com/product/easy-entry-lock-lubricant.php

kl8ton

I took 1st in speed when I was in 4th grade.  
Then 1st at regionals
Then 1st at state. 
It was a good year. 

Now for my kids I design them in Siemens NX, then have them cnc cut. They don't learn much that way but the cars look cool.  

Fred19Flintstone

SemolinaPilchard said:

This stuff works much better in locks than graphite. I wonder if it would work better on derby cars.
http://www.performancelubricantsusa.com/product/easy-entry-lock-lubricant.php

According to the ad, it's a "semi-dry" lubricant.  That makes it unacceptable for our use.  The Cub Scouts may allow it, but AWANA will not. 

Botch

This thread made me smile.
It may have been a half-century (!) ago that I made mine; Dad sawed the body to come to a point at both the front and back, and I whittled (it was called "whittling" in those days) the corners round, then sanded, sanded, sanded until she was smooth.  I laid out a Nat'l Geographic for a guide, and painted her up like a Zebra, came out pretty good!  I didn't win for speed, but I came in first in the Looks contest (or whatever it was called).   
I remember a Soap Box Derby champ being disqualified because he had an electromagnet in the nose of his car; iirc the pinewood gates also had wire in them, a small neodymium magnet in the nose would give a decided advantage; wonder if that's ever happened... 

Fred19Flintstone

I drive by an unused, neglected & deteriorated Soap Box Derby hill/track everyday.  I figure the Soap Box Derby is a thing of the past (at least here) either because of dwindling numbers/interest or perhaps mommy won't let little Johnny ride a Soap Box Derby car because the car is without airbags.

DuckDogDr

Ha nope .. I still have mine somewhere put up. Didn't even come close in my group.

now days it's on to building real cars until I have a kid of my own

pgprescott

nolaegghead said:

Paint your car with a strong dessicant.  Dry it and keep it in a plastic bag.  Take out to weigh.  It will start gaining weight through moisture.  Weight = victory.

nothing like an accomplished cheater! I love it though.