Post #197,914
3/10/05 9:21:44 AM
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Anyone here a pinewood derby expert?
My little cub scout is making his first pinewood derby car. They gave him a block of wood, 4 nails and 4 wheels. Somehow we are supposed to make a car out of this?!? Help!! Am I supposed to whittle out the body, use a chain saw or what?
It's like, "How much more black could this be?", and the answer is none. None more black.
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Post #197,918
3/10/05 10:04:19 AM
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I took mine to a lumber yard
I drew the outline I wanted on the side and they cut it out (make sure you tell them you want the stuff INSIDE the line, though... I wasted one block of wood on an idiot.
Remember that for lighter cars, profile counts. I'm not sure if they can still do this, but I hollowed out part of the top and melted lead sinkers to reach the maximum weight, then put wood putty over the hole to restore the shape. I suspect that a lighter car would do better anyway, since friction is a product of force.
After that it's sandpaper, bay-bee.
One final tip: put the nails for the wheels point-first into a drill, then wrap the nail just under the head with fine sandpaper or emory cloth and run the drill. This will wear away any burrs on the nail that will slow the car down.
I still have my car somewhere. :-)
Regards,
-scott anderson
"Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson..."
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Post #197,920
3/10/05 10:14:20 AM
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been there, done that...
The block of wood is supposed to be shaped ito something resembling a streamlined, Indy-type car. I don't know how this block of wood looks these days, but 45 years ago (!) it was an extruded square with a cutout where the "driver" would go (think 60's vintage Bugati).
What we did was get a coping saw, and cut the block down to a desireavle shape, then either whittle or (better) wood rasp down the corners to something rounded, sand off the rough edges, paint, and atach the wheels. Voila! A Pinewood Derby racer.
Now for the details. There is a maximum weight that the racre can have. Get the weight as close to the max as possible. (My dad and I stuck a plug of lead into the cockpit until the weight was as close to the max as possible.) The wheels are nailed into a slot on struts tht come out of the main block of wood. Don't drive those nails too deeply into the struts or they will bind. spend some time spinning the wheels to "polish" the places on the nail where the bearing surfaces are.
Also, when I did it, we were not allowed to use power tools. Hence, the coping saw, wood rasp, etc. If you are now allowed to use power tools, perhaps a band saw would be easier than a coping saw (with the appropriate increase in cost...).
HTH. Have fun...
jb4
shrub\ufffdbish (Am., from shrub + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating the facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf. BULLSHIT
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Post #198,096
3/11/05 5:32:04 PM
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Exception to the rule
The block of wood is supposed to be shaped ito something resembling a streamlined, Indy-type car
At my son's last Cub Scout derby last month, one of the finalists took the block of wood, rounded all of the edges, polished the nail axles (see Admin's post) and that was it. No cutting, shaping, heavy sanding, weights, etc. He took fourth overall. Go figure. lincoln
"Windows XP has so many holes in its security that any reasonable user will conclude it was designed by the same German officer who created the prison compound in "Hogan's Heroes." - Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times
[link|mailto:bconnors@ev1.net|contact me]
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Post #198,770
3/15/05 12:46:45 PM
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Damn! There goes the neighborhood!
First, it was form over substance. Now, form's gone, too. Where will it end, I say...Where will it END?!?
(IOW...:-\ufffd)
jb4
shrub\ufffdbish (Am., from shrub + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating the facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf. BULLSHIT
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Post #198,931
3/16/05 3:28:54 AM
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The_____Blob_____returns.
RIP Steve McQueen
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Post #197,925
3/10/05 10:25:19 AM
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How my father did it
My father was negotiating to buy a soda plant.
Not for HIM, just that was his job.
So he was at the plant location, the paper work was
on desk, waiting for all the signatures.
He took a block of wood out of his briefcase,
popped it on the table, and said it would
be very helpful to the process if they could
take it to their machine shop and take care of
it for him.
It came back very nicely done.
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Post #197,926
3/10/05 10:31:35 AM
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Where's my yellow hankie? :-0
jb4
shrub\ufffdbish (Am., from shrub + rubbish, after the derisive name for America's 43 president; 2003) n. 1. a form of nonsensical political doubletalk wherein the speaker attempts to defend the indefensible by lying, obfuscation, or otherwise misstating the facts; GIBBERISH. 2. any of a collection of utterances from America's putative 43rd president. cf. BULLSHIT
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Post #197,943
3/10/05 1:54:32 PM
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Depends on what you have on hand
I used a hacksaw to take of the bigger chunks, carved what was left into curves with a wood carving knife and then sandpapered it smooth. You could get away with just a small saw and a pile of sandpaper if you really had too.
In my limited experience, the most important thing was that the wheels where put on correctly. If they where not straight and even the car wouldn't roll as well and that had far more impact then anything relating to the aerodynamics of the body.
Jay
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Post #197,946
3/10/05 2:10:17 PM
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Some design tips
from [link|http://www.maximum-velocity.com|Maximum Velocity](a commercial site) - [link|http://www.maximum-velocity.com/new_builder.htm|Your First Race? Make it Fast!]
They have some interesting car plans on the [link|http://www.maximum-velocity.com|main page]. I'm partial to dragons so would have to go with [link|http://www.maximum-velocity.com/epddragonfire.htm|DragonFire]. [link|http://www.maximum-velocity.com/extendedflex.htm|Extended Flex] has a rather interesting design with independent suspension.
Darrell Spice, Jr. [link|http://spiceware.org/gallery/ArtisticOverpass|Artistic Overpass]\n[link|http://www.spiceware.org/|SpiceWare] - We don't do Windows, it's too much of a chore
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Post #198,097
3/11/05 5:36:19 PM
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Interesting designs, but many are against the rules
block of wood, 4 nails for axles, 4 plastic tires, and material to add weight such that it is no heavier than 5 ounces. That's it - nothing else is allowed.
We had a father shave the tires such that there was a small bead of "tread" in the middle of the tire for the car to ride on; he was told to replace the wheels or his son's car would be disqualified. Pack master said that it would never be allowed at the district races, so he couldn't allow it at the pack level.
lincoln
"Windows XP has so many holes in its security that any reasonable user will conclude it was designed by the same German officer who created the prison compound in "Hogan's Heroes." - Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times
[link|mailto:bconnors@ev1.net|contact me]
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Post #198,178
3/12/05 10:14:45 AM
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Man, these scouts are picky.
And what's this about district races? This thing goes beyond the pack??? I have much to learn about the world of cub scouting.
It's like, "How much more black could this be?", and the answer is none. None more black.
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Post #198,353
3/13/05 3:28:59 PM
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It keeps going
If you place in the top 3 of your pack at your level (wolf, bobcat, etc.) you advance to your district level. Place in the top 3 there and you can go to the state level.
My son's advanced to the district level twice.
lincoln
"Windows XP has so many holes in its security that any reasonable user will conclude it was designed by the same German officer who created the prison compound in "Hogan's Heroes." - Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times
[link|mailto:bconnors@ev1.net|contact me]
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Post #197,968
3/10/05 6:32:12 PM
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The best place for a pinewood derby is, of course,
on the missile deck of a boomer (missile submarine), tilted at 20 degrees or so, on half way night.
Tony
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Post #197,978
3/10/05 11:13:42 PM
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Do you have a Michael's nearby?
They have "pre-cut" pinewood derby cars in a number of patterns. At least in Frisco, TX (suburb of Dallas here) they do.
You still have to do the "fine" carving, but the basic pattern is taken care of.
More tips:
1. There are pinewood derby "wheel alignment" kits. If you want to win, your car needs to go straight. If you can't find one of these, just make sure the axles are square to the car.
2. Graphite is useful on the nails as a lubricant.
3. Weights help redistribute the mass of the car.
It depends on how nuts you want to go with this. I'm the run of the mill racer, but my son's best friend (or his dad) goes nuts with this.
And they won first place this year.
Glen
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Post #198,013
3/11/05 7:59:15 AM
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Ditto on the graphite spray
[link|http://users.aol.com/randywoo/pine/|Free site with tips]
There are also pay sites (unbeweevable)
If you push something hard enough, it will fall over. Fudd's First Law of Opposition
[link|mailto:bepatient@aol.com|BePatient]
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Post #198,098
3/11/05 5:37:31 PM
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graphite powder is the only legal lubricant
anything else is against the rules.
lincoln
"Windows XP has so many holes in its security that any reasonable user will conclude it was designed by the same German officer who created the prison compound in "Hogan's Heroes." - Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times
[link|mailto:bconnors@ev1.net|contact me]
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Post #198,036
3/11/05 10:49:34 AM
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This isnt going to be a simple little project, is it?
Thanks for all the pointers. We do have a Michaels nearby- so thanks for that. The website links were also helpful. I looked at them with my son and he is psyched. He's ready to saw and sand and calibrate. Me? Not so much. It's times like this when it would be helpful to have a daddy around. Ah well.
It's like, "How much more black could this be?", and the answer is none. None more black.
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Post #198,055
3/11/05 12:45:23 PM
8/21/07 6:15:35 AM
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Could be
but please bear in mind that you wandered into a group of geeks and asked them how to design and construct a device using limited resources to specific parameters while optimizing for speed.
This is kind of our idea of fun. Gotta make it last.
"Whenever you find you are on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect" --Mark Twain
"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." --Albert Einstein
"This is still a dangerous world. It's a world of madmen and uncertainty and potential mental losses." --George W. Bush
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Post #198,134
3/12/05 12:06:37 AM
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bah, crisco, hammer draw windows on the block
and dont forget to rig a rubber bans between the rear wheels when no one is looking.
thanx,
bill
Any opinions expressed by me are mine alone, posted from my home computer, on my own time as a free american and do not reflect the opinions of any person or company that I have had professional relations with in the past 48 years. meep
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
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Post #198,173
3/12/05 9:02:16 AM
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Not in our troop....
The rubber band thing doesn't work. You turn in your car the night before, they inspect it before the race and you don't touch it until the trophy ceremony.
Glen
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