Pinewood Derby

[Brehvolution]

My son's first one is tomorrow. Do any of you have any experience with or tips for the cars? Anyone just put tires on the block and send it on down?

[Joe Molotov]

I recommend cheating to win so that your son learns a valuable lesson.

[ToxicAdam]

I helped my twins make theirs this year, they race tomorrow also.

Maybe I'll snap some pics and post em later.


I used a band saw to shape the pieces, and some glossy spray paint to color it up. Then bought some decals at a hobby store and put them on. Finished it with some laquer and put the tires on. I had some graphite lubricant laying around, I put it on the nails to help the tires spin more easily. Added some weights on the bottom.

All I did was the band saw cutting and hammering in the tires. I made the kids do all the rest.


Good luck.



 

[Brehvolution]

I used a jigsaw to get a rough shape and a Dremmel to smooth it out. I put a base coat of paint on it during my lunch break and he will finish paining it tonight.

Good luck to your kids too.

[Shaka Khan]

I wonder whose kids will fare better.

[CatsCatsCats]

Oh shit dude, I was pinewood derby champ 3 years in a row. Bottom weights are for suckers, we used led cylinders coming out of the front to look like exhaust tubes. Nose should be slightly conical, at least sanded to be rounded. Boxy is slow.

[Phoenix Dark]

Bore fathers

[ToxicAdam]

Look how janky my cut was on that black one. Should've used a dremel to smooth it up.  Oh well.

[Brehvolution]

  My cut looks a lot like the black one, and is black also. I'll post a pic tomorrow since it wasn't finished yet.

[CatsCatsCats]

Okay, I'm a nerd, but I pulled this out of the attic so you could see what a championship level car looks like

spoiler (click to show/hide)

My father is a very competitive man. He had me hand sand the curves for a long ass time

[close]

[Brehvolution]

My son pouted when he didn't come in first.  His top speed was 206MPH. His first run was 178MPH and I was thinking we messed up somewhere. The second run was 206MPH and was like  Top overall speed was 212.3MPH
There was a car there that looked exactly like and ice cream sandwich.  I have a pic of it. I just need to enlarge it. Maybe Monday.
It was a good experience overall.

[Mupepe]

I wish Spencer was my father

[Phoenix Dark]

My son pouted when he didn't come in first. 

jk tell lil man to keep his head up

[drew]

I consistently won pinewood derby every year I was in the scouts, only was ever beaten in states and in the open division by some old guy with wheels that had a thin ridge around the middle to drastically lessen friction.  I have the formula for the perfect car, pics would help but alas my cars are all in the back of a storage container.  sorry.

[CatsCatsCats]

Fret not, you're all my sons

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[tehjaybo]

We should have a Bore Pinewood Derby.  The kits are pretty cheap, iirc.  Have someone make a track, people could make cars, and ship them out to the testing facility.  Some kind of prize for first place. 

Interesting idea.

[drew]

Kentuckybore would actually be at a drastic advantage, cause to build a great car theres some lead that needs meltin' n' poured ;*