Derby Talk

I have found a new brand of graphite. It is "Victor Powdered Graphite Lubricant" and appears to be a product of Bell Automotive. This is extremely, extremely fine powder. One dab on the flat of the finger and the whole fingertip turns as black as coal. It's not unlike picking up charcoal o...

Hob-e-Lube is a combination of graphite with molybdenum. Can anyone comment on how these two things work together? I have used this for years, not really considering alternative techniques. Can anyone comment on how to use this in conjunction with "pure" graphite? I have a fresh tube of th...

I have a protable 10" Delta. Fine tuning a band saw is very important, and a skill which must be mastered. If you are a first timer, be patient and do it a little at a time (with the saw unplugged!). I was so frustrated with the process that I bought a book on it. Looking over the information i...

Good news! I found the bits. I went to a local downtown hardware store known for having many many things. I had actually checked there but they said they were out. I called and they said they had #45s (much closer than the 5/64" I had used previously. Long story short when I went in they took e...

Rounded edge better than tapered. That's easier any way. Thanks.

My #44 bit broke a few years ago, and I have since used a 5/64" which is too tight to shim (and align). I have searched high and low locally for the infamous #44 bit, but no suppliers have it in stock. I thought I had found one at Grainger, and even bought a few, but when I got home, I found th...

I'm not sure what you mean by "taper". Do you mean bringing it to a point, instead of a rounded edge? I was referring to the general concept. So what do you think, is it better to round the edge and polish or to have a "flat" taper which comes more to a point? We sand the inner ...

I understand the principles, but I guess I phrased my question poorly, as I was not asking about the cone. On the otherhand, the science does not really change whether it wheel-body contact or wheel-track contact, so I guess you pretty much answered what I was asking in a round-about way. I will rep...

I cannot find this via search, so I will ask here.

Is there any advantage to "tapering" the edge of the dominant wheel on RR? My intuition (not physics) tells me this would reduce the friction. Is this right?

Can anyone give me some more comparisons with varying track lenghts? We are using a 42' Besttrack. Three years ago, my son's best times were around 2.995. He took first place, but only came in around 10th in the district races. No one has come close to these times on our track since. He has a really...

I had the Seminar on Saturday morning. We had 3 1/2 hours of spirited presentations and discussion, followed by 1 hour of playing on our tracks. It was an educational experience for all of us (presentors and attendees alike). Word is that we should be doing this every year (or every other year). Now...

Perfect, and though I'm embarrassed to say it , as soon as you suggested that, it was like a big bell going off with fireworks and this incredible laser light show. I get it now!
(and Ron White says you can't fix stupid. What does he know?)

Thanks Randy,
I will give it a try.

How do I delete last year's information, such as car numbers? I am trying to run a simulation for a seminar and I do not want to use far out car numbers, just say 1-9. But I get the response "car number in use, choose another number" or something like that.

As I promised in an earlier post, here are the pictures of my restored 1975 PWD car. It barely made it to the end of the track 31 years ago (bet you can't figure out why), but it did win the pack "Best Design" trophy. http://heartofgoldsails.com/75Classic-01.jpg I purchased an old kit last...