Derby Talk

Nice work. I really like the knob. Is the case hung on a wall or does it sit on something?

Those are interesting. Do you have a picture of the inside of the wheel/fender? Is there any acrylic on the inside of the wheel? I ask because if there is acrylic on the inside, some might consider that a bushing. I know that it is pretty common for rules of various organizations to prohibit bushings.

That is an interesting track. I wouldn't have thought of building a track out of polycarbonate. Did you build a full track or just the slope/curve shown in your photo? If you did build a full track, how did you do your section joints? Nice looking cars. Because of the intricacy of the details in the...

Very interesting. I can't figure out what it's for. I wonder if there is a practical use for a 1/4 scale V8 or if it's just for hobbyists. If it is for hobbyists then wow, is that an expensive hobby! I have a hard time justifying $17 for tungsten for one car. I can't imagine the wife saying "Su...

Is one more water proof than the others? I completely missed the fact that this was posted in the raingutter regatta section. Thanks for gently nudging me into that realization. You will definately want a top coat that is water proof or at least water resistant. You shouldn't have any problem with ...

Yes, you can stain balsa. Since the wood fibers are very loose it I would expect it to soak up the stain unevenly. Pine wood is usually the textbook case of wood soaking stain unevenly. When wood soaks up stain unevenly it leads to light and dark areas in the finish. I expect that in something the s...

Very nice. I like the walnut stripe on the side of the car. Is the center stripe basswood or a different species? It looks a bit lighter than the wood on the outside of the walnut.

what did the planer end up costing you? I bought the planer more than 10 years ago for somewhere around $300. I have run miles and miles of wood through that thing as a hobby woodworker so it is an expense that has paid dividends. I'm curious about your choice of 1/2" thickness. (I target my b...

If you are doing a points-based race you must have cars in each division race only against in that division. For Cub Scouts it would be wolves vs. only wolves, bears vs. only bears, etc. If you wanted cars in different divisions to race against one another, but only compete against their own divisio...

My son and I have wanted to do some testing of some techniques and I found myself in need of some new blocks. I took a block of 2 1/4" pine I had sitting in the garage and milled it down to 1/2" thick car blocks. Here is the rough block. It's 15" long, 2.25" thick and about 7&quo...

Where you getting good, true and square pieces of bass wood ? Id like to get a couple pieces to tinker with. Hobby shops are usually a good source for bass wood. It is generally alongside balsa wood. The wood has similar tensile strength to pine, according to the Web, but when it comes to running t...

Basswood should work fine, though I have never made a car out of it. I have used 1/32" basswood to cover weight pockets in some cars. Basswood is frequently used by beginning woodcarvers because it is so easy to work with. It is about as hard as most species of pine and is fairly stable. I agre...

For sources of wood do a local search for 'hardwood lumber' (yellow pages or Google). I found a place near Gaithersburg (your profile puts you in Montgomery Co., MD) called Exotic Lumber that is a full service hardwood dealer. Although pine is a softwood rather than a hardwood, most hardwood dealers...

I cut my own blocks almost exclusively. You must be aware of your organization's rules in regards to the block. Some require that the provided block be used. The pack I am in doesn't have any rule about it so I cut my own. I am a hobby woodworker and have all the tools necessary to take rough lumber...

Fantastic job! I agree with FS that it is a museum quality piece. I like what is presented and how you present it.

Andy, you are a gift to the pinewood derby community, both in terms of car design age workmanship as well as in presenting historical information in such a remarkable way.