Derby Talk

whodathunkit wrote: ↑Mon Feb 12, 2024 6:39 amCharlie thinks it’s a 1996-97 kit

Those are definitely (heavier?) pre-2009 style wheels. Looks like the kit box design we started building with circa 2000…

Delicious! Everyone loves McD's fries! And you demonstrate your expertise by not making the front of car concave like the model.

How old is that kit he's holding?

:kewlpics: Not the cleanest looking cutouts but it’s the bottom. Also, I took as much as I could out of the Firebird without risking punching through. Only got me under 5 oz... Because your margins are ~0.03 ounces with primer, and you still need to add paint, clear coat, decals, etc., might you nee...

Maybe a Forstner bit on drill press while car sits inverted on some cloth? I have done this many times to finished cars... It is not uncommon that people need help with drilling underside holes at our car-building workshops. It can really help if you still have the scrap of the wood that was cut of...

Is there any advantage or maybe a little bit more speed that can be gained.. by also toeing in the lifted wheel… Maybe? It would indeed be a slight toe-in. Changing the toe angle of the wheel increases its effective cross-sectional area relative to the airstream, and generally such has a negative d...

The lifted BestTrack is honestly too high for most participants to reach... Ah. We also lift our track, but will use a small staging platform . Even then, some lil' kids are still not tall enough, but when they are that small they are usually being escorted by guardians anyway, who will either lift...

...something I also do at my races is that only race staff are allowed anywhere near the track (it's cordoned off)... We also cordon the track area, but "drivers" are allowed in the area when it is their turn to stage and retrieve. Have you considered letting the girls stage their own car...

Thanks FS, I really like that idea and method.. I've never heard of or even seen it done that way on a bandsaw! I also have never known anyone else to do that way; I suppose we "invented" this method after experiencing the frustrations of first trying to solidly grip the axle without marr...

...does that 4th “lifted” wheel really need to be treated... But realistically, that wheel is never gonna roll, so it does not need polishing, coning, shaving, whatever. I agree with Kurt, except that I might consider rubbing a little graphite onto the lip of the inside tread (the part that could p...

:offtopic: the BSA Pinewood derby should be extended into Boy Scouts... :thinking: Like a PWD Merit Badge? Or PWD participation having application to one or more existing Merit Badges? IIRC, Scouting units plan their own activities, both Pack or Troop. I don't know of anything that prevents Troops f...

May have to give that a shot in a couple years once my son’s sense of humor matures... :lol: Ha ha, yes. At our event that year, one older teen with a rather slow car (he didn't lubricate and was still assembling his car 10 minutes before race time) complained that "we ought to have a rule&quo...

BSAdadGriffindork wrote: ↑Wed Feb 07, 2024 10:32 amHopefully I explained all that well enough.

Yup! We also did that to make our own version of a "Stock Block".

...the need for a jig is mitigated... I never had a good time trying to drill angled holes with the press. I would rather use bent axles than deal with that. The jigs are soooo much nicer. Just my experience, though, YMMV. That's my experience too. Today, I would buy a jig with a DFW guide option b...

BSAdadGriffindork wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 7:47 amHave a new drill press fence/table coming today and that just about got me murdered.

At least a drill press can be used for projects besides PWD. (The jigs not so much, but the need for a jig is mitigated if you have a drill press.)

Have you got any good ideas for making a tool to hold the axle.. for cutting a K House Groove in the axle head? The best method I know is to cut them on a bandsaw with a fine-tooth metal-cutting blade. Insert the axle into a block, place the block on the table, line up the axle head with the blade ...