Derby Talk

As some may recall my first experience with my Tiger last year had some bumps with an out of spec car getting through tech and winning. This year we were going to be forced to race on January 2nd (too close to the holidays in my opinion). The track we borrowed last year is also not available for the...

"This is all super impressive. But I can't get over the precision of modular parts. How did you make those?" Good templates directly mounted to the car nut cut and traced as mentioned earlier, a good constant tension parallel arm scroll saw, and Flying Dutchman brand scroll saw blades I ge...

Thanks for the kind words. Regarding the design, have designed and built a bunch of airplanes and wooden toys for fun over the years, so objects often just appear modular to me when I look at them sometimes. That was definitely the case for Francesco. I also did a test car to try some paint methods ...

If you pull the paper off after cutting and there is any residue left (which honestly has not happened to us, it pulls off like a post-it note, little tack and no residue as long as you go easy on how much you a apply) but if there is anything left on there a little MEK will take it right off. MEK (...

Packing tape is a good option. I will use it when I am doing a compound cut on the scroll saw to tape the pieces together before cutting the other face. I am misting the paper very lightly with spray 77. Kind of spray the spray 77 in the air and then pull the paper through it. I let it get tacky bef...

We just lightly misted them with 'spray 77' (contact adhesive) and then stuck them to the wood. It seemed quicker and more accurate as I have cut and traced before as well.
That Mama Bournoulli is sweet.

Thanks guys. Yes, we actually got all the parts cut out the first evening. Then the finishing chores commenced! We used Walmart Apple Barrel paints and Future Floor polish (over Krylon primer) so no exotic or expensive materials. We did use an airbrush for that, so some expense involved there if you...

Speechless.

My son really wanted a Francesco inspired car for his first derby. He was fully prepared to work on it a little bit each evening for a few weeks so I came up with a 'modular' design that let him cut the small pieces on the scroll saw rather than have to carve it out of the solid block. This was less...

Box rules just say they have to be official BSA wheels and axles. Wheel bearings, bushings and washers are prohibited, but nothing else. So yeah, pretty open. I have several lathes so that's cool with me but not the right way to run it IMHO. The best bet is likely Revell axles over the kit axles, si...

Well, as of now it sounds as though lightened wheels will be fine at Districts. It seems that "Box Rules" are what are going to be used. This keeps getting more interesting! Starting a new topic.

Word is that our District race which is new this year (and being coordinated by a brand new District rep) is going to run the "Box Rules" to "make it fair across the District".
This opens a virtual Pandora's box of options it seems to me.
Opinions?

" There are plenty of derby dad freaks here that get called cheaters every year after they smoke everyone else because they take the time to learn and help their scout implement what works to get speed with out of the box parts" I know...I was one of them 30 years ago, well I was the scout...

I am still just crushed that this was the car that was entered by the son of the Cub Master. Bending the rules is never acceptable, but to be done by the highest ranking leader has me totally befuddled. Interestingly I checked the Mid-America results that were run on the same track type as ours (Our...

This is our first year of racing Cub Scouts. I volunteered with a friend of mine to be a Den leader of our incoming Tiger sons. We have had a great time getting to know the other leaders. The Cub Master and Committee Chair are both exiting this year as their sons are second year Webelos. They have b...