Derby Talk

Does anybody have a recommended source for getting balsa wood? The pieces I see in places like Michael's seem too small or thin for my purposes, but maybe I'm not looking in the right places.

I looked on Pinecar's site and didn't see anything listed. The last few cars I built were from Pinecar (never again, I imagine). I might have the straight axles and caps still in my box o' parts. If so, would your friend want me to send them to him? I didn't want to hijack the other thread on these ...

That's a spiffy looking car, Bracketracer! Props to you for going with what the boy wanted and making it speedy!

That is awesome. Do you have access to a vinyl plotter, or did you commission it from a sign shop?

Edit: Just showed the pics to my six year old son. Lots of hopping up and down and pointing. "Dad, make me that one!"

I assume some of the major goals are: a fun event, an event that appeals to a wider audience, something without many barriers to entry, and another excuse to build something with a kid... Yeap, pretty much spot on, there. I would aim for a simple, open, and fun event. At least the first time. Meani...

BallBoy, this is pretty much exactly why I asked about self-cut blocks. Could you share some more information on your cutting techniques and tools, and what sort of sources you use for raw wood? I am a hobby woodworker and have all the tools necessary to take rough lumber and turn it into square pie...

Weighing 50+ kits? Please tell me you're using hyperbole here. :O Otherwise, I see a sequel to "Down and Derby" in the works. ;) The problem with the branding iron is that not all kits are made equal. I bought 3 kits earlier this year. The lightest block was 85ish grams and the heaviest wa...

Haha, that is true. I really do want to look into the balsa wood topper for the next round of cars that I work on, though. So I guess as far as pine goes, I'll be wafering it anyhow. Not to bring up an earlier post, but (back to wafer car design), I can usually get three car bodies out of one block ...

I was more thinking of it as a cost-cutting measure, if one wanted to build a large number of cars, or if you were going to be experimenting with different designs or suchlike.

Hub, that would explain a lot. Feeling more disgruntled about my choice of Pinecar kits the more I learn.

MaxV wrote:PineCar kits have shallow axle slots to accommodate the long rod axles. If you use a BSA block, then the slots are deeper and the axles stay in better (and the wood glue works better).

I hope you guys don't get tired of my incessant questions. I do try to search for past threads, so hopefully I'm not re-treading here. Anyhow... Does anybody cut their own blocks of pine for their cars? I am just curious, because it seems that if you need a large number of cars, it might be cheaper ...

Hi guys, thanks for the input. My son and I build his car starting from a Pinecar kit, and we used the pre-cut axle guides. However, instead of using the included wheels, we used a set of BSA-approved wheels and nail-axles from Revell. I tried dabbing on some wood glue prior to his race at the distr...

So a lot of the alignment How-Tos mention a lot of turning, adjusting, removing, re-testing of axles, etc. Is there a way to do this so that your axles don't get loose and wobbly in their guides? My son's car did very well on his first race, but after he dropped it and the front wheel popped off, it...

Balsa sounds like an interesting option. I wonder if it would 'firm up' a bit after a few coats of primer and enamel. I think I shall have to buy a bit to do some experimenting with.

Oh, I'm not giving up. I know you can't break the laws of physics, but sometimes you can minimize their impact. My thinking is that the next car I work on, I will make it reasonably thin, but reduce the wood weight as much as possible, via hollowing, so that I can concentrate the center of mass low ...