Pseudo Fiber Glass Car

[FoamCoreDerby]

Though I'm still very much developing it, I'm working on a non-toxic "pseudo fiber glass" construction method.
The concept is:

1) non-toxic so racers don't hurt themselves
2) minimal tools so nobody loses a finger
3) mirrors modern fiber glass methods (reality check: it's been roughly 100 years since wood was used in cars...)
4) able to be completed in minimal time

The big idea is to teach fiberglass methods in a workshop while not needing massive amounts of power tools or toxic chemicals. This means beer.

I eventually want to have "Build and race" parties.

[Speedster]

OK, You've got me curious. I'm familiar with working with fiberglass. A lot of Physics goes into building a fast car. I'm eager to learn exactly how you built your car. Would you show us a step by step build? Pictures would be nice if you have them. Thank you.
Speedster

[FoamCoreDerby]

OK, You've got me curious. I'm familiar with working with fiberglass. A lot of Physics goes into building a fast car. I'm eager to learn exactly how you built your car. Would you show us a step by step build? Pictures would be nice if you have them. Thank you.
Speedster

This is all in the development phase. The current problem is that these cars are too light. My entire car was less than an ounce! I'll be experimenting next with various weights to see what works best. I had a few tungsten weights laying around, but all my weights and the car only brought it up to 3.8 oz. I'm debating making up my own rules that set the weight at 4oz vice 5... more experimentation there.

The goal isn't the fastest possible car. You get that through extreme precision and attention to detail (along with all the basic derby physics). I want a project that can be executed inside of three hours and doesn't require much infrastructure (I figure walking in with the silhouettes and foam blocks). My vision is a class of 10-20 folks where everyone starts with the same pile of stuff. PM if you want to know more about the broader concept.

Cheers,
Chris

[Scrollsawer]

Interesting to see different types of composites used to build car body shapes. Since it's not made of pine wood, then I presume they'd never be used for Pinewood Derby racing, except as some sort of body trim to supplement wood car bodies, unless some Pack had rules for building and racing cars out of non-wood-based materials.

I've been looking at 3D printing options for designing and fabricating car components, but fiberglass is also an interesting idea for this.

Scrollsawer

[FoamCoreDerby]

Interesting to see different types of composites used to build car body shapes. Since it's not made of pine wood, then I presume they'd never be used for Pinewood Derby racing, except as some sort of body trim to supplement wood car bodies, unless some Pack had rules for building and racing cars out of non-wood-based materials.

I've been looking at 3D printing options for designing and fabricating car components, but fiberglass is also an interesting idea for this.

Scrollsawer

Yeah... so other than perhaps a special pack lesson, I don't see this becoming part of BSA's pinewood derby. The car concept developed because the tracks already exist and components (wheels, weights, and such) are easy to acquire.

Here were some thoughts I had: Sawdust filler is somewhat common in foam core work. I thought about trying to say "the pine was used in construction" by shoving the whole pine block into a joiner, taking the bag of saw dust, and mixing it in as filler. I lift a glass to the first guy who just takes the block, turns it into saw dust, mixes it with epoxy resin, and molds some desired shape. To fit within the rules, you could use a CNC machine to cut a car shape out of the wood block then lay composite/fiber over it for that cool look. You could also build some type of composite boom or tower that places the weight as high as possible thus maximizing potential energy.

Here's the story: I'm building an airplane at home and attended an Experimental Aircraft Association workshop on aircraft building (https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/aviation-edu ... -workshops). As part of it, we made a foam-core fiberglass wing section. The whole event was interesting because there were about 30 folks in the metal-building section, but only about 4 working on fiber and composites. In discussing it with the EAA folks, they lamented that carbon and fiber is the future of aerospace, but they can't get anyone into it. Autobody techs and aircraft mechanics learn it in trade school, but it's just not that common of a skill. The wing section I built was kind of fun, but it took a day to cure and it's still just a section that doesn't do much. This concept (and its as much a business idea as construction concept) introduces folks to a technology that's relatively accessible in a very fun way.

The goal here is to create some sort of event where I rent the track from the local council (thus giving back to a good cause), and host a fun craft/learning/competition in a pizza joint/bar. The concept is for folks to start with a pile of basic materials (foam, fabric, glue, paint, wheels, etc) and get to a car and then race it in the course of the evening. Something like Paint Nite (https://www.paintnite.com/) except that racing and winning is way more fun than some dumb picture of a mountain. Paint Nite is charging $45 a seat (though they do have Groupons-a-plenty) for this. The idea is to rent a track from the local council, run such a class for $40-$50 a person, and give 10% back to youth-based charities like BSA, Big Brother/Big Sister, and Boys & Girls clubs. Part of the give-back will be running, say 1 out of 20, events for these types of organizations. Something like this would be good for both low-patronage times in restaurants/bars and for corporate events.

The next big experiments are getting the weight right, getting a track, and doing some test events.

I'll post developments as it progresses. If anyone wants to be involved, let me know.

Foam Core Derby:
Create. Paint. Race.

[Vitamin K]

Might be an interesting technique to make a lightweight top piece to go onto a thin pine chassis?

[Speedster]

"that places the weight as high as possible"
You might want to do a little research on that.

[FoamCoreDerby]

"that places the weight as high as possible"
You might want to do a little research on that.

If experience tells you that on the axle line is better, then great. I'm not in the crazy car design business. I'm in the "provide a stimulating evening" business. I want to show folks that fiberglass is easy and cars seem like a fun way to do that.

[Darin McGrew]

I lift a glass to the first guy who just takes the block, turns it into saw dust, mixes it with epoxy resin, and molds some desired shape.

Actually, something like that could fit our rules, as long as it's made from the original block (sawdust) and adhesive (epoxy)...

Before our current set of rules, we had an All-Comers car built from plexiglass, with bits of the original wood block at the axle locations.

[Scrollsawer]

Our rules just state that "the majority of the car body must be made from the wood block that comes from the kit." Therefore, I would be A-Okay with somebody checking in a car made from a composite shape molded from 51% pinewood block dust, and 49% 'other' material.

And if you're making a candy bar type design, you might be able to come up with a composite mix lighter than if you were to use the wood alone (but not sure, since many 'ladder-type' cars are light as-is, so I doubt there's any competitive advantage gained there).

So then it comes down to design aesthetics, and the novelty of such a build. Which could make for some neat cars in the 'design category'.