A nose-cone for a tube of pennies?

[Vitamin K]

So, I abandoned the nickel weight idea, because I discovered that it's actually really, really hard to drill an accurate hole with the sort of tolerances I needed by hand. I could do it with the drill press, I think, but I'm trying to come up with a dead-simple build that can be done with hand-tools and (mostly) found items.

So my latest idea involves a plank car, with two 'tubes' of pennies affixed to the rear. In order to counteract the airflow penalty that a flat-sided cylinder would impart, I think it needs some sort of nosecone. The problem is that I'm not certain what a simple nosecone could be constructed of.

My first thought was that it could be made of rolled card-stock (e.g., an index card) and trimmed to shape and glued on...but this is "fiddly" and likely to be frustrating. What would be ideal would be if there was some kind of cheap, common, lightweight household item that could be affixed with minimal re-working. Anybody have any ideas?

[Darin McGrew]

Do you want something relatively dense, or something relatively lightweight?

Polymer clays like Fimo or Sculpey are easy to shape into whatever nosecone profile you want.

If you want something lighter, then Model Magic (made by Crayola) is very lightweight, and doesn't need to be baked. It isn't as robust as polymer clay though.

[Speedster]

I admire what you are trying to do. I doubt you need a nose-cone. Aerodynamics will not play much of a part in the field of cars you're competing against. I suspect you're trying to help Grandma and her scout build a quick car. My hats off to you. I'm trying to do the same thing. So far I'm using dimes. I want to get it to the point all they need is a variable speed drill (Harbor Freight, $9.99 this week). I'm hoping I can offer a kit, at cost, that will supply the builder with everything they need to do one car. I will watch this post closely.
Thank You.
Cheers,
Bill

[Vitamin K]

I admire what you are trying to do. I doubt you need a nose-cone. Aerodynamics will not play much of a part in the field of cars you're competing against. I suspect you're trying to help Grandma and her scout build a quick car. My hats off to you. I'm trying to do the same thing. So far I'm using dimes. I want to get it to the point all they need is a variable speed drill (Harbor Freight, $9.99 this week). I'm hoping I can offer a kit, at cost, that will supply the builder with everything they need to do one car. I will watch this post closely.

I agree that the aerodynamics penalty is small, but it's still there. There's also the aesthetics issue. If there's a nice nose-cone on the tubes, they look like rocket boosters, and with a little paint, junior can still think his car looks pretty durn cool, instead of merely functional. Watching the boys, I get the sense that looks is half the game with them.

I'll take a look at the modelling compound options. Another option could be epoxy clay, which dries hard and paintable. Ideally, I think a lighter material would be best, because I want the heaviest weights further toward the back of the car...but it's probably not a crucial issue.

[BallBoy]

The tip of a party hat would be a fairly inexpensive option. Another option would be a nose cone from a model rocket. I know Estes sells replacement nose cone kits for $5-$10. You might be able to find some at a nearby hobby shop. You might even be able to find one that the pennies will fit inside so you don't have to worry about masking the transition from the cone to the pennies.

[whodathunkit]

Vitamin K,

I'm going to Brain storm on a few house hold ideas..
That might work for makeing the nose-cones with.

Big plastic chisel tip sharpie pens.
Bubble gum vending machine capsules.
Kid's School .. Elmer's glue stick tubes.
And maybe some old lip stick tubes from the Wife.

Just a few things to look at that might work.

[ngyoung]

Still think drilling 3/8" holes and getting the lead free pwd weights at the hobby store is pretty easy.

[Vitamin K]

Thanks for the suggestions, folks. I like the idea of the party hat tips, since that's easy enough to lay hold of. Will have to try some of the other possibilities as well!

Still think drilling 3/8" holes and getting the lead free pwd weights at the hobby store is pretty easy.

Not arguing that, but this is meant to be an exercise in what I can find without going to a specialty store. Might have to settle for a lower grade of graphite this way, though, since Ace probably doesn't carry Hob-E-Lube...

[Stan Pope]

The computation for construction of nose cones from cardboard is pretty straight forward. The cone is a portion of a circle whose partial circumference is the same as the circumference of the pennies. I, personally, would use a separate piece of similar cardboard to connect the edges of the circle, rather than trying to make tab from entending one side.

[davet]

Twist a small cut of photopaper into a cone or cardstock and paint it.

[whodathunkit]

The computation for construction of nose cones from cardboard is pretty straight forward. The cone is a portion of a circle whose partial circumference is the same as the circumference of the pennies. I, personally, would use a separate piece of similar cardboard to connect the edges of the circle, rather than trying to make tab from entending one side.

Stan,
Would you also want to design the nose-cones into a sears-hacck body shape for the car.
To have the lowest possible air drag for the tube of pennies and shape of the nose-cone?

[Stan Pope]

The computation for construction of nose cones from cardboard is pretty straight forward. The cone is a portion of a circle whose partial circumference is the same as the circumference of the pennies. I, personally, would use a separate piece of similar cardboard to connect the edges of the circle, rather than trying to make tab from entending one side.

Stan,
Would you also want to design the nose-cones into a sears-hacck body shape for the car.
To have the lowest possible air drag for the tube of pennies and shape of the nose-cone?

Nonlinear shapes are more difficult! Possibly paper mache or light moldable craft material. IF you want minimum drag, then go to one of the airfoil design web pages and fit your coin tube inside one of those designs! These involve adding sections both ahead of and behind the coin stack which usually precludes "lowest possible air drag!"

[bracketracer]

Thanks for the suggestions, folks. I like the idea of the party hat tips, since that's easy enough to lay hold of. Will have to try some of the other possibilities as well!

Still think drilling 3/8" holes and getting the lead free pwd weights at the hobby store is pretty easy.

Not arguing that, but this is meant to be an exercise in what I can find without going to a specialty store. Might have to settle for a lower grade of graphite this way, though, since Ace probably doesn't carry Hob-E-Lube...

Then how about using 3/8" bolts 1 3/4" long with the heads sawed off instead? I probably have more of those laying around than rolls of pennies! lol

[Vitamin K]

This might be a simple way to make some nosecones. If I get the process down, I could make a bunch for next to nothing, and then distribute them to anybody who might want one. I'd include my contact info along with the build how-to, once I got that far.