Pinewood Derby!

[Sixgun]

Still got mine from 30+ years ago.

[newracer]

The shape of the car has just about no effect on how fast it will be. It is all about where the weight is, how straight it rolls, and how polished the axles are.

[wctriumph]

When I was in the Cub Scouts we did this every year. The first two years I did not place but the next three I won first place. My cars looked like very much like this in shape, I made sure the axles were aligned and the wheels all touched the surface the same. I would build the cars, my dad would chisel out a hole in the bottom and we would go to the post office to weigh it on the beam scales they used back then. He would add fishing weights to get it up to within a fraction of the max weight to make sure we would pass weigh in at the race. In my own flash of brilliance, I asked that dad put the weight at the rear of the car. This gave it a little extra shove at the end of the ramp and a little higher speed at the end of the track. We went to the all city championships two years in a row and got a second and a third.

Thanks for bringing back some great memories.

[Hummer]

Wow, great job on the S10 replica. I like the wood slab bed and your son's name on the tailgate.

When I was a Cub I carved a Pinewood Derby car with a wood rasp and a sandpaper block to look like the midget race cars that ran at Lakeside Speedway. Painted it in the cub scout blue and gold colors with Testor oil paints. My Dad advised but I did the work. Hollowed a cavity in the bottom to add lead to bring it up to weight. Didn't win the race but got some award for the design. Early 1960's. The cheap plastic wheels used an upholstery nail for the axles, which ended up being key to smooth running. The winners smoothed the nail shaft with crocus cloth. Wish I still had the car, it was a beauty.

Grew up in the Scouting program. Eagle Scout, Order of the Arrow.

[Great-Kazoo]

The shape of the car has just about no effect on how fast it will be. It is all about where the weight is, how straight it rolls, and how polished the axles are.

Give the OP a break. he's a woodworker, not a nascar driver based on him trying to get his truck through a 10' wide gate . Well part of his truck

[yz9890]

My son won the unlimited class the last year he competed. He also won the hill climb the same year.

[buffalobo]

Another great tradition passed down.

[JohnnyEgo]

Your shop teacher sounds way cooler then mine was. I made myself a rather primitive gravity knife out of some sheet metal in 7th grade. The blade didn't come out of the handle very well, and it was kind of bendy, but I was proud of it. Showed it to my teacher. Got me a 1 day suspension instead of an "A". Though I suppose I was lucky to come of age in a generation that still had shop class, and archery in gym.

You can go very, very far down the rabbit hole with the Derby these days. Despite my Engineering background, I elected not to. My son wanted a truck, so I put some hours in to give him a truck that he could also play with after the race. Something he knows his Dad put the effort into for him. Next year, he will be a little older, and perhaps a little more involved in the parts cutting process. But for now, he's on cloud 9 and I don't regret a minute spent.

[Firehaus]

Cool truck! I went down the pinewood derby physics rabbit hole. We just finished up my boys car tonight. His car last year was pretty fast. Hope this year his car does well. We'll find out tomorrow. As long as it's not last I'm good.

His is the black car.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[def90]

Awesome job on the truck!

I raced pinewood derby cars a few years way back when I was in the scouts.. The first couple years I made fancy looking cars and always lost big... didn't even come close. One year I said fuck it and I just traced the generic wedge shape that comes with the kit and I actually got 1st place and went on to the state competition getting second there.. Go figure.