Pinewood Derby Car

[jaroot]

That actually looks pretty cool Alan. I'll have to check into the to dimensions I don't have that right off the top of my head. I'll have to get back to you on that.

Thanks

[jaroot]

Here are the dimensions that I found online.

• The overall length of the car shall not exceed 7 inches.
• The overall width of the car shall not exceed 2 ¾ inches.
• The car must have 1 ¾” clearance between the wheels.
• The car must have 3/8” clearance underneath the body so it does not rub on the track.

[Alan Malmstrom]

OK

I will work off those dimensions and post it here when I'm done. I actually will kind of be building this for myself too. I have a couple of pinewood derby kits with the wheels ready to go. I'll make sure to have enough room under the car. You know I think that having the fenders would actually give an advantage to a car that doesn't have them becouse the fenders would hit the middle rail on the track while going down instead of the wheels. So if the fenders hang down along the tire, then they would kind of help guide the car.

The last time my kids had the derby I noticed the cars just bumping back and forth all the way down the track.

Alan

[eelamb]

Jaroot, if you do not mind here are a couple of pointers for the car to make it fast.
1) place the nails in a drill, remove any burs under the head, sand the nail where the wheel runs with 600 to 1000 grit to give it a smooth finish, use graphite for lub.
2) remove any burs on the plastic wheel where the nail head goes, and the back side where it may touch the wood body
3) place the wheel in a drill, sand the flat part of the wheel with 100 grit to rough it up some, and place a slight angle on the flat part from inside towards the body to the outside. This gives less wheel touching the track, less friction, and forces the wheels to run against the nail head and not the car body.
4) get the car to the max weight allowed, placing 1/3 the weight right behind the front axle grove, and the rest right behind the rear axle. This gives the car a kick when it comes off the incline and goes on the level track. Make sure you center the weight on the under side of the body.
5) try to get the axles for all 4 wheel level, no rocking when placed on a flat surface, and glue the axles in place.
6) fenders should not be lower than the bottom of the car
7) carving the car is for ascetic's only a plain wedge shape is just as good. Have no uprights or flats like seats, person etc to cause air drag.

and Last of all watch your car others do tamper with the wheels. The wheels are the most important part of the car and how smooth they turn.

[jaroot]

Hi Eddie!

Thanks for the tips. I was aware of most of those things from when my boys were that age. We also trimmed the wheels down so they were basically thick disks.

Found that the best thing was to get third place in the pack as that was as good as you could do and not have to spend and entire day at the district derby.

The Grandsons don't live in the same state as me so I'll only get to send the body to them and let them and their dads finish it up.

[Alan Malmstrom]

Here you go jaroot.

I have finished the Le Mans Car. It took three carves to get it right. This carve will need a little touching up after glueing. The wheel wells are tapered in because of the slight angle of the carving bit. They will have to be shaped a little to make sure the wheels spin freely. I like to use sabre tooth burr bits for this type of work. Using an exacto knife to cut out the top may come in handy also. I used GIMP software for the whole creation of this car.

When you set up the carve in the machine it will give you a message that says "Sides May Cut Each Other" because of the top and bottom depths of patterns, so you just have to say "Continue".

Also some groups that put on derby's might not allow cars with fenders so I would check that first.

PinewoodDerbyLeMansCar.mpc

Alan

[jaroot]

That looks really cool Alan! What do I owe you? My grandkids should love it.

[Alan Malmstrom]

When I was a boy of about 8, which was 40 years ago, I remember making my first pinewood derby car. I had never seen a pinewood derby car before so I wanted to make my car like the one on the box. It was getting down to crunch time so I figured I would just make the car myself. I didn't know how to carve the wood like the car on the box so I just started to round off the edges of the wood. I remember I painted it green and put a red stripe down the center. I took the wheels which had plastic flashing still around the holes, and the nails in those days had a sharp flashing like they were made in a two part mold. I didn't have any idea how to grind it down and they didn't have rotary tools back then. I figured thats the ways its supposed to be. So I just nailed it all together and thought to myself "not bad".

Well I took my car to the derby, and compaired to the other cars it looked like a jalopy. Worst looking car in the whole bunch. But I thought to myself "just wait till the race, I bet my car will go down the track faster because it wieghs more". Well the first race of my car down the track proved that my car could not even make it to the finish line. I didn't know anything about putting wieghts embeded in the wood. I learned a lot that day. And the next year I made my car streamlined, I used glue to fill the cracks and stuff, and painted it my favorite color, orange. And I managed to grind down the nails and de-bur the plastic flashing around the tires. I didn't win anything but I felt much better about the way it looked. I wish I would have known where to get graphite lubricant.

I put myself through college at the age of 36 for an Associates of Applied Science Degree in Computerized Graphic Design. I learned how to spell Grafic Design after mispelling it on my resignation that I turned in to the printing company I was working for. But now I can design really cool looking Pinewood Derby Cars using standard 2D Graphic Design Programs (GIMP). And carve it out on my CarveWright for the kids. And thats payment enough for me.

Alan

[jaroot]

Your first derby car sounds a lot like mine except it was a few years earlier. To add to my misfortune the only paint I could find around the house was pink. So a had a crude pink block of wood that wobbled down the track.

Thanks for you design. I'm sure it will be appreciated by the boys.

[Alan Malmstrom]

OK, I didn't have a PINK car, but all the same it was pretty devistating because I was only eight years old at the time!

Alan