The title says most of it…I just got a reminder that my son’s Cub Scout den’s Pinewood Derby is this Saturday, and I not only don’t have a kit, I don’t remember how to build one and I probably don’t have the tools for it. I reckon maybe a hasp or gouger-thingy and some sandpaper of different grits is needed, as well as painting stuff.
Has anybody faced this situation and/or know how I can get out of this sticky wicket? Thanks!
A friend who entered the adult division at the last Derby I went to built his car right at the race - just left the block solid, nailed on enough washers to meet the weight limit, marked his name on it with a Sharpie - and won. Don’t worry about it.
Yeah. I have a friend with a belt sander. I was thinking of just power-sanding it into an acceptable shape, then let my son paint it however he wants. But I was looking at a couple of those “How to win the Pinewood Derby” sites and got intimidated by the elaborate pains some folks take.
Very recently helped my nephew win the gold trophy (a coveted cub-scout honor) for the pinewood derby.
Took said block template, cut it in half diagonally, sanded, pained, affized 4 wheels, added some graphite to the wheels, screwed on approved weights (IIRC 6 1/4 GRAM weights) and he won every heat by a fair margin. Much fun to watch.
Very easy design. It looked like a blue slice of cheese. 
Ok, so I have not had my Java this morning.
That should read…Painted, and Affixed! :smack:
O.K., cool. That’s the kind of thing I had in mind. Knowing someone’s been there, done that and survived is comforting. 
That’s the same design that beat the pants off of everybody* when I was Cub Scout.
*including me, the bastard
It is fantastically simple, perfectly aerodynamic, and just heavy enough to get the job done. All those Dads with racing stripes, windshields, spoilers and the like were absolutely amazed this little design by Uncle Phlosphr beat them all out.*
I hate to be the wet blanket in this thread, but I say you get your son a kit, and drive him to the derby, and that’s it. If he needs supervision with tools, provide that. But when I was a scout, it was my responsibility to make my own car. In fact, I believe “responsibility” is one of tenets of the organization. Hold him to that. He was supposed to know when the derby was. He was supposed to know when to build his car. He was supposed to know what he needed to do. Failure to do so is part of that learning process. I worked my ass off on that car, and was rewarded with a 2nd place trophy in an extremely large scout pack. If it was my dad who built the car, then that accomplishment would have meant nothing.
Just remember, polish the axles so that the wheels turn freely, and give the finished car a test push across a hardwood floor to make sure that it tracks straight and won’t rub the center hump. I’ve also heard that putting the weight in back helps, since it’s on the ramp for a longer time.
Finally, on race day, use black graphite to lube the wheels. It’s messier than white graphite, but it reduces friction by a little more.
It may not win, but this will give you something that is very pretty. Especially if you put a nice dark stain on then a couple coats of varnish – it will be like a piece of furniture.
A neat way to do the weights is to bore out a shallow one inch hole on the bottom, and then melt lead fishing weights into it until it gets to the maximum allowed weight. Very sleek. Helps to have a blowtorch for the melting part.
I understand where you’re coming from, but this is his first year; he’s 6 years old. Of course, I’ll involve him as much as possible, but this time around, I don’t think he’s ready to handle the tools. I expect that next year he’ll do more of it, and more the next year, etc.
Gotcha. 6 is pretty early for that. I believe we had a minimum age, so that kids weren’t competing (essentially) with adults.
In that case, I second the comment regarding the need to sand down the axles and wheels, and use graphite for lubrication. Some hobby stores will have a wheel and axle set for sale right with the rest of the derby stuff that apparently work pretty well. And for a 6 year old, there should be a set of racing stickers, with numbers, racing stripes, etc. that should be fun to put on.
True in theory, but it has always seemed to me that friction and wheel alignment matter much more.
Whatever, I’ll second the comment that the project is supposed to be done by the boy, for the boy. It isn’t just teaching him responsibility, it’s teaching him accomplishment. I know a lot of parents who still had their own cars from their own childhoods (so do I), just as a memento of perhaps the first thing they had ever done all by themselves that had a tangible result and bragging rights. By all means, let him do it himself, however hard it may be to see something be done as raggedly as a 6-year-old will do it. It’s his car and his project and his accomplishment. Your own self-esteem should be strong enough at your age to let him make and learn from his own efforts.
I wouldn’t let a 6-year-old use a blowtorch, though, come to think of it.
I know what you’re saying about doing it himself, and I intend to do that next time. If it weren’t for the schedule problem (registration and run-through is Friday!), I would have. I got a chirpy email from the den leader yesterday “reminding” us of the Pinewood Derby (that was the first time I’d heard of it, and I’ve been to every meeting!). So we don’t have time for him to do it from square one. 
But we will work together, and we’ll start earlier next time!
The twins were in Cub Scouts for four years, meaning I had to go through that agony eight times. I’d get the kit, spray paint it, let the kids decorate any way they wanted and slap on the wheels and weights.
Every time they finished in the top three and went to the “regionals”
The regionals consisted of HUNDREDS of scouts in multiple heats. One year their heat didn’t start until 1:00 a.m.
Believe me, by the last year I was trying to come up with ways to make the cars run slower.
My son and I just sanded his into shape last night. (We cut it along with the rest of the Den last week.) He’ll paint it and decorate it tonight and tomorrow.
I agree in principle with those saying that the boys should do it on their own. At young ages that’s not really possible though. I’m a Wolf den leader (2nd grade), and was for Tigers last year also. The boys can do some sanding, painting and decorating. But cutting, power sanding, removing the burrs from the axels are out of the question. And that’s really most of the work. It’s a good thing for fathers (or mothers or other) and sons to do together, but the adult is pretty mandatory before say Webelos.
ElvisL1ves wrote
This is actually a pretty common story. It’s all about the wheels and axels. The aerodynamics don’t matter; where the weight is doesn’t matter. (of course, having the max weight allowable is also key, but that’s sortof a given.) The biggest thing you can do to win is to have straight, true, de-burred and well-lubed wheels. The worst thing you can do is to play with the car before the race, as that will tend to de-true the wheels. And boys love to play with their cars before the race. So building it at the race or not touching it until the race is a key success ingredient.
A-fuckin-Men to that. Show him how to do it without doing it for him.
I was so disappointed for my first Pine Wood derby at the tender age of 9. I didn’t have the slightest clue as to what I was doing, but I make it all by myself. I stained it because we didn’t have any paint. I put black magic marker numbers on it. I had liquid paper running stripes and half a lego dude in the driver seat. We didnt have a saw, so I used a kitchen knife and chipped away at the block.
Come running day, my car was easily the crappiest POS there. But it was plain obvious whose dads made their cars for them. The ones with clearcoats and chrome, beveled edges, and spray painted decals. It was sad.