My Son's Pinewood Derby Car

Sean Wright

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902
Location
WNY, Buffalo Area
This is my son's Cub Scout Pinewood Derby car from this past spring.
My son, Daniel, is 8 years old, and this was his 1st Pinewood Derby car.
He did most of the cutting and sanding. I helped him with adding extra weight and putting the wheels on.
It looks faster than how it ran , but he had a lot of fun making it and racing it.

His Cub Scout Pack was #420, that is where that number came from.
 

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Great design and execution. A very good looking car.

I've often wondered what the key to success to these little cars are.

I'd have to think that aero factors have to be pretty small, and the rest of it is in reducing the friction in the axles and wheels.

Maybe we should do an FWW Pinewood derby :D
 
Good looking car, and one that I can believe was made by a youngster. Good job!

I had kids in Cubs, and was a leader for many years. Some of the cars that showed up were clearly made by Dad, and looked like they came off a showroom. I like the style of your son's car.
 
Thank you everyone! I will pass your kind words on to him!

Stuart, I still have the one I made with my Dad. I brought it and we did a father-son race... Daniel won!


As it turns out aerodynamics plays no factor in how these cars run. They are all weighted and adjusted to be the same weight so that doesn't play much of a part in it. It is all about how you put the wheels on. If they aren't exactly straight you will have problems. Graphite powder helps too.


The cars are very light, and even with some lead fishing split shot and a full shotgun shell's worth of #8 shot it still needed a few washers to get it to the required weight.
 
Been there, done that.
In fact, I was a Cub Master and the only time I regretted being that was PD day. Parents get very competitive and emotional at the races.
The real value in the project is the father/son time spent together building the car. :thumb:
 
There are some "Tricks" that work :rolleyes:

Take the nails that are the axles and stick them in a drill, polish them up with some fine sandpaper.

Lube the axles.

The weight should be biased towards the rear of the car.

Make sure that you have the max weight that is allowed, lead shot or tungsten is the weight you want to use, as it takes up the least space and you can make the car more aerodynamic.

Yes aerodynamics DO count.

Make sure that the car tracks straight, if it does not, it will wiggle down the track, traveling a longer distance, and if it bumps against the sides that slows it down.

A common cheat that you can make sure the other cars do NOT have, the car is set up so that only three wheels touch the track, the fourth wheel is just a little bit off the track, this provides less drag on the track and makes the cars faster.

That is about all I remember!

I agree with Frank that the best part of this whole project is the parent child time spent working together.
 
I had a request from a Dr XXX a while back. "My son has ruined the first three pinewood derby cars I helped him build. How much would you charge to sand and finish the fourth car?" I quoted my maximum shop rate, and a high time estimate - perhaps enough to finish a real car. "Well, can you suggest someone who could do it for less?" I suggested his son. That was the last I heard from him!
 
I had a request from a Dr XXX a while back. "My son has ruined the first three pinewood derby cars I helped him build. How much would you charge to sand and finish the fourth car?" I quoted my maximum shop rate, and a high time estimate - perhaps enough to finish a real car. "Well, can you suggest someone who could do it for less?" I suggested his son. That was the last I heard from him!

Sounds like the good doctor is missing the point eh? :doh:
 
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