Derby Talk

You don't need a lot of instrumentation... a very lightwieght fishing scale... has to measure in small amounts... the drug paraphenalia shops used to sell them back when I was in High Skool... made out of stamped steel, they used a counterweight instead of a spring. Then just some monofilament line ...

The Rabbit makes it.
My daughter LOVES rollercoasters, so it was too perfect.

I just noticed in your other thread that Elmo also won "Best Muppet Car". Is this a pre-existing category? Or are some blank awards prepared ahead of time and the categories identified as the contestants show up? Esp. for the younger ones, I could see the value in ensuring that they went ...

I would like to see 100 x 100 pixel avatars up to 25K allowed so I could
use my primary preferred version:

The reason for the rule was so that cars will function on the track. If a car is too narrow, it will not work well at all. The judge even said that it might bind against the guide. Narrowing the wheel width can make it faster. Narrowing it too much will make it slow. Not sure what "Rail Rider&q...

Here at work we had a pinewood derby, so I brought one of my kids' cars. They checked the with between wheels, and it was about 1/16 inch narrow. I said "It's okay, I'll take my chances". The judge wouldn't let me enter it that way. When deviation from a "rule" will only hurt the...

I've found that wood glue works much better. It isn't as toxic, holds the axles in place, and if you need to remove the axles for any reason it will break loose with less force than super glue. It also is more consistent in drying time. Super glue can be unpredictable. When building radio control gl...

The Red Ryder was my car, Gator my 9 yr. old son, Gold Gremlin my 10 yr. old daughter, and Silver Sliver my younger'nme :mrgreen: wife's (y'all have seen " Down & Derby ", right?) If I were to polish out the Red car, it would really look better, but the Duplicolor clearcoat did a prett...

It's Awana Grand Prix... they order the cars in bulk and they come in a box full of wheels, axles, participant ribbons, instruction sheets, blocks, ... and then the leaders put them into baggies (also in the box) and staple them closed before distribution. The guy's kid had built a car, and he has u...

Have you seen "Down and Derby"?

It's a Fluke!

I don't sanction cheating. Sometimes kids/parents may violate a rule unknowingly. ... Personally, I would think it better to allow grooved axles than to force kids to pull axles that may have been painstakingly aligned.... On a similar note, I think oil should be allowed: here is one dissertation w...

Roll them on a piece of glass. If you are seeing runout when they are chucked in a drill press or hand drill you're probably seeing inconsistencies in the drill chuck. A good pinvise chucked into a drill can help sometimes. Or a good collet in a dremel tool, though the speeds are a bit high. I alway...

The painting process was not that hard... Once I had the shape of the body done and most of it sanded with 220, i put on a thin layer of USC Thin ICE polyester finishing putty. Once that is set, it gets sanded up to about 400 to 600 grit, then gets duplicolor gray primer. Then more sanding, priming...