Derby Talk

I think a little perspective is in order where it lead is concerned. For many years, millions of kids (myself included) used lead on an almost daily basis in the spring and summer where fishing is a popular pastime. We handled it constantly while tying sinkers onto our lines. I have many tackle boxe...

OneHour, Having just run a derby with 110 cars, I don't see the logic of impounding for a week. We run our derby in a school gym. Weigh-in is Friday night, 6:30 - 8:30. We got every car weighed in and legal. Some needed lots of help and the one needing the most help wins the coveted golden drill awa...

We also had trouble with axle heads popping off. It has only occurred for us when we "smash coned" the axle heads using the pro axle press. I noticed that the axles are just a little too long and stick out the bottom. Since we were using the tool on a concrete floor, this resulted in flatt...

FatSebastian, After reading your last post about a giant wheel for testing, the idea hit me: couldn't you construct a giant, motorized, "Hamster wheel" to test a car. A sheet of thin, smooth plastic could line the inside of the wheel as a running surface with one seam to simulate track irr...

I was in Michael's craft store in Woodbridge, VA the other day, and saw a Revell speed kit with these same smooth axles in it, along with sandpaper and pumice. It's strange, because just above this kit were the Revell wheel and axle kits (in the clear tube with BSA hologram) which include the standa...

Ten Thumb Tom, Thanks for the detailed measurements! I have been on the fence about buying a wheel shaver for my son's last derby as a Web II, but I think we will take the plunge. It looks like, with some practice, we can improve on the new wheels slightly. Do you think a fairly talented 11 year old...

FatSebastian,
Thanks for the link, I guess I should try a little harder with the Derby Talk search function before I ask the board It sounds like this stuff is not as good for PWD cars as they claim. Any BP2000 success stories out there?
Thanks,
Buckeyefan

Hello all, One of the dads in our Cub Scout Pack asked me what I thought about BP2000 as a lubricant. I had never heard of it, and a quick google search turned up the Sentry Solutions website. http://www.sentrysolutions.com" target="_blank It appears to be pure molybdenum disulfide, no gra...

Moerules, We have just finished putting together our new 42' Besttrack and there were a few things that slowed us up. Remember to slide enough bolts into the channels for the legs, the start gate handle, and the start gate sensor for the timer if you have one. We made the mistake of assembling the t...

Slojim, The extension legs are a great idea, but our pack has had great success going another route. We are a huge pack (over 120 cubs) and we expect upwards of 400 people at the PWD. We have the good fortune to be sponsored by an elementary school and use the gym/cafeteria for the derby. We set the...

Subnet99, Our Pack has used Riherd's (https://www.riherds.com/pinewood" target="_blank) for years for our Pinewood Derby trophies. They have a great selection of PWD trophies and their service has been excellent. The only drawdack is price. They are not the most inexpensive trophies out th...

Here's an update from the Scout Shop in Springfield VA. I just picked up 135 PWD kits there, all with the new wheels and the IN0809 code on the box. When I spoke to the staff there, they told me that they have nearly sold out of their initial order of 1,000 kits (all new) and will order 3,000 more. ...

I just stopped at the Scout Shop in Northern Virginia and found the kits with new wheels and the same date code pictured above. Also, I combed through the replacement wheel sets in the clear plastic tubes with the black tops. I found 2 sets of new wheels (black) out of 50 or so. The new wheels have ...

CYRB, Here are some details on how we do the judging, # of judges, etc. 1) We do the official weigh-in on Friday night. We have our most experienced dad doing the check-in inspection, our computer operator entering cars into the Grand Prix software, and another parent doing the weigh-in and checking...

CYRB, I posted a few thoughts in the "First time running the race" thread, copied here: 1) We weigh-in the night before the race. We have plenty of experienced dads with tools to make every cub's car legal. The car that needs the most work to become legal gets the coveted "Golden Dril...