Search found 1812 matches

by Darin McGrew
Fri Oct 17, 2003 11:35 am
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Losing speed on the flat...
Replies: 24
Views: 27281

Re: Losing speed on the flat...

In MSIE, you can fix this by selecting the Tools > Internet Options... > General > Accessibility... > Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages Thansk... and if I adjust the view properly, it actually fits on the screen! Yeah, the design of the HTML and CSS of this BBS leaves something to be desired...
by Darin McGrew
Thu Oct 16, 2003 6:17 pm
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Losing speed on the flat...
Replies: 24
Views: 27281

Re: Losing speed on the flat...

(Hope ai didn't make too many typos... the print is almost too small to proofread! I may have to borrow Great Aunt Millie's big magnifying glass!) That's because the BBS software specifies font sizes in pixels, rather than using the font size your browser is configured to use. In MSIE, you can fix ...
by Darin McGrew
Thu Oct 16, 2003 11:19 am
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Results!
Replies: 5
Views: 7517

Re: Results!

My son finished 3rd out of about 20 cars. Congratulations! On the fourth place finish he started off strong--was right in the middle of the pack--and then his car hit a lip or something at the bottom of the hill just before the flat stretch and it jumped the track and it never finished. Not that it...
by Darin McGrew
Mon Oct 13, 2003 1:13 pm
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Cheater Bar
Replies: 42
Views: 47133

Re: Cheater Bar

Can someone please fix the Derby Talk software so that it doesn't send nonstandard character codes for "smart quotes" and other characters? For example, instead of I’d like your guy’s opinion on this. I end up seeing I[]d like your guy[]s opinion on this. where "[]" is a single &...
by Darin McGrew
Mon Oct 13, 2003 12:10 pm
Forum: Do-It-Yourself
Topic: http://pinewood.hmpg.net/ Electronics...
Replies: 6
Views: 11577

Re: http://pinewood.hmpg.net/ Electronics...

It used to have spring steel switches that the car pushed down to close. Sometimes the heavily rear weighted cars would go airborn after hitting the switches. Now with the photodiodes nothing touches the car and it works sweet. Another advantage of the photodiode-based finish gates is that they mea...
by Darin McGrew
Thu Oct 09, 2003 3:09 pm
Forum: General Car/Truck Racer Topics
Topic: Weight and Distribution
Replies: 11
Views: 16268

Re: Weight and Distribution

When I'm gluing parts on the car, I really don't like to start gluing a second part on until the first is either set or clamped. The exception might be for two parts that need to be positioned relative to each other, but even then I'd rather finish one before starting the next. So my preferred optio...
by Darin McGrew
Thu Oct 09, 2003 2:50 pm
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Wheel Offset
Replies: 2
Views: 5645

Re: Wheel Offset

I wanted to raise one of my front wheels so that the car has less friction (running on 3 wheels). How far should I raise it off a flat surface--the width of a sheet of paper, the thickness of a dime, or more? It needs to be high enough that it doesn't touch the surface of the track during the race,...
by Darin McGrew
Wed Oct 08, 2003 6:49 pm
Forum: Car & Semi-Truck Construction
Topic: Sanding the Wheels
Replies: 9
Views: 10990

Re: Sanding the Wheels

Does anyone??? know if you can you use the Pro-Wheel Shaver with a rotary tool? IIRC, a typical hand drill turns at several hundred RPM. My rotary tool turns at 1000-5000 RPM. It might work to use a rotary tool at a low speed (1000 RPM), but I wouldn't use one at a high speed except maybe for a fin...
by Darin McGrew
Wed Oct 08, 2003 2:21 pm
Forum: Commercial
Topic: Aluminum Tracks
Replies: 29
Views: 36481

Re: Aluminum Tracks

I also hope their start gate design is not the same as with their wooden track. As I posted in another thread, their current design lead to too much variability in the speed of dropping the starting pins. I was surprised the first time I saw printed plans for building a derby track. Most of the pla...
by Darin McGrew
Wed Oct 08, 2003 11:24 am
Forum: General Car/Truck Racer Topics
Topic: Weight and Distribution
Replies: 11
Views: 16268

Re: Weight and Distribution

Another option is a cyanoacrylate glue. They set quickly, are strong, and are easy to use. Look for one that can be used on wood and that can fill small gaps between the pieces to be joined.
by Darin McGrew
Tue Oct 07, 2003 3:25 pm
Forum: General Car/Truck Racer Topics
Topic: Weight and Distribution
Replies: 11
Views: 16268

Re: Weight and Distribution

I am a complete novice at pinewood derby. Between my son and I we came up with a plan to add weights at race time, (based on the calibration of the scale at the race) using magnets. He/we built a pickup and in the bed glued four round magnets (looks like cargo). That takes our weight up to 4 oz. Wi...
by Darin McGrew
Tue Oct 07, 2003 12:25 pm
Forum: General Coordinator Topics
Topic: Other Event Types?
Replies: 6
Views: 9950

Re: Other Event Types?

A couple other ideas that I just remembered... Egg Drops Build a capsule (either using any materials desired, or using only specified materials) to protect an egg from breaking when it is dropped. Size is usually limited (e.g., must fit in a 6" cube). One egg drop I saw used the end of a set of...
by Darin McGrew
Mon Oct 06, 2003 5:50 pm
Forum: General Coordinator Topics
Topic: Other Event Types?
Replies: 6
Views: 9950

Other Event Types?

Besides the car/truck derbies, sailboat races, and space derbies, what other types of events are you familiar with? Some CSB units have held Shape N Sled Derbies, which are something of a "winter" twist on the sailboat races. Raingutters are packed with snow, and miniature sleds race down ...
by Darin McGrew
Mon Oct 06, 2003 11:31 am
Forum: General Car/Truck Racer Topics
Topic: Staging the car
Replies: 12
Views: 16294

Re: Staging the car

Oh, I see. I first thought you had a 6 or 7 foot drop from the starting line. It makes more sense that the entire track is elevated and that the drop is more normal... about 4 feet. IIRC, it's about a 6-foot drop. The starting gate is about 7 feet high, and the level section of the track is about a...
by Darin McGrew
Mon Oct 06, 2003 1:16 am
Forum: General Car/Truck Racer Topics
Topic: Staging the car
Replies: 12
Views: 16294

Re: Staging the car

With our current track, it would be impractical. The experienced adult has to stand on a raised platform (about 2' high) to be able to reach the starting gate. No, we didn't think about things like that until after the track was completed. :-( Too bad. Oh, well, you have more ideas on how to design...