Derby Talk

On fixing cars with or for folks... I always explain options then let them choose to do it and whenever possible... teach the Cub to do it. Single parents have shown up w/ hardly a clue... patient explanations and deomonstrations, then let them do the work. If they're aren't comfortable bending axle...

I don't think anyone was overjoyed with how things turned out.
No one wants their kid disqualified, and no one wants their kid to back into First place.

Helping in the Pits... I worked 4 pits so far this year. I only had Super Glue, worked fine. I let the parent/child glue their fingers together. Available weights were zinc, lead and tungsten. I'd loan or sell at no cost the tungsten. Lead and zinc were free. I received nearly as much weight as I ga...

Congrats!

That all looks like excellent work on the lathe. I've been getting by with the hand lathe by Derby Worx. Although I use increasingly fine sandpaper over the blade to finish the wheels. This allows 'lightly sanded' wheels to compete in derbies where they prohibit machined wheels. Does anyone have a c...

No, I don't hold back. Especially when it's for the boys. In late 2008, I loaned my copy of David Meade's book (didn't know about Doc Jobe's BGB yet) to two friends. Showed them my current cars and explained a bit. They both ignored it, and they built slow, slow cars with their kids. In late 2009, I...

One idea I haven't seen here yet is a Team Trophy. Lowest total for a den in the pack. Make it a big traveling trophy. Takes the emphasis off one person guarding their secrets. For more see supertimer.com in the How To Run a Derby section. I think they have some good ideas that I want to try in our ...

Derby Monkey,
Any results back from the cars that started life in your workshop?
If/when these kids are succesful, the word will spread!

According to the inspector/chairman, the graphite clumps/pads were intentionally formed to create a semi-permanent bushing. Apparently one parent had no idea that his method created a bushing, the other Dads admitted using water to achieve this. I'm trying it on my own as well. I don't know what the...

I'm not track owner/expert. But it did. Any race with a lot of pounding on the stage, the times went short. Optical sensors at the finish line, mechanical at the start.
I don't think I closed gate early... it wasn't a huge worry. We just re-ran it, no one argued about it.

Here's my idea to test if Rules are simple enough:
Give a copy of the rules to an 8 yr old. Give them a legal car and an outlaw car.
If they can determine which is which, you've done well.

We used GPRM last weekend at District. Worked fine after I figured out the 'don't close the gate' rule. The pre-testing included fast Dad cars that gave us a good idea what a good car should run. Anything too far from that we re-ran. Also, excessive floor vibration (100 Cubs pounding the stage durin...

Hopefully, simplifying the rules means the end to tear down inspections. Catch the problems at check-in. Tear downs just smack of "we think you were cheating, because you had a faster car, so we will put the car under a microscope until we prove it!" IMO, that is a witch hunt. Exactly! Th...

Try the Jewkes brothers!

I had no idea that the results from one District would stir up so much discussion! Teeman, I'd like to talk before I attend the PWD Follow up meeting next Tuesday. Please e-mail me through my profile. I'm going to try a couple of different ways to make the graphite pads inside the wheel bore. So tha...