Derby Talk

You seem to be asking about two issues here, the physical award and the award categories. Anyway, here are a few of the ways we've done it. trophies: Fastest Car, Best Design of Show medals: 2nd through 4th Fastest Car, Best Automobile Design, Best Unusual Design, Best Finish & Detail When we've...

How do you define being the "fastest'? Our track doesn't have a timer. It has a finish gate that gives us first, second, third, and fourth place. We schedule cars in an "approximate round robin" schedule (called "chaotic rotation" on the "race methods" page of my ...

I think that year-to-year consistency in rules interpretation is important to event growth. Even if you aren't concerned about "event growth", it's a good idea to keep things consistent. Improvements (e.g., switching from double elimination to round-robin race schedules) are less of an is...

You can still use a drill press to get straight axle holes without actually drilling a hole. Take an extra axle, cut the head off, and chuck the axle in the drill press. Turn the drill press on and press the spinning axle into the slot. The block is now ready to shape. This is a "clever" ...

I can just see Jr. Chafin lugging around a heavy footstool (with a big battery inside) with 02 gage wires up to his oversized belt buckle. Your going to have to work on the directivity and "beam width" or he will have all 4 carn in the heat and a few track officials stuck to his belt buck...

Our Derby rules state that you must use the slits out of the box (we can?t drill holes). So basically, I?m simply just pushing the nails into the slits. I really don?t know what else you can do. You can still use a drill press to get straight axle holes without actually drilling a hole. Take an ext...

If you can rrange the little extra time, I really encourage such open class competition in the packs ... Gives the kids something else to cheer for, and gives the dads a second creative outlet! And, maybe allows son to get his hands on his car more! :) Agreed. It also gives the dads an easy way to ...

One of these years, I'm going to have to build one of these low-profile speedsters, just to show everyone that I can build fast cars too. Of course, I'll have to wrap the car with a candy bar wrapper, just to make the design interesting...

It isn't quite what you're looking for, but I've seen a sanding bit for Dremel tools that is shaped like a cylinder with a round depression in the end. I have not seen any sanding drum type attachments that would go on a rotary tool. Might you be talking about a tapered steel cutting bit? I just ch...

Hmmm, this would all be so much easier to do if there were a tool already made that could drill the axle hole and cone the car body in one operation. It isn't quite what you're looking for, but I've seen a sanding bit for Dremel tools that is shaped like a cylinder with a round depression in the en...

I suggested that drilling new axle holes would be better but he stated that he had never seen a kit where the axle slots weren't cut straight and that most of the boys would not have access to a drill press to drill axle holes with. This last objection is easy to address: Give everyone access to a ...

Would it be reasonable to assume that the underside of the track around the starting area is unobstructed? For the tracks I'm interested in (Piantedosi of various widths) the answer is "yes", but I'm sure that it would not be true for some tracks. Also, for Piantedosi (and other tracks th...

Oh, yes, another requirement: the gate must be setable and releaseable from either side! The starter needs to be positioned across the track from the audience, and the track orientation can't be dictated by the starting gate! We set up the audience seating in a "U" shape, with the track r...

Do you have any rules for this competition?... e.g. could I add to the angular momentum of the wheels? Could I link a flywheel to the rear wheels? Coule I "power" the car with a stepping motor? etc. Good ideas! My thought was to add a weighted balance that applied a slight drag while the ...

So, what improvements could be made to this design? Portability! Walk in and set up on any track in a short time (e.g. 15 minutes) without altering or disassembling the track. Ideas on how??? (Some were suggested in my cheater bar post.) On any track? Okay... The gate needs to clamp on top of the s...