Dawes Family Cars for 2013

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xanthrum
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Dawes Family Cars for 2013

Post by xanthrum »

Here are the 6 cars that we have made so far for this years Pinewood Derby Season... They are all very consistent and the closest set of cars we have ever made... any one of them can beat the other with the exception of "Percy the Train" - although very fast... it is just running on heavier wheels than the others... We essentially swept our Pack races and are now on to Districts and hope to do well enough that we are able to run in the Qualified Scout Division at the http://www.midamericaderby.com - We have about 5 or 7 more cars to build for the Mid America Pinewood Derby 3 for the Mid America Stock Division and 2 for the Modified Division and possibly 2 for the Open Scout Division. The coolest thing is that the Kidos are really getting into all the steps and understanding of what goes into making an exceptional car... I hope all of you are having as much fun as we are this year building and racing cars...


Link to Photo Album
https://plus.google.com/u/0/11734449227 ... 3fEGrU9v5p
Greg Dawes
Mid-America Pinewood Derby
http://www.midamericaderby.com
midamericaderby@yahoo.com
(402) 659-1714
Speedster
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Re: Dawes Family Cars for 2013

Post by Speedster »

Gorgeous cars !!!! Are one of those going in the Open Division - Adult? I'd like to keep an eye out for it.
rpcarpe
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Re: Dawes Family Cars for 2013

Post by rpcarpe »

Nice!
What's the source for the fender sets?
My wife started a new support group... Widows of the Pinewood Derby.
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sporty
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Re: Dawes Family Cars for 2013

Post by sporty »

I believe they are from this vender.

http://shop.derbyevolution.com/main.sc" target="_blank
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Re: Dawes Family Cars for 2013

Post by xanthrum »

The car with the red fenders - flames - along with the "mom" car will both be in the open adult division -- I have to warn you that my wife's car is faster than mine... and actually all the fenders from those cars were hand made -- I have tried some of Derby Evolution fenders but I have had much better luck using my drill press and sanding - in working with fenders. So those would be from the Dawes custom shop.
Greg Dawes
Mid-America Pinewood Derby
http://www.midamericaderby.com
midamericaderby@yahoo.com
(402) 659-1714
rpcarpe
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Re: Dawes Family Cars for 2013

Post by rpcarpe »

Wow! They're SO uniform... I would have thought otherwise.
Balsa wood or ???
My wife started a new support group... Widows of the Pinewood Derby.
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sporty
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Re: Dawes Family Cars for 2013

Post by sporty »

You did a pretty darn good job on them.

Y aI was guessing either evo, or space walker fenders.

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Re: Dawes Family Cars for 2013

Post by Scrollsawer »

They look nice! If I had to guess, I'd say Nellie Faye and standard fenders, and [no advertising for this vendor] bodies (or looks just like them).

Overall, great assemblies!

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xanthrum
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Re: Dawes Family Cars for 2013

Post by xanthrum »

I am very good friends with both Evo (steve) and [no advertising for this vendor] (dale) - the way we constructed these fenders is way easier to work with -- here is what we do... I start with a 1/2'' to 3/4'' piece of balsa... I use a fostner drill bit in my drill press - 1 1/4'' -- drill has to be going on a high RPM - then I create using a simple straight edge a line that conects how far I want to wrap around the wheel a triangle. I then use this as my pattern for each of the other fenders we cut... we cut the balsa with a Disc Cutter on my dremel but I have also had excellent results just using a razor blade... then we my kids help... using our belt sander begin to shape each fender - lots of finishing touches done by hand.. you will notice that our fenders are a lot longer then the ones that Evolution or [no advertising for this vendor] sells... they are all solid pieces not layered -- I have tried using thiers but the epoxy that you use to glue them together just doesnt work well for us... we like solid better.

The bodies are simple too we just cut 3/8'' or so planks off the top of our Grand Prix derby Kits... we then drill all the axle holes -- this year I bought a Proxon and The Silver Bullet... made making the axle holes awesome but we began work on the Percy Train Car and the Fender "Nelly Faye Type Car" before I recieved the Proxon so -- we have always used the Pro Axle Jig from Derby Worx to make the axles I take a 7/32'' drill bit and lay it snug against one side fo the Jig (sliding the jig together so that both ends of the drill bit rest on the jig) clamp it down making sure the side of the car where we are going to drill our canted axle is as all the way down and perfectly lined up with our measurements... We ONLY use a PIN VISE to drill the axle holes we then reverse the bit to the other side and we have two perfectly canted rear axles... and go perfectly straight using the jig for the FDW and we lift the NDW. We then use a drill press to drill several holes where we are going to form our weight pockets - clean everything out with the dremel using a cutter bit and then on to the belt sander shaping the cars into what the boys want we go VERY thin in our mid section of the cars down to about 1/8''

We currently seem to be able to build some fast cars and our progress is evident in the results of last years Mid America Pinewood Derby... The boys were each 1st in thier Rank - and 3rd and 4th overall in the Scouts Divsion -- 5Kids and Nelson cars beat us... last year in the scout ranks... My little guy was 3rd in the Kids Division behind the 2 - 5Kids Racing Cars... My car was 3rd in the Adult Division - Wife was 5th... and I even had 4 cars that I ran in the Pro Division and learned alot making those cars... oil is a different animal... I was not in the running of the pro division but not too far off.

It is amazing each time you build a car your skills improve...
Greg Dawes
Mid-America Pinewood Derby
http://www.midamericaderby.com
midamericaderby@yahoo.com
(402) 659-1714
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Re: Dawes Family Cars for 2013

Post by Speedster »

Are the 2 cars going in the Open Adult Division stock wheelbase cars?
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xanthrum
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Re: Dawes Family Cars for 2013

Post by xanthrum »

One is Stock Wheel Base the other is not... you should be able to tell from the pictures which is which... Extended Wheel Bases are allowed
Greg Dawes
Mid-America Pinewood Derby
http://www.midamericaderby.com
midamericaderby@yahoo.com
(402) 659-1714
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Re: Dawes Family Cars for 2013

Post by gowings23 »

What kind of balsa did you use and where did you purchase it? I found a block of balsa at a hobby store, but there's no way it would be strong enough to cut fenders and then paint them.
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Re: Dawes Family Cars for 2013

Post by xanthrum »

Our first batch of Balsa we purchased at Hobby Lobby... it was in a bag of assorted Balsa pieces... and now have gone to getting our balsa at Hobby Town USA -- I have never noticed a different in the strenght of the balsa, it is very lightweight and you have to carefully handle it - once we have the fenders shaped we use 5 minute epoxy to position them on the car
Greg Dawes
Mid-America Pinewood Derby
http://www.midamericaderby.com
midamericaderby@yahoo.com
(402) 659-1714
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