Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Links to cool non-commercial derby or regatta websites or web pages!
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Stan Pope
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Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by Stan Pope »

Recent addition to PWD Racing WebRing:
"Grandpa" tells about PWD engineering. Interesting and different!

http://www.goaskgrandpa.com/sample01.htm
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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by gpraceman »

Glad to see the ring growing :D

Please keep on letting us know when new sites are added.
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Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
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Stan Pope
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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by Stan Pope »

gpraceman wrote:Glad to see the ring growing
Most sites that submit fall far short of criteria. Most lack even one "nugget" that would make the visitor glad he stopped to look at it.

Still looking for quality rather than quantity.
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Da Graphite Kid
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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by Da Graphite Kid »

Stan,
We all appreciate the strick requirements for the PWD Racing WebRing, so keep up the good work guys!

I've been to Garndpa's site before and it is very interesting. What do you think about using an isolated or flexible weight? I would like to try a flex chasis but so far have not been able to find out if it would be allowed at our District race.

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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by gpraceman »

Stan Pope wrote:Still looking for quality rather than quantity.
Don't get me wrong. I fully agree with keeping the bar high for new sites to be added.
Randy Lisano
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Awana Grand Prix and Pinewood Derby racing - Where a child, an adult and a small block of wood combine for a lot of fun and memories.
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Stan Pope
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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by Stan Pope »

Yes, we don't want the really good stuff to be too hard to find.

On the "flexible weight" my jury is still out. Some question as to whether i know enough physics to reach reasoned conclusion.
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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by asatxj »

It seems to me that the flex chassis will only benefit if the track surface is rough. We are encouraging track builders/owners to make them as smooth as possible. I would like some data driven info on the short wheelbase stuff found on Grandpa's site.
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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by Sssnake »

We built a variation on the flex chassis this year. It is a wedge with the flex members in the top plane. The side flex members that carry the rear wheels are actually shaped like angle iron for incresed strength. After all carving and routing the body weighed in at .43 oz. We used my Trim Brite chrome on the car and coned the body with a semi-sperically indented dremel grinding stone, then burnished the chrome into the cuts to form semi-spherical chromed axle mounting hole locations. We added just over 4 oz of tungsten. This design may or may not perform, I don't know, so we built a conventional wedge/rail car (?), where we routed out the entire inside to a thickness of 1/16 to 1/32 of an inch, this formed the channel I mentioned in another post. The weight in this car is also mounted in a closed sell foam envelope with the bottom closure plate just below the rear axles. We intend to run these cars early tomorrow morning to decide which to race. BTW the pack races are tomorrow also.
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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by Gavin Chafin »

Question: How come Grandpa didn't post the results for his 2003 race? Or is it there and I'm missing it?
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Alex
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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by Alex »

I experimented using Gradpas flex designs. It did not work for me in practice, I ran aginst some of my own cars many times. His design does not allow you to lower the CM as far as possible for one thing. And I found it hard to align my flex car well. I wonder how good the competition he runs against is? I thank Grandpa for having such an interesting website. Has anyone else had success with his type of cars? Alex post was reviewed by Dad, Neil
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Cory
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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by Cory »

Alex wrote:I wonder how good the competition he runs against is?
I've wondered the same thing, Alex. I also wonder what kind of track he runs on -- bumpy versus smooth, length of runout, etc.
Alex wrote:Has anyone else had success with his type of cars?
I built one for this race season. On our aluminum track -- very smooth overall, very smooth joints -- it did not perform as well as more conventional cars I'd made in the past. I might have made it more flexible than I needed to for one thing -- I wonder if that might hurt more than it helped. The CM was very high, I'm sure it made my car slower.
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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by twojakes »

Although the Grandpa site is intersting, I did not appreciate "Grandpa's" comment mocking the statement that it was better for a child to feel good about his derby car design because it will be remembered by him long after the winner's name is forgotten. "Grandpa's" response was "who comes up with this stuff?"

The truth is, in most Packs of 60, only 7-9 kids, at best, go home with trophies. The rest go home with the pleasure of designing a car they enjoyed making, hopefully sharing the experience with their parent along the way.

While most active participants to this forum have found a great deal of success at the pack and district level, for most people, that's not the case. My last year in Cub Scouts as a child, I really wanted to make an 18 Wheeler truck designed derby car. My Dad counseled against it, but let me pursue my design. We won fastest in my Den (I was thrilled), and came in 5th in the Pack. Trophies only went to the top three finishers. Although I did not leave with a trophy that day, I still have my "Truck", which sits in my library as a prized possession. Oh, and I truly don't know who won that day.

Point being, there's a lot more to the derby than trophies, and I see this point being made often on this forum, that it really is about the kids. It's fine to be competitive and "do your best", it's just not necessary to demean others in the process.

[Gets off soap box].

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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by clemsontigerfanatic »

Grandpa you are still the man!
I wish more photos were posted.
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Alex
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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by Alex »

Stan Pope wrote:Yes, we don't want the really good stuff to be too hard to find.

On the "flexible weight" my jury is still out. Some question as to whether i know enough physics to reach reasoned conclusion.
Stan, I concur with your thought. I've read and reread Grandpa's article many times. I'm certainly not a trained physitist and don't have any where close to Grandpa's wisdom. But my thought is(and don't ask me where those come from most of the time) that any thing moving in the car in a legal way is using energy to make it move. I comprehend the concept that Grandpa is utilizing but the benefits would be out weighed by the negatives. One thing is for sure, Chuck is a really nice guy and a real great thinker. My Dad is not one that brags, but he said it was alright for me to say this. On a "level playing field" he would like to see Grandpa beat him on a typical 28 to 32 foot wood track, win or lose he would enjoy it.
I have been taught gambling is bad, but if I did and they raced, my money would be on Dad. Having said that as Dad has watched me write it, he ask me to add that very few things are certain. My thoughts could very well be wrong.
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Re: Go Ask Grandpa PineWood Derby

Post by derbygeek »

I've tried flex designs and they haven't worked well for me. Any minor advantage gained by cushioning the weight is overwhelmed by alignment problems. If Grandpa were winning against hundreds of other cars (as others on this site are) that would be different, but I think his competition is limited so his conclusions must be evaluated in that light. He does have some very interesting ideas!
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