Derby Worx Tools WANTED!

[TedBull]

Hi there everyone. We are in our first year of PWD with my son being a Tiger cub. I am looking into getting myself setup with some Derby Worx tools, graphite, tungston, sand paper, polish, etc, everything needed to build quality cars for the years to come. If you have spares or are getting out of the hobby and can give a guy a decent deal please send me a PM.

Here are some of the items I am looking for:

Pro-Hub Tool
Axle Extraction Pliers
Pro-Axle Press II
Pro-Rail Rider Tool
Axle Install Support
Cobalt Split-Point #44 Drill Bit
Wheel Alignment Tool
Incra 6 Inch Precision Bend Rule
Pro wheel mandrel
Wheel gap tool
Pipe cleaners
Bore polish
Axle polish
Fine grits of sandpaper
Tungsten round
Tungsten cyclinders

Thanks for looking.

Ted

[rpcarpe]

Sorry Ted,
I just bought almost all those from another DT'er!
We've built up our tool kit a little at a time. Please allow me to point you to some alternate sources/methods.
Not all of these are the Best Thing in the World... but will help you and the Cub to make progress.

Pro-Hub Tool - can't think of a cheap substitute, maybe a super small and sharp Exacto knife
Axle Extraction Pliers - Coat needle nose pliers with masking tape to avoid messing up the axle heads
Pro-Axle Press II - Check axle not bent, not needed. Can bend axles with hammer & screwdriver, or drill press.
Pro-Rail Rider Tool - can bend by eye/hand
Axle Install Support - ?? what is this?
Cobalt Split-Point #44 Drill Bit - Available at Lowe's or Home Depot
Wheel Alignment Tool - Plastic alignment tool available at Scout store
Incra 6 Inch Precision Bend Rule - Not truly needed, good ruler will suffice
Pro wheel mandrel - no substitute
Wheel gap tool - Use four business cards glued together
Pipe cleaners - available at any tobacco store
Bore polish - AIM brand toothpaste, or any kind with hydrated silica
Axle polish - watered down car wax can work
Fine grits of sandpaper - available from 320-3000 at most auto parts stores. Might have to ask them to order in 3000.
Tungsten round - sorry, no substitute
Tungsten cylinders - available at Hobby Lobby at 40% off. Or melt down some lead from wheel weights at your local tire store. You can use a simple propane torch and a big stainless steel spoon to melt about a few oz of lead

When I started in 2008, I only had a Drill press and belt sander and a wheel mandrel. Still won.
Do a few simple things very well and learn as you go.

[TedBull]

I saw the thread were you snagged up that sweet list of tools. I missed that by two weeks. My son and I built and ran one car for the new scout derby a local pack put on last month for fun and we did pretty well. The car finished first in the two heats of double elimination and then took sixth in the finals. I didnt realy do any reasearch and relied on my memory from when my dad and I had built my car. I melted the lead using a tin can and a small gas backpacking stove, But I put all the weight in the front. Doh. And I used a pinecar mandrel from the hobby shop (junk) to try and true up and smooth the wheels with sandpaper (mistake).

Thanks for the alternative info, however with this being our first year with many more to come I am hoping to find a sweet deal like you did and get ourselves setup with derby specific tools that we will use for the years ahead. I do have a cheapo drill press that will have to do, no bandsaw thought.

If you hear of anyone letting go of their collection please let me know. I am going to hold out a couple more days before I go ahead and pay full price to an online vendor for some of those items. We have our packs derby in march and their is a parents class so we will be building two cars.

Ted

[Speedster]

Hi Ted. Welcome to Derbytalk.
Might I suggest you buy Troy Thorne's new book, Building The Fastest PINEWOOD DERBY CAR. It will give you a lot of good information quickly and I think your son will love the pictures. It is available on Amazon.

[FatSebastian]

If you hear of anyone letting go of their collection please let me know.

Ted! FWIW, from time to time you can also find collections of derby stuff on ebay and craigslist. Sometimes it takes a little creative searching, as these collections might be hard to identify by their title.

In addition to the above advice from rpcarpe and Speedster, you might also find this thread and this thread interesting, which attempt to discuss the prioritizing of tool purchases. You can probably find more threads like this with the DT search engine.

[TedBull]

Thanks for the info guys. I bought the "Speed to the finish" booklet from Maximum velocity to get a general idea of setup, but found that most if not all of that info was already out there. I may purchase another book in the future, but figure I can get alot of good info here and by practice. I check Ebay and craigslist dailey, I have not found another forum or source for PWD classifieds. Are there any others?

[FatSebastian]

I ... found that most if not all of that info was already out there.

This is true of just about every book, but especially digital "speed-tips" pamphlets. Still, MaxV doesn't really steer the first-time builder wrong, which cannot be said for many of the ebooks out there based on outdated (or misguided) information. Also, I feel MaxV's pamphlet may include more explanatory physics than Building the Fastest Pinewood Derby Car, yet the latter is more finely illustrated and detailed regarding construction techniques, and is a physical book that a child can handle. It is therefore a good value, especially if you don't already have another source of consolidated information.

[TedBull]

Im still looking guys. Hoping to find a good set of tools before monday. I cant wait any longer than that (Derby is march 1st) and will have to buy what I can online.

[TedBull]

Thank you to everyone who read this thread and replied. I did not find the pre owned lot at a sweet price I was hoping for.

I ended up ordering from Maximum-Velocity and Winderby. Should be enough to get me started. Randy at Max V was very helpfull on the phone.

Now I am flat broke now but will probably be looking for a Derby Work outer hub shaver, a wheel shaver, and maybee a pro body jig in a few weeks. If you have those to sell let me know.

Ted.

[rpcarpe]

Good luck on the races, and on the tool collecting!
If I weren't using my tools so much this month, I'd send a set for loaners.

If you start looking for more tools, I keep a spreadsheet of most dealers and their offerings.

[TedBull]

I am still looking for a derby worx wheel shaver

and a derby worx outer hub shaver.