Thanks for all the help.

[rpcarpe]

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 gave out.

One child/parent team showed up with no weights in the car, they used 2oz tungsten and they won their pack!
Most others showed up 1/4oz or less under weight, showed them some options, let them choose and glue.
Some showed a few tenths of oz over weight. I gave suggestions, let them drill/dremel/remove as they saw fit.
It was fun to help out.

[Kenny]

We separate ranks and the pack generally provides tables with Dremel, Glasses, assorted weights (much of it donated by folks scavenging for it), graphite, and some hot glue guns. We expressly forbid any other glues.

Just out of curiosity, why would you forbid other glues? Hot glue isn't a very good glue for many of the materials used to build derby cars.

This isn't the workshop, this is only on race day at the event itself. The reason we opted for hot glue is the speed at which it can be applied and dried - and while it is hot, it's less hazardous than say CA glue.

With so many cars, it's inevitable that several cars have weight come off during the heats, and we've found that the hot glue on standby has saved the day for lots of kids with no more than a 1 minute delay to racing for emergency repairs. This just wasn't possible with any other solution we've tried. CA with Kicker solvent is also fast, but rather hazardous to many.

Not my call, but can't say I find fault with the practice to be honest. Works very well and it's very cost effective.

K

[Darin McGrew]

With so many cars, it's inevitable that several cars have weight come off during the heats, and we've found that the hot glue on standby has saved the day for lots of kids with no more than a 1 minute delay to racing for emergency repairs. This just wasn't possible with any other solution we've tried. CA with Kicker solvent is also fast, but rather hazardous to many.

We've never had a problem with gel-type CA glue. This year we also had 60-second epoxy on hand, and that worked very well for emergency fixes too. (And both were used to repair failed hot glue bonds.)

[rpcarpe]

I've also determined the gel CA glue to be quick, easy and effective. I've also used electrician's tape to secure small pieces of lead/zinc/tungsten when the car didn't have a pocket for additional weight.

[doct1010]

Race day pressure gel CA. We would try to root out potential problems during inspection. Weight simply glued to top or bottom of car or ornamentation was pointed out to owner as potential problem. We advised them to secure it by better means to insure it remains on car during contact in stop section. Inevitable for some to come loose, CA gel to the rescue.

Over time, with workshops and more expeienced builders this became less of an issue.

[Kenny]

With so many cars, it's inevitable that several cars have weight come off during the heats, and we've found that the hot glue on standby has saved the day for lots of kids with no more than a 1 minute delay to racing for emergency repairs. This just wasn't possible with any other solution we've tried. CA with Kicker solvent is also fast, but rather hazardous to many.

We've never had a problem with gel-type CA glue. This year we also had 60-second epoxy on hand, and that worked very well for emergency fixes too. (And both were used to repair failed hot glue bonds.)[/quote

Never have tried any CA Gels. I'll have to check it out. I do keep a good inventory of several Industrial CA formulations in the fridge for building up aircraft wings and fuses, including rubberized which is pretty amazing stuff. But all of these are pretty gnarly adhesives and not to be trifled with.

If you have hot glue failing, you may be using the wrong glue stick for the task or you have the wrong glue stick for the gun temp you are using. It's not one size fits all.

I do love epoxy for so many things, but never have considered it for the pre-inspection table to be honest.

K

[FatSebastian]

I've also determined the gel CA glue to be quick, easy and effective.

Ditto. It does take just a little longer to completely set versus the conventional CA glue (maybe 30 seconds) - although that can be a good thing.