If last night is an indication..

[CM924]

What I am doing this year is having the boys attend a workshop being put on by Lowe's and Dremel. I have talked with the guy that gives the shop and he will be going over the basics of design, polishing axels, etc. Maybe next year I can offer more, but this is my first time on the merry-go-round too, so better for me to learn the lessons myself before I go exposing my expertise

[Jomo]

I was so happy when my boy said that he wanted to join the Scouts because I thought he would make some new friends and learn lots of cool stuff that maybe I couldn't teach him but I'm realizing that we are a team and WE are learning together. He has only been in the Scouts for about six months and we've become even closer in that time. I'm glad he wanted to join.
CM, did you see the Dremel Pinewood car kit at Lowes?? My son wanted it because it came in a cool car shaped box, but I was the bad guy, I said buddy, for twenty something bucks, we could get something much cooler for our Pine car off the internet!
Can you give me some information on the workshop? Might be a chance for us to meet.

[chesspupil]

Get on the internet and search too. There are a few sites that leak out enough info that you won't need the books, besides, this forum is like a book that gives back answers!

[CM924]

Jomo

Lowe's (at least the one closest to me) is doing the workshop every Tuesday evening through Feb. 26th. I have my Pack scheduled to attend the one next Tues. Feb. 5th in Smyrna. It is at the corner of Sam Ridley and Old Nashville Hwy.

I am sure there will be several boys wanting that car kit too however our District rules are very clear that the car must be built from the official BSA kit. I plan to make it very clear to everyone at the Pack meeting this week too. I don't want to DQ anyone at the derby for this.

I also made sure the guy at Lowe's knows this as I am sure that part of the idea behind the workshop is to drive sales. I didn't want any uncomfortable moments during his presentation if he planned to push their kit.

[chad9229]

Tips on the pinewood derby are alot like your yard, everyone has there own idea on how to make your grass green. The same with building a car.
There is always a different way to make your car fast.
You can have a tip that will make your car fast and there will be at least 3 to 4 people dispute your speed tip.

So it just depends on trial and error. Take all of these tips and try them out. If they don't work for you, try something different.

My son and I have incorporated many speed tips and still we can't get over that 2nd place hump. It also depends on your pack competition.

[Stan Pope]

Tips on the pinewood derby are alot like your yard, everyone has there own idea on how to make your grass green. The same with building a car.
There is always a different way to make your car fast.

But the "different ways" boil down to doing things to the car that eliminate most of the car's energy losses.

The problem with "tips" is that they typically address one aspect or one dimension of a multidimensional problem. Each dimension has its own scale of losses to inflict upon your little car. And, generally, as you improve your skills on a dimension you find that you get less and less of an improvement for equal amounts of additional work.

The trick with using tips is to pick the tip that applies to your car's worst performance-degrading fault. That is where you pick up the most benefit for the given work. And, after you have found it and fixed it ... oops, now there is another "worst fault".

Two typical difficult "dimensions" are "wheel vibration" and "wheel alignment". Each independently drags down your car's performance. So you "go to alignment school" and learn to align 'em perfectly. Car is faster now, but still can't beat Johnny. Wasted effort? No. Just changed which fault is worst. But if you figured out somehow that wheel vibration was your new worst fault, you could learn how to turn wheels with lower runout and how to balance them better. And you do that. Car is faster now, but still can't beat Johnny. Wasted effort? No. Just changed which fault is worst!

One way is to learn all you can about all aspects of the physics of PWD and to compare what you do with the "ideal cases" that physics talks about. Guestimate which of those you are farthest from approaching and what the likely associated loss is. Then rifle through the pile of "tips" for those that seem to address the issue. Or go learn more about that aspect ... e.g. how to make wheel with smoother bores or lower runout or etc.

Another way is to watch your car carefully as it rolls down the track. Where is it losing ground on the competition? Does it move in any way that might cause it to lose energy? Does make an excessive amount of noise? Take your observations back to the drawing board and try to identify the relevant knowledge of physics that bear on your observations. As estimate your deviation from the ideal situation that physics lives on.

It is easy to say to strengthen the weakest link in your performance chain. It is much harder to figure out which link that is. And it is an unending hassle to realize that each time you repair a link there is another that is now the weakest.

That is the joy and the frustration of PWD racing!