Stock Block

Show off your cool vehicle designs and track burning speedsters!
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millettbbc
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Stock Block

Post by millettbbc »

Okay, so last year I had talked about building a "sleeper" car and calling it the "Stock Block". I have begun the masterpiece. The idea is to make a car that looks like a block right out of the box but is designed for speed. I know the aerodynamics is against me but I hope to have everything else perfect to make up for it. If I will it will be hilarious, if I lose I'll look like an idiot. Either way: I'm having fun.

Here is the top and bottom seperate. You can see that the top is actually make of thin sheets of balsa from hobby lobby.
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Here is a similar shot but the cover is the other way up.
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Here it is in transition.
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Here it is put together - Top view.
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Here is the bottom when put together.
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I am open to any ideas to make this thing fast other than the usual.
Last edited by millettbbc on Tue Jul 07, 2009 11:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Rod Turnbull
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Re: Stock Block

Post by Rod Turnbull »

Have you considered Pixie Dust? :scratching:
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millettbbc
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Re: Stock Block

Post by millettbbc »

Great idea! ... and while it goes down the track I'll hold up a picture of a cheeseburger to ensure happy thoughts!
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gpraceman
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Re: Stock Block

Post by gpraceman »

Reminds me of my "Gold Brick" car.

http://grandprix-race-central.com/modul ... itemId=768

It won 1st place in speed in the Open division. You can't see the bottom of the car, so looks can be deceiving. There's very little wood there. I did use a bit of balsa in the rear, underneath, to bring the weights down more to the axle plane.
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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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millettbbc
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Re: Stock Block

Post by millettbbc »

Thanks for sharing g-man. this is encouraging to know it can certainly be done. I am hope to have as good of results as you did.
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Pinewood Daddy
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Re: Stock Block

Post by Pinewood Daddy »

I made a Block car a few years ago. I cut a 1/4" slab of pine, milled out pockets for the weight and added a 1/4" balsa wood shell over it.

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millettbbc
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Re: Stock Block

Post by millettbbc »

I made a Block car a few years ago
So, how did you do?
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Re: Stock Block

Post by Pinewood Daddy »

It came in second to my extended wheelbase car. It wasn't as fast as I had hoped but I didn't spend much time on prep & alignment. It was fast enough to beat anything else there. I'm going to fix it up and run it in the Open class this year. I ran it with a bunch of other cars we have for untimed races on Tiger Recruitment night last month. Again it beat almost all the cars we've built. A little better prep & alignment should make it a screamer!
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PinewoodTopia
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Re: Stock Block

Post by PinewoodTopia »

I have to admit, this is a concept I have not warmed up to yet, perhaps I am to focused on molding the block into something and a majority of my energy is on that process, to remove that, a foreign concept for me to a degree. With that said, I am intregued by what you are doing here, I am really curious to see your results, magnificent as always I am sure.
Out of graphite and sawdust come million $ cars and priceless memories.
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Re: Stock Block

Post by Pinewood Daddy »

The BLOCK car is just an exercise to show that aerodynamics isn't a big part of what makes a fast car. After taking a lot of time to make "cool" looking cars we've made 1/4" slab cars the last 2 years. There are just too many other things (non-PWD related) that need to be done.
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Da Graphite Kid
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Re: Stock Block

Post by Da Graphite Kid »

I did the same thing only a little differently but basically for the same reason: to show that a pine block can be fast too! When the race schedule would show only two cars racing I would let one of the Cubs pick one of the cars I built to race against. After a year of doing this they got wise and started selecting some of the cars that did not look like they would go so fast. The next year I took a pine block and milled out all of the unneeded wood. Basically it was an empty shell when viewed from below (except for where the axle slots were) but looked like a plain ole’ pine block with wheels on it when viewed from above. I didn’t have any thin balsa sheeting at the time and was really short on building time, so I Dremeled it for a while. The car was picked to race against a few times before the boys figured out that it may look dull, plain and slow but it was smoking fast! I had several comments from the adults there as well. I could have thinned the wood much more than I did but it was all built the night before the race. I’ll have to look on my PC at home to see if I have any pics of it as I destroyed it the next year when I robbed the tungsten out of it for another car.

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Re: Stock Block

Post by 10range »

I am wondering what the block ended up weighing before adding any weight?
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FatSebastian
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Re: Stock Block

Post by FatSebastian »

10range wrote: Mon Jan 11, 2010 7:14 amI am wondering what the block ended up weighing before adding any weight
Apologies, I know this is a very old thread, but I built a "Stock Block" type car not too long ago of the type described by Da Graphite Kid (i.e., a block milled hollow, rather than a plank with a balsa shell, so that it truly mimicked an out-of-the-box block). It was something I always wanted to try. The result weighed just under 1.5 ounces; however, I started with an usually lightweight block (under 3 ounces).

If you divide the weight (mass) of the block by 15-5/16 cu in. (nominal volume of a PWD block), you can estimate the block's average density. You can then predict the weight of the milled-out final block by multiplying that density by the volume of wood expected to remain after milling. My feeling was that at least 3/16" thicknesses on all sides, and 1/4" thicknesses on each side of the axle holes / slots, were needed to maintain structural integrity. Thereby I figured I could never remove more than 2/3 of the wood's weight. Practically speaking, 50% weight reduction is achievable without too much work. One reaches a point where to you don't want to damage the wooden shell by overworking it or thinning it too much...
Last edited by FatSebastian on Mon May 23, 2022 6:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Stock Block

Post by Pinewood Daddy »

WOW!! I haven't posted in over 11 years!!

I'm pretty sure all our cars are in a bin about 4 feet from me, but they are buried from every angle. That's assuming I kept all of them. I was really burned out after 7 years of PWD!! Once I figured out how to make a fast car the challenge was gone. I think I could build a top 3 car in half an hour.

I graduated to fixing vintage acoustic guitars. A bit more challenging. I started fixing them for customers. They aren't something you can get at Walmart or Amazon if I screw it up! I'm getting burned out with that too. I need to learn how to play more.

What does this have to do with PWD?? Every hobby is a challenge. Until you figure out the magic, then it's just a job. And you more on to something else. But I enjoyed the challenge of PWD for a few years.
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Re: Stock Block

Post by FatSebastian »

Pinewood Daddy wrote: Mon May 23, 2022 6:01 pmWOW!! I haven't posted in over 11 years!! .... But I enjoyed the challenge of PWD for a few years.
:offtopic: About seven years for me. With no more children of racing age, PWD is now more about assisting with an occasional organizational race. It presents different challenges, with different rewards.

I checked my numbers and the block was 2.89 oz and the milled-out weight was 1.30 oz so that is a weight reduction of 55%. YMMV, but it is a point of reference.
Last edited by FatSebastian on Mon May 23, 2022 7:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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