...but I never really claimed to be a real woodworker either. At least I'm finally doing something in the shop. It's been a LONG winter.

 

So the story first: Oldest grandson will be 7 in about a month and is in the 1st grade. He joined Cub-Scouts at the beginning of the school year. His pack/troop is fairly small 9-10 kids ranging from 6-10 y/o, 1st to 4th? grades, but all from his elementary school (we have 3 in our school district).

 

Anyways, like all good Cub Scouts Packs his is competing in the local Pinewood Derby so a while back we got the kit (well two JIC). This past Friday was the normal meeting day/time but was set aside as a Pinewood workshop. As it had been explained to me, this workshop was to discuss the basics, clarify the local rules, and if a scout wanted or needed access, cut out his car shape and then get ideas and suggestions on how to proceed.

 

We met at the Scoutmaster's house in the workshop which is a rural setting. The workshop included several bench-top type woodworking tools (belt/disc sander, drill presses, a couple of band-saws, 8" table saw as well general hand tools. This shop once served as their truck repair shop (they operate an OTR trucking businesses, mostly grain hauling, but also some flat bed as well). Anyways, some of the dads also brought some additional tools, RO sanders, a couple more band-saws and so forth.

 

Nine boys were in attendance along with at least one parent and a couple of grandparents. Keep in mind it's Friday evening, 6:30 PM after these little guys have been in school all week and now are out for the weekend. I don't need to tell you the level of energy these kids had. The Scout leaders finally got them corralled and quiet long enough to present the flags, Pledge of Allegiance, Scout motto's and creed before total chaos erupted. One of the Scout leaders and one of the dads were working silently at the band-saw station cutting out car shapes and another at the RO station sanding his own entry. One boy, the oldest there, was working with his dad at the weigh station; his car was mostly complete with paint. They just were drilling holes, then adding weights to get as close to the 5 oz max weight limit. IT WAS NOT SAFE FOR ANYONE TO BE AROUND ANYTHING THAT HAD MOVING, SHARP TEETH ON IT!

 

My daughter volunteered me to help two of the leaders take a herd of boys outside that were not currently working on their cars. THEY ALL (boys) came outside. After 35 minutes, it was time to go back in to warm-up a bit. The rest of the dads pretty much had completed cutting the shapes and/or working on their own entry for the Adult class. Well, 35 minutes outside had not sapped these little guys of any of their energy the best I could tell. After about 15 minutes of complete chaos, my daughter and a couple other parents and a couple of the scout leaders herded the little critters up for Round 2 outside.

 

I forget...did I mention  IT WAS NOT SAFE FOR ANYONE TO BE AROUND ANYTHING THAT HAD MOVING, SHARP TEETH ON IT! Anyways, once all the boys were out again, I grabbed my stuff together, talked to the Scoutmaster getting all my questions answered and decided to head out while the coast was clear. A couple of the wives and one grandmother tried to convince me to stay since it was now quiet (someone finally turned off the 135k BTU oil fired salamander) but I opted out. The sames guys were at the band-saws and the one father was still weighing/balancing his kid's entry even though the kid was outside...so the parameters were established in my mind.

 

I'd already found several patterns in PDF files on the inter-web, so I had my grandson choose his car. He also chose one for his Mom for the adult race.

 

Yesterday & today in some spare time while we finally had a little sun and temperatures just above 50 I did this. Thanks in advance for indulgence.

 

Basic kit which included the block of YP.   Grandson chose his car from about 25 patterns I found.

   

 

His car roughed out on the 10" BS. He did watch and I explained to him what/why we're doing. He was in charge of operating the shop vac. The BS had not been used for a few months. I suspect on one cut I had too tight a curve going and the blade popped off with quite a bang. We both jumped. Once I got the cover off, there was a fair build-up of saw-dust so I had him brush then vac and he cleaned it out. Next step was sanding on the OSS. He also operated the shop vac for that operation, helped me with the drum changes on the sander and I let him do a little sanding. We talked about the different drum sizes and why we used them. From there we went to the 6" disc/4x36 belt to work on the car nose a bit. He turned the sander on/off as well as the vac, but watched while I sanded.

  

 

Next up I decided we needed more of a profile so set up a 5/16" round-over bit in the router table. I did let him turn the router on and off. He liked the big Off paddle. By then he wanted to know if it would be OK to go out and play with his brother while it was still daylight.  I finished it up, did a little more sanding and called it an evening last night.

  

 

Today, aside from my other daily duties, I started on his Mom's car. Rough cut-out on the 10" BS. No issues with the blade today.

  

 

Needed to do a little "fine work" before I got out the H-F 1x30 belt sander. I had to stop at this point to PU oldest grand-daughter from tennis practice. I turned that into a 35 minute driving lesson for her which included her backing out of the parking space in front of her peers. That was fun.  Once back, I had a load of laundry to finish and get in the dryer before resuming. More sanding, some chisel work then started profiling on the router table. Oldest grand-son got home from his baseball mini-camp and did come out and help sand for for a bit before dinner. After dinner, I did a little more, shut off the lights and came in. The temperature had dropped from 53^o at 6 PM to 38^o by 8 PM. Forgot to take any more pictures before stopping. As @steven newman says...stay tuned.

 

Adjusting the rabbit ears now....

is this another version of slow TV...

Cut the spoiler off the back.  You don't need any down force.

Many CS Packs have TWO Derbys:  one for the youth and the other for the adults.  In the end, the ugliest Scout car seems to have about the same chance of "winning" as the sleekest adult creation.  Of course, the point is to have the Scout feel the involvement.  My favorite story of competition is one BP wrote:  a Scout Troop competing in whatever, with a prize being a cabbage.  (Translation:  in rural England, a cabbage was worth a piece of used sandpaper)  The merit is in doing one's best; the prize is incidental.  In woodworking, we all know every flaw in every piece we do.  The important thing is we cheerfully start the next project, trying to improve, not discouraged.  Hence, I always respected the Cub Scout motto:  Do Your Best.  64 years later, it still inspires me.

A friend did this for his son. He used my shop for the tools. We polished the nail "axles" to make the super smooth where they fit inside the wheels and also bent the nails up ever so slightly (camber) so the wheels actually had less surface contact with the "road" making less friction. His boy won the races so I guess it helped. 

Put some silicone spray on a rag and rub the wheels down where they will hit the track guides.  Friction is the enemy.

I loved doing the "Pinewood Derby" when I was in Cub Scouts and Webelos!!!

 

My first year I whittled my own design using the pocket knife that my Dad gave me. This knife (which I still have) belonged to my Great Grandfather. I was pretty proud of it and painted it all "Red, White & Blue". In reality it was butt ugly, but my Dad looked at it and  said it was just fine. My car did not come anywhere close to winning, but it did not matter as I had a blast. But my Dad got really ticked off with one of the other Dad's whose son's car won. Come to find out that the Dad in question worked in the Aerospace Industry and designed the car and wind tunneled it and then used some of the high tech space program lubricant for the wheels. That car was so fast that that it was at the finish line before the other cars where halfway down the track. The next 2 years my Dad helped me with a different design and I won one year and came in 3rd in the other. I still have one of my cars in a box at home.

7 hours ago, HandyDan said:

Cut the spoiler off the back.  You don't need any down force.

...can't...oldest grandson "picked" that for his mom...thought the spoiler was kwool.

6 hours ago, PeteM said:

...Many CS Packs have TWO Derbys:  one for the youth and the other for the adults....Of course, the point is to have the Scout feel the involvement.  My favorite story of competition is one BP wrote:  a Scout Troop competing in whatever, with a prize being a cabbage.  (Translation:  in rural England, a cabbage was worth a piece of used sandpaper)... 

Apparently this troop does have an event for both the Scouts and adults...from what I witnessed the other night a couple of the dads are pretty serious about this. I agree, the Scout needs to be involved. This has been good so far with my grandson and I. He seems to be really enjoying "time in the shop." IDK about the cabbage thing as a prize...I'm not much of a cabbage eater unless it's purple cabbage and made into cole slaw...however, genuine German sauerkraut is OK once in a while. If we win a cabbage, will you trade me for some sandpaper. 

6 hours ago, lew said:

A friend did this for his son. He used my shop for the tools. We polished the nail "axles" to make the super smooth where they fit inside the wheels and also bent the nails up ever so slightly (camber) so the wheels actually had less surface contact with the "road" making less friction. His boy won the races so I guess it helped. 

Thanks Lew...when this began, I thought there had to be a You-Tube video or two on the subject...well, there are dozens...maybe dozens of dozens...some guys seem to be quite obsessed. Apparently there are side line businesses that make/sell special wheels, axles, weight kits, car designs...who knew...Even how to cheat w/o getting caught. We can only use items that came in the kit, although nothing states you can't narrow the wheels or reduce weight by drilling hole. Camber is OK as long as all 4 wheels touch...some of the "cheaters" suggest adjusting so only 3 of 4 wheels touch. I had seen a couple videos about filing burrs off the axles (nails) and polishing them so been working on that already.

6 hours ago, HandyDan said:

Put some silicone spray on a rag and rub the wheels down where they will hit the track guides.  Friction is the enemy.

Well the rules state "only dry lubricants allowed e.g. powdered graphite, but that is specifically for event day.  I had thought the same Dan about a wipe down with the silicone and wiping the axle bore with silicone or Johnson's using and a Q-tip. 

6 hours ago, Allen Worsham said:

I loved doing the "Pinewood Derby" when I was in Cub Scouts and Webelos!!!

 

My first year I whittled my own design using the pocket knife that my Dad gave me. This knife (which I still have) belonged to my Great Grandfather. I was pretty proud of it and painted it all "Red, White & Blue". In reality it was butt ugly, but my Dad looked at it and  said it was just fine. My car did not come anywhere close to winning, but it did not matter as I had a blast. But my Dad got really ticked off with one of the other Dad's whose son's car won. Come to find out that the Dad in question worked in the Aerospace Industry and designed the car and wind tunneled it and then used some of the high tech space program lubricant for the wheels. That car was so fast that that it was at the finish line before the other cars where halfway down the track. The next 2 years my Dad helped me with a different design and I won one year and came in 3rd in the other. I still have one of my cars in a box at home.

Same here Allen...I basically carved my first couple...Dad was always working (ran his own business) so little in the way of coaching or encouragement. He was very supportive and involved when I played little league (he loved baseball and was very good in H.S.); but never made it to a football game, wrestling match and only a couple of basketball games. He did teach me ALOT about cars, engines, fishing, hunting/fire-arms, farming and especially home remodeling so all was good. The only wind tunnel here, is stepping outside the door. 

 

Thanks guys for the tips & personal stories...as long as my grandson is involved and learning something makes it worth it. Hopefully it will instill in him to pay it forward down the road when I'm long gone.

So finished them up yesterday after some unexpected challenges, mishaps and unseasonably cold weather. Unfortunately from OP, I didn't do a very good job capturing pics.

They out decent, but far from good, especially the detailing. I did manage to get my daughter's weighing in at 4.99 oz by my newly acquired  H-F digital scale...Grandson's came in less at 4.79 but I guess that is moot.

 

The Scout Master and her husband forgot their "official scales" last night, so took all cars with them...apparently they weigh and add weights to make all cars weigh exactly 5 oz.

 

After both had been "profiled." the square nose on the "Indy car" bothered me. I couldn't remove it all because of he OA length spec...

 

 

Daughter's is on the left...nose profile is changed...very late to paint kept me from using any masking or pin striping tape so I free handed..not my best work (hard to believe I've had even worse but...) but had some issues with temperature and paint marker not to mention a couple of coughing fits. Grandson's is #7; He turns seven next week...Yep there is a gouge from an unfortunate mishap yesterday; it was looking pretty good, then an issue with the paint.

 

I wet sanded with 800 grit wet/dry and repainted at ~3PM yesterday then parked in front of the Eden Pure...detailing went on at 5:30, back in front of Eden Pure; headed out at 6. My grandson did help with sanding, fine-tuning the axles was present during all the cutting and routing, helped spray some of the primer and was there during the original paint coat. So there you have it...we'll see in a week how the race goes.

  

Edited March 24, 20188 yr by Grandpadave52

Looks good!!!

Grandson had his pinewood derby race on March 11

It's fun to watch them race.

Whadya mean it's not exactly woodworking? This post is the ipotomy of woodworking!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it wood? Did you touch it?  

Did you move it? Does it look different?

If your answer to just one of the above is in the affirmative, you're a woodworker.

 

Anything else is just skill refinement.

Edited March 27, 20188 yr by Gene Howe

Looking good Dave.  They even look fast.

8 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

Is it wood? Did you touch it?  

Did you move it? Does it look different?

If your answer to just one of the above is in the affirmative, you're a woodworker.

 

Anything else is just skill refinement.

Well then, that changes everything...guess I've been woodworking for a lot longer that I thought...now that skills refinement thing you mention...well it must still be on back-order...

 

Examples of my previous early woodworking projects which meet above criteria MOL....

 

   

 

Absolutely! Please accept a belated welcome to the brotherhood of wood freaks, butchers, choppers, turners, sawdust makers, floor sweepers and, those who lust for that perfect miter.

Edited March 27, 20188 yr by Gene Howe

5 hours ago, Gene Howe said:

floor sweepers

 

speak for yourself..

I participated in a few Derbys with my two grandsons. Much fun and very rewarding. I have a great grandson that just turned four so maybe I'll get to do it again.