Pine car anyone.

[Gerald_G]

A couple of years ago, I put on a course and derby for young kids to make and race pinecar derby cars. It was a ton of fun. Since I wanted to take pictures of shaving gear, I followed directions I found here on B&B to make a cardboard light box. Needing a subject to shoot, I grabbed the pinecar off the shelf. It's not a razor, but I thought I'd share anyway.

This one is now complete with battle scars etc...

Anyone else make a pinecar? Post your pics or stories.

 

[Gerald_G]

Pre-paint..... shaping/sanding stage....

 

[DamnFineBob]

Nice work (and lighting, too). I really like the cartoonish appearance of that truck. I have vague memories of pine car derbies in the Cub Scouts... I think we were a bit too young to grasp such things as weight, balance, and friction, and certainly too young to be trusted with carving tools. Our fathers had a blast building those cars!

 

[bradyarz]

really the only thing i recall about my pine derby days were to put one of the 4 wheel nails in crooked so you're really only resting on 3 wheels. less friction, or at least that was the thought.

 

[texbilly]

Awesome design! Very retro looking.

When I was a Scout, I think we did have a pine car derby but what sticks in my mind more was our pine rocket race. Multiple rows of heavy gauge fishing line were tightened between two t-shaped poles. Each of us was to carve and paint a rocket from a kit, which included two hangers that were attached to the top and hung on the line. Power was supplied by a rubber band and propeller with a fixed number of cranks specified in the rules. My engineer Dad borrowed a friend's small bench lathe and we together turned mine into a perfectly balanced rocket, painted to resemble the Apollo Saturn V. Nobody even came close!

 

[DamnFineBob]

My engineer Dad borrowed a friend's small bench lathe and we together turned mine into a perfectly balanced rocket, painted to resemble the Apollo Saturn V. Nobody even came close!

In my pine car derby days one kid always won. His father was a machinist, and would lathe down the wheels until they were super thin. This was technically legal, since they were the supplied regulation wheels... the rest of us kids thought it was cheating, though.

 

[bradyarz]

In my pine car derby days one kid always won. His father was a machinist, and would lathe down the wheels until they were super thin. This was technically legal, since they were the supplied regulation wheels... the rest of us kids thought it was cheating, though.

...i thought tampering with the wheels WAS illegal...

 

[Gerald_G]

There are a great number of rules now days. It varies by region though as far as I can tell. Some require all 4 wheels to touch, some disallow sanding the wheels, but allow polishing the axles, etc. I don't think anyone allows oiling the axles, and the weight limits are pretty standard.

My boys built theirs by themselves with hand tools only. Ya, not as pretty as a somewhat experienced wood worker can do, but much more fun for the boys to DIY.

The kids in the Derby I ran all made the cars themselves because it was at summer camp and there were no dad's around. They had a blast making them and racing them.

 

[Amer]

I'm a veteran of a few Pine Car Derbys, Pine Space Ship Derbys, and Rain Gutter Regattas.

My closest to a win was in the space derby, but I liked rain gutter regatta the best. I came in 3rd in my best finish but my boat could really go. I really liked how it was a mix of how good your boat was and how well you could blow it.

I always stunk at pine car and my dad and I always argued about where the weights should go.

 

[Gerald_G]

Wanna see some amazing cars....

http://www.derbytalk.com/viewforum.php?f=19

http://grandprix-race-central.com/modules.php?name=gallery2

http://www.rahul.net/mcgrew/derby/photos/

http://photos.boyslife.org/mycapture/photos/Album.aspx?EventID=241282&CategoryID=26642

 

[Prince]

Wanna see some amazing cars....

http://www.derbytalk.com/viewforum.php?f=19

http://grandprix-race-central.com/modules.php?name=gallery2

http://www.rahul.net/mcgrew/derby/photos/

http://photos.boyslife.org/mycapture/photos/Album.aspx?EventID=241282&CategoryID=26642

Not bad, but alot of them would be in violation.

But they do make the one's I made look pretty plain.

 

[texbilly]

...My boys built theirs by themselves with hand tools only. Ya, not as pretty as a somewhat experienced wood worker can do, but much more fun for the boys to DIY.

Wow, if your boy made that red truck by hand, I'd say he has some nice skills and eye for design!

 

[Gerald_G]

No, I made the truck. I was just mentioning my boys made their own cars (not pictured)

 

[Saunterer]

Next time get all the dads together and have an "Outlaw" race the night before. Plus you gotta test out the track and timers. 10 oz weight limit, mods galore....

Example -> http://en.kendincos.net/video-phdvrhjl-world-s-fastest-pinewood-derby-car.html

BTW, nice looking truck.

 

[mkeyslehman]

I used to do pinewood derby with my Dad. One year I wanted to make a sports car and, after fully reviewing the rules of our event (NOT cub scouts) which dictated allowable dimensions (they placed the car into a box to check width / length), found the rules did not disqualify adding wood to the original block. So we glued two strips on the sides and drilled out wheel wells and built a Lamborghini. I don't know how many different judges would walk by, stop to stare, leave and return with a dimension box to plop it in

My sister entered the same year with a domino car; just cut the top down and painted it black with white dots. She won the whole thing.

 

[Edcculus]

My dad is a great wood worker, but when it came to the Pinewood Derby, he made me make my own! He would usually have all of the kids over one weekend to cut out the basic shape they wanted on his band saw. When we were finished whittling and sanding down our cars he'd have everyone back over so he could drill out the bottoms and fill the hole with enough melted lead to make the car the correct weight. My cars always sucked (and never won), but he made some awesome ones.

 

[TheVez2]

In middle school wood shop we had to design a car. It needed a recepticle in the back to hold a CO2 cartridge. Then two screw eyes were put in the bottom to keep it on a fish line. The instructor had a tool to puncture the cartrige. We went one at a time and he had a sensor to get the times. Mine came in second of our class. That was a fun project.

 

[_JP_]

I still remember my Pinewood Derby days! A couple of times the tracks that we were using were unfair. I remember one track in particular where the cars in Lane 2 always won the race. Most of us noticed, which made for a lot grumbling.

 

[Gruder]

Great thread! Lots of fun memories. I never did really well in the speed department with my pinewood derby entries, but the process of making the cars was incredibly rewarding.

 

[kwk285]

Considering I am not allowed to use sharp objects around the house, it was very tough for me to help my daughters build cars.

I remember all the mistakes and crying, mainly from me. After all that work to watch the cars finish last was a real pain. But I do remember one day fondly where after all the excitement, one of my daughter's cars finished second from last. That was a wonderful day.