Pinewood Derby - Building the Pinewood Punk - Part 2

There's only a week to go to race time and as usual I will probably finish my car late the night before. I am making good progress, however.

I am building a steam punk themed racing car.As of the last posting about the car I had finished cutting its rough shape. Next, I sanded it with some medium grit paper to get rid of the saw marks and smooth out the shape.(Fig. 1)

Figure 1 - First Sanding

Then I began to cut out and shape the wheel covers. These pieces took the longest time to make. After figuring out the smallest diameter the covers could be and still not touch the wheels I drew the shapes onto 3/8" thick poplar and cut them out roughly using the band saw.(Fig. 2) Then I refined the shapes using a sanding attachment on my dremel tool which was attached to a dremel routing table. This took a couple of hours but in the end I sanded the covers down to half circles with a thickness of just over 1/16".(Fig. 3) Finally, I cut some accent pieces out of 1/4" poplar using the band saw and hand sanded them to the proper shape before gluing them to the wheel covers. I also cut a small piece off of the front wheel covers so that the front of the wheel will be exposed.(Fig. 4)

Figure 2 - Rough Wheel Cover Shape

Figure 3 - Final Wheel Cover Shapes

Figure 4 - Accent Pieces Added

Next, I used a 1" forstner bit to rough out a hole for the spare tire well. The tires are a bit larger than 1" in diameter so I finished the opening by hand carving and sanding.(Figs. 5,6)

Figure 5 - Spare Tire Well

Figure 6 - Tire Well Completed

The last thing I worked on this day was to hand carve a small recess in the front of the car to accept the headlight.(Figs. 7,8) I bought a small bowl shaped piece of wood at the hobby shop for the headlight. The 1935 Duesenberg Meteor that this car is patterned after featured a one headlight design also, which I thought was one of the coolest features of the car.

Figure 7 - Headlight Recess Cut



Figure 8 - One Central Headlight (So Cool !!)

Figure 9 shows the progress so far on the car. It also shows the piece of craft wood I bought at the hobby store to be the driver. I am almost done cutting on this thing. Next time I will begin the finish work. There is one week to race day!!

Figure 9 - Progress on the Car

Pinewood Derby - Wheel Alignment Tool

When I was helping some Cub Scout parents with their Pinewood Derby kits last weekend, a couple of them had purchased car kits that included a wheel alignment tool. Unfortunately, the kit did not seem to include the directions for using it. Therefore, I will show the tool's various uses. It can help a great deal in making sure that your car meets all the size requirements for the Pinewood Derby.

The first use of the alignment tool is to check the axle slots to make sure they are perpendicular to the body of the car. Place the tool flat on the bottom of the car and make sure the ruled edge is flush with one side of the car. Make sure the both sides of the axle slot line up with the lines on the tool. (Fig. 1) If not, use a small file to align the slots.

Figure 1 - Axle Alignment

One of the most useful features of the tool is its ability to check for proper wheel clearance between wheel and body. It also makes it easier to ensure that each wheel has the same clearance. While inserting a wheel, place the tool's clearance notch (Fig. 2) over the axle and push the wheel in until it touches the plastic. (Fig. 3) Gently remove the tool and repeat this process at each wheel. Then lay the car on its heels to check that all are touching the ground. Gently adjust the axles up or down until the car sits properly and then superglue the ends of the axles to the car body, being very careful not to get any glue near the wheels.

Figure 2 - Wheel Clearance Notch

Figure 3 - Checking for Wheel Clearance

While adjusting the axles prior to gluing them in you can also check the car to prevent camber. Place the car on a flat surface and use the tool at each wheel to make sure that the car sits at a 90 degree angle to the surface.(Fig. 4)

Figure 4 - Preventing Camber

You can also use the tool to check to see if the wheels are toeing in or out. Lay the tool flat on the underside of the car and push the ruled edge against he front and rear wheels on one side, checking to make sure that the wheel rims touch the ruled edge at all possible points. While holding the tool in place pull the opposite wheels away from the car body and make sure they line on the same lines of the tool sticking out from the car body. (Fig. 5)

Figure 5 - Checking for Wheels Toeing In or Out

Check the car's overall length and width using the tool. A car may not exceed 7" in length or 2 3/4" in width. (Figs. 6,7)

Figure 6 - Checking Car Length

Figure 7 - Checking Car Width

Finally, you can check the car's clearance by sliding the extended end of the tool under the car. If it can extend under the car at all points, the car will have no trouble fitting onto the track.(Fig. 8)

Figure 8 - Checking Car Clearance

Proper use of the alignment tool can ensure that your car will meet all the dimension requirements of the Pinewood Derby. Good Luck and good racing.





Pinewood Derby 2011 - Rise of the Pinewood Punk

This last weekend I helped some members of my son's old Cub Scout Pack get started on their Pinewood Derby kits. We had a great time working on their cars and I hope they all do well in the races. The Pinewood Derby was one of my favorite activities as a Cub Scout. Building a cool looking car was as important as building a fast one, and my dad always helped me achieve both. Later, I was more than happy to help my sons with their cars.

I have been asked to help out with the Pack's race this year, so I will take this opportunity to enter their "outlaw" division. This is an unofficial racing division for siblings and adults like me who still like to build a Pinewood car. I plan to build a steampunk inspired racecar. Steampunk is a genre of science fiction/fantasy that incorporates elements and materials from from the age of steam power, but also reimagines them from  a science fiction viewpoint, such as a steam powered computer. Design elements always include lots of old fashioned gears, fan belts, gauges. etc.

The first step in making this or any other car is to come up with a basic design and cutting pattern. I used a piece of 1/4 inch graph paper to draw a full size outline of the wooden block that comes in the kit from both the side and top. Then I drew the basic shape of the car from the side and top. (Fig. 1)

Figure 1 - Car Design

Before doing any cutting, it is necessary to prepare the axle slots to easily accept the nails later. I did this by clamping some scrap wood on each side of the car and and then tapping a spare axle nail into each slot until about 1/4 inch is left exposed and then pulling it out with pliers.(Fig. 2) I did this four or five times at least at each wheel position until it was easy to push in and remove the nail by hand. This will make it easy later to attach the wheels without using any force and then hold the axles in place with some super glue.

Figure 2 - Preparing the Axle Slots

The basic car shape is based on the 1935 Duesenberg Meteor. After coming up with the design, I cut out the plans and taped them to my wooden block (Fig. 3) so that the rough shape can be cut on the band saw.(Fig 4)

Figure 3 - Patterns attached to block

Figure 4 - Band saw rough cut

Then the block was marked again to show which areas need to be removed by hand with a razor saw. (Figs. 5,6)

Figure 5 - Marking block for cuts by hand

Figure 6 - First hand cuts

Finally, I used the razor saw to further refine the front of the car. A drill press and a carving knife were used to create a more defined cockpit area. (fig. 7)

Figure 7 - Final rough shape is achieved

The rough shape of the car is finished. I think that's enough for now. One and a half weeks to race day!

Hiiragi joins the family

This Christmas season my family welcomed a new addition to our pet family, Hiiragi the hamster. We already have four other hamsters: Yin, Zen, Yuki and Aiko given to us by our friend Nickie and her daughter Rachel. Over the holidays they offered to let us adopt Yuki and Aiko's sister. We named her Hiiragi, which is the Japanese word for holly. We had hoped that her sisters would remember her and let her join them in their cage, but unfortunately that was not the case, so now she has a nice two room home all her own. Of all our hamsters, she loves to burrow the most. Every day, she creates a huge nest to climb into and sleep, occasionally digging out to play or get a snack, much as I do with the blankets on the couch during football season. Welcome home, Hiiragi.