 |
| Lexi sanding or gluing. She had a great time building her Derby car. |
This month they held a Pixie Derby Race. I haven't thought about Pinewood Derby races since I was a Cub Scout some 30 years ago. Sure enough, this was the same thing. Daughter #3 and I were given the standard Derby car block of wood, four nails, and four tires. That's it. No rules, regulations or anything. Just the time and date of the race.
So I did what I do best. I googled the crap out of "how to make a great derby car", "how to win pinewood derby races" etc, etc. I was floored by the number of youtube videos showing how to grind down the nail axles and polish them to a high shine. They're putting graphite on them, discussing the optimum location of the added weights for maximum velocity down the race slope and stuff I never even thought of.
 |
| Coats of blue paint being sprayed on while perched atop a blue water barrel. Oooooh, shiny! |
There were custom weights, wheels, full axles, stickers, car bodies, fins, spoilers, you name it. They even had a derby car stand that you could prop your car up on like a lift at the mechanic shop.
So, again, I did what any loving father would do. I bought the things needed to make my daughter's car take Best of Show if nothing else. Custom flame stickers and solid axles with custom wheels. I dug out the Dremel and went to town on the tires, smoothing out the plastic mold nubbies.
I decided to ask a neighbor if they had heard any rules for the race as we had not been given any. I was told they'd be abiding by the standard BSA Pinewood Derby Rules which meant I had to measure everything from width to length to distance between the left and right tires. Then I found out there was a weight limit. I had already screwed on the weight kit in full. I mean, no rules meant the heavier the car, the faster it should go (within reason.)
When it was all said and done, we had a great time with the entire family watching the races. We didn't place in the top three but we won Best Design. I'm looking forward to the next race now that the cobwebs have been dusted off my derby car knowledge.
We loved pine wood derby races at our churches. The dads were more competitive than the kids.
ReplyDeleteCompletely off topic, thank you for the alert on the composter. We had a friend who was in town on business so she picked up the only one Costco had, the 100 gallon size. It was $139. Closest Costco is about 4hours away. Thankful our friend was there today.
Hey, glad I was able to help. I started to build a chicken wire composter like Dizzy mentioned but got side tracked making more climbing trellices for my peas :-(
ReplyDeleteI used fence wire, but chicken wire would do. The advantages of wire is you can adjust the size to your needs. Congrats on the "Best Design". Maybe they ought to have a pine wood derby just for the kids, no parents allowed to help.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is fantastic. That not really huge statement, but its all I could come up with after reading this. You know so much about this subject. You make it entertaining and you still manage to keep it smart.
ReplyDeleteThis month they held a Pixie Derby Race. I haven't thought about Pinewood Derby races since I was a Cub Scout some 30 years ago. Sure enough, this was the same thing. Daughter #3 and I were given the standard Derby car block of wood, four nails and four tires. That's it. No rules, regulations or anything. Just the time and date of the race.
ReplyDeleteThe Firm prides itself on building long-term business relationships with all of its customers.
ReplyDeletelacey