Off the subject - pine wood derby

[Atwood, Mark]

Hey Joe,

This can get VERY carried away (we have a dad's only race where there are few rules) but the simple answer is as far back as possible without haveing the frint wheels leave the track.  The higher the weight on the track, the more potential energy.  Also, some little tricks...

Tap the wheels (meaning thread them).  The cars we use the axle is very close to 2-56 so I tap them with a 2-56 tap.  This significantly reduces the surface area thats in contact with the axel, but more importantly, it provides grooves to pack graphite into for lubrication.

Even more important...bend an axle or place it slightly higher on one side, so that one of the two front wheels is NOT touching the ground.  I.e. the car will run as a Tricycle...it can still be made to track straight, and again, much less friction on the track.

There's more, but not that will fit in the Cub scout rules...Lol

Good Luck,
Mark


-----Original Message-----
From:	Joe Barnes [mailto:jbarnes at gaseed.com]
Sent:	Wed 1/15/2003 1:13 AM
To:	discussion at nsrca.org
Cc:	
Subject:	Off the subject - pine wood derby

My eight year old son and I are building a Pine Wood Derby car for the Cub Scout races. Does anyone know where the car should balance? (or does it matter?) I will be adding about 2 to 2.5 oz. of weight to the car to bring it to a maximum legal weight of 5 oz. There are different opinions with the Dads. Some say the weights should be in the back to push the car down the track and some say the front to pull the car down the track. I think it should be some where in the back third. This is our third year of races and we have done pretty well the previous years.(seconds but never a first.) 

Any help would be appreciated,

Joe Barnes


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