So... I borrowed the Pinewood Derby Speed Secrets by Meade from the library which I'm sure most of you have read. Is there anything in there that you would recommend doing or not doing? The only thing I'm doing different so far is making it a rail rider with 3* rears.
Book - Pinewood Derby Speed Secrets
- Thread starter ugotkevin
- Start date
The book is a great starting point. If you do not race on a wooden track with a manually operated start gate, just ignore the whole "quick start" stuff. The axle polishing is great. I don't remember what, if anything, they did to the wheels.
As your woodworking skills improve, you'll build cars much thinner, with much more densely grouped weights. And you have already taken note of the advances in PWD theory, where a 3-canted-wheeled Rail Runner is faster.
There is a lot of valid info in there. Especially for the price. /images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif
As your woodworking skills improve, you'll build cars much thinner, with much more densely grouped weights. And you have already taken note of the advances in PWD theory, where a 3-canted-wheeled Rail Runner is faster.
There is a lot of valid info in there. Especially for the price. /images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif
ugotkevin said:
Where the quick start nose really helped was on the older wood tracks with a "trapdoor" gate. The pins pulled basically straight down instead of rotating forward.
Our old wood track had a start gate that worked by the starter manually twisting the handle that was connected to the start pins. IOW, the pins only dropped as fast as the starter turned the handle. So, the "quick start" notch was valid there.
With the spring loaded start gates of the Best Tracks, however, the pins fall faster than gravity can start the cars, so the notch becomes a moot point.
Wood vs. Aluminum: Wood tracks tend to be a bit less smooth than the aluminum tracks. For a wood track, you'd want a conservative center-of-mass (CoM) of 1" or more. For aluminum, you can be more aggressive and dial the CoM back to 1/2 - 3/4".
But I'm not sure about setting the steer on wood. My gut says less steer, but I'm uncertain. Guys?
With the spring loaded start gates of the Best Tracks, however, the pins fall faster than gravity can start the cars, so the notch becomes a moot point.
Gates: Exactly. At least the gate we had on our old track.ugotkevin said:
Wood vs. Aluminum: Wood tracks tend to be a bit less smooth than the aluminum tracks. For a wood track, you'd want a conservative center-of-mass (CoM) of 1" or more. For aluminum, you can be more aggressive and dial the CoM back to 1/2 - 3/4".
But I'm not sure about setting the steer on wood. My gut says less steer, but I'm uncertain. Guys?
I had purchased that book, along with a number of "tools" that I no longer use. I do believe the overall concepts presented are more or less correct, but the implementation leaves something to be desired. For example, the book guides you to look for straight axles, as many of the BSA axles may have a slight bend to them. This, to me is correct. But, then the book says you can "straighten" an axle by placing it in a tool and gently tapping it with a hammer. I leave to your imagination as to how I feel regarding this procedure. I'm not so sure if the book was also intended on being a marketing strategy, just as some say the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie was nothing more than an advertisement for Domino's Pizza. No doubt the book has good information, but I believe the 5K website is far better...and free.
B_Regal Racing said:
Yeah I had noticed that too.
B_Regal Racing said:
Where's this website you speak of?
Crash Enburn said:
Like 3" over 4 feet or even less?
The book doesn't really go into how to install the nails other than to use a few business cards bundled together. I'm not to that point yet, but should you hammer them in or press them in if they're tight? How much of a gap should there be? The book says 1/32", is this still the gap you guys are running?
The book says to not paint the spot that the wheel would rub against the body, to leave it wood then rub some graphite on it. Should I do this? I think I remember reading somewhere that people put some kind of a washer there.
You may have the "Book" of PWD, but you are currently on the Rabbit hole of OCD, PHD, PWD ultimate encyclopedia!
- Nov 24, 2011
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BulldogRacing said:
Pretty much!
The author of that book has some good info but applicable knowledge is lacking greatly.
I enjoyed the part where he reminds the reader (multiple times BTW) that he has never lost a PWD race.
Oh, really? Race in any league for a season and get back to me on that one! I don't care who you are, you are going to get beat. For most of us, that's a majority of the time. For other racers, they race well and sometimes win. But ABSOLUTELY NO ONE wins every single race.
This guy (David Meade) has never lost a race? Then come on, brother, let's see what you've got.
Other than being weakly disguised propaganda for Derby Worx, the book is actually a good starting point for guys who are looking to gain some initial speed.
Oh, really? Race in any league for a season and get back to me on that one! I don't care who you are, you are going to get beat. For most of us, that's a majority of the time. For other racers, they race well and sometimes win. But ABSOLUTELY NO ONE wins every single race.
This guy (David Meade) has never lost a race? Then come on, brother, let's see what you've got.
Other than being weakly disguised propaganda for Derby Worx, the book is actually a good starting point for guys who are looking to gain some initial speed.
- Nov 24, 2011
- 3,903
- 30
- 48
- 13
