OVER THININKING! And getting nervous.

Too much slop all the way around. I'd eat pb&j for a week or two and buy a better jig, e.g. clear jig.

Duck, you are beyond disappointing your kids. You are spending time with them and teaching valuable life lessons. Hug and kiss your kids. Tell them you love them and that you are doing this together. Sure, derby night will be exciting. But the big payoff will come years down the road.

Amen to that! And I DO value that over everything else! It will definitely be exciting. Since Benjamin won last year, I think he expects to do so again this year, and this will be Penelope's first race as a Cub Scout, would like to show that girls can be fast as well. I think that's why I'm putting so much pressure on myself to give them good cars. We've had a blast working on them together. Makes me want to go the extra mile to give them the best chance. But in the end, I know it's not about winning. :)

What sucks is I KNOW me, I'll probably make at least two cars more before the race Saturday, but will have NO idea how to tell which is fastest! I thought I could set up our test track and tell that way, but that was a big waste of time, and money. I taped it to the floor, taped it together, taped it more, that thing is still so wonky, it's useless. It is beyond warped. All it does is randomly bounce cars around. I'm worried it's going to ruin there wheels and/or buck a car off the track! I gave it a try last night, one car would win one time, the next the other, the next the first one again. It's obvious it's not suited for testing. Live and learn.

I may try to screw it down to wood, but even still, I get the feeling the plastic is so warped, it won't matter.
 
We took 1/16" off the DFW and added it to the Non-DFW side. worked great!

I wondered if I was the only one....:)[/QUOTE]

Have an idea how that might work. Cut out a shape, non wedge, but wedge-ish that leave the front wheels separate from the back, basically cutting out some of the sides on the middle, but leaving the basic shape for speed. Indentations behind the front axle slot.. Shave off the 1/32 from the front dominant wheel, then on the other side I have pine square rods. I can glue these to the other side, sand so it looks like its part of the wood, then sand off till it only ads 1/32 inch. That's brilliant and doesn't violate the rules! Tech day is tomorrow, I'm going to pull an all nighter and see if I can throw a test car like this together. Thanks guys!
 
I cut it off with a scroll saw, and glue it with wood glue on the other side. do this after drilling, and the holes are already done.....

Shhhhhhhh... don't tell anybody ! LOL:D
 
I cut it off with a scroll saw, and glue it with wood glue on the other side. do this after drilling, and the holes are already done.....

Shhhhhhhh... don't tell anybody ! LOL:D
Freaking brilliant! Sure your kids win every time. And that is within our rules, that’s what I’ve been looking for. No scroll saw though, but will figure it out. Doubt I want to attempt that with a coping saw.
 
Here may be a more simple answer - it says the distant between wheels is 1 3/4 - Wood thickness doesnt matter. Just glue a crappy wheel to the NDF axle and then pull it out a little so you have 1 3/4" between WHEELS . They put our car in the little box at districts and it was rubbing the wheels and they said oh you may be too tight with your wheels and I said I just tried it on the track it will run - I have the same track at home. They said oh ok. Just tell them that rule is just to help kids ensure their cars go down the track -not to avoid speed advantages. You will be good as long as you can show them the car will go down the track. Oh no... I just realized you were needing 4 wheels touching and probably spinning hmmm. ... well just dont glue the wheel to the axle.. should still work.. you wouldnt need to pull it out very much.
 
Last edited:
Thanks guys! Ran to the scout store for a few more sacrificial lamb bodies. Gotta get it done tonight to test out, so little effort going into looks, all speed. Also picked up a jig. I know it’s not the jig I need, but I think it will put a straight hole and keep the axles straight. I may try putting a business card on one side in hopes it raises one wheel enough to
Float the other but still touch.
 
By the way, the jig tool is...Derby Worx. They do NOT have a good name in my book from recent experiences. But this is so simple, they can't screw this up, right?

Can't wait til I can get a good jig!
 
Now I'm REALLY overthinking things. If I were to take the jig that drills straight holes, and yes I know it's a piece of junk...but keep in mind this is for Scouts. If I were to take it, and on one side stack say 2 business cards and two sheets of paper..that sounds about right, and clamp it together good, would the hole I drill be at an angle that would be beneficial? I'm guess it would be about 2.5 degrees like that. Or is that stupid? I may not even need to do that if they stay off the rails, which would mean the jig would have to do it's job. Wondering if it would hurt or help. Might be hard to duplicate on both sides precisely. But it would be far from precise to start with.

This is the jig I purchased.

https://www.amazon.com/Derby-Worx-P...sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=derby+worx+pro+body+jig

Want to point out, I didn't pay that much for it! Paid half that. That's a rip off.
 
Now I'm REALLY overthinking things. If I were to take the jig that drills straight holes, and yes I know it's a piece of junk...but keep in mind this is for Scouts. If I were to take it, and on one side stack say 2 business cards and two sheets of paper..that sounds about right, and clamp it together good, would the hole I drill be at an angle that would be beneficial? I'm guess it would be about 2.5 degrees like that. Or is that stupid? I may not even need to do that if they stay off the rails, which would mean the jig would have to do it's job. Wondering if it would hurt or help. Might be hard to duplicate on both sides precisely. But it would be far from precise to start with.

This is the jig I purchased.

https://www.amazon.com/Derby-Worx-P...sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=derby+worx+pro+body+jig

Want to point out, I didn't pay that much for it! Paid half that. That's a rip off.

Short answer is yes you can do that. However, I wouldn't. You would be defeating one of the main reasons for using a jig! Once the block is clamped in place, you want/need to drill both axles. If you don't, you risk having the block move. Then you end up with axle holes that are not straight across from each other or in your case not exactly the same angle( it would be nearly impossible to get the business cards in exactly the same but opposite locations). Alignment is KEY to building a fast car.

You might get lucky ....but the again probably not.

In any event, use a pin vise when drilling with that jig and/or turn the drill slowly so as not to chew up the holes. The holes are what give you some accuracy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DuckOfAllTrades
Short answer is yes you can do that. However, I wouldn't. You would be defeating one of the main reasons for using a jig! Once the block is clamped in place, you want/need to drill both axles. If you don't, you risk having the block move. Then you end up with axle holes that are not straight across from each other or in your case not exactly the same angle( it would be nearly impossible to get the business cards in exactly the same but opposite locations). Alignment is KEY to building a fast car.

You might get lucky ....but the again probably not.

In any event, use a pin vise when drilling with that jig and/or turn the drill slowly so as not to chew up the holes. The holes are what give you some accuracy.
Thanks!