Recommendations: Drill press, band saw, etc.

[Prozach2]

I'd like to put together a small workshop for building pinewood derby cars with my boys. I believe the two larger power tools that I'll need are a drill press and a band saw. Would you agree?

If so, is there a reasonably priced drill press and/or band saw that you would recommend or any specific features that I should look for prior to purchasing these tools?

I didn't want to spend a fortune on these tools since we don't plan on doing anything with them other than building things like pinewood derby cars with my boys. That being said, I also don't want to spend the money on a tool if it's going to be incapable of doing what I need it to do in order to build a wining car. If what I need is unaffordable for me, I'd rather just borrow or rent someone else's than buy something that's going to be inadequate.

If there's any other larger/more larger or more expensive tools that you think I'll definitely need in order to build a wining car, please let me know.

My budge for the workshop is around $1,000.

 

[TRE]

I would buy a drill tool instead of drill press if you are gonna use the drill press for drilling body's

 

[ironband]

For $1000 you can build a pretty awesome pinewood derby workshop!

Pretty much any bandsaw will work well for cutting bodies. It doesn't have to be fancy. I got one at the hardware store for about $100 and it works fine for cutting down the block.

TRE's suggestion to get a drill tool is, of course, good advice. Since you have the budget, you can buy a nice one. I like the Clear Jig by MicroBrush so far. First race with it is Saturday, but the drill job seems spot on.

The drill press is nice for polishing axles, but the same can be achieved with a hand drill. I picked this one up off craigslist used for under $50, but I also had other uses for it.

Depending on your rules you might consider a mini-lathe for turning and/or lightening wheels since you've got the budget.

Alternatively, if you are prohibited from lathing wheels, buying or making a concentricity gauge is a good idea, that way your scout can sort through stock wheels and pick out the best ones.

A set of pin-gauges is nice to check the wheel bores. A few extra pin gauges for your drilled holes and some 1-2-3 blocks are nice for checking the squareness of your drill.

An axle bender is a nice-to-have for that FDW, but not entirely necessary.

A good balance is important for getting close to race day weight.

If you don't already have a dremel, it's helpful for carving out weight pockets and/or shaping the block as well as putting a k-house groove in the axles for tuning.

A tuning board is a must have, but easy to make yourself.

The ultimate tool if you have the space would be a test track with a timer. Expensive, yes, but sooo very helpful. I wish I had room for one.

 

[zigzag]

I'd like to put together a small workshop for building pinewood derby cars with my boys. I believe the two larger power tools that I'll need are a drill press and a band saw. Would you agree?

If so, is there a reasonably priced drill press and/or band saw that you would recommend or any specific features that I should look for prior to purchasing these tools?

I didn't want to spend a fortune on these tools since we don't plan on doing anything with them other than building things like pinewood derby cars with my boys. That being said, I also don't want to spend the money on a tool if it's going to be incapable of doing what I need it to do in order to build a wining car. If what I need is unaffordable for me, I'd rather just borrow or rent someone else's than buy something that's going to be inadequate.

If there's any other larger/more larger or more expensive tools that you think I'll definitely need in order to build a wining car, please let me know.

My budge for the workshop is around $1,000.

Great question - my 2 cents.

Dermel with drill press mount is bascally mandatory (although I am sure people will say you can just use a hand drill). All in I think that’s about 200ish

A good sander - like the porter cable bench sander Lowe’s sells for around 175.

Band saw - 150ish

I have had a lot of fun with my HF minimill for routing the bodies. Was in the 450 rangeplus the bits I think.

A couple of pin vises

A drill block $100-200 (basically another must if you have any interest in going fast).

I would not invest in a lathe. Buy your wheels.

My wish list has always included a planer but that won’t be cheap.

Somehow fitting a track into the budget would be a huge help and a lot of fun.

Any mirror, shelf, etc will do as a tuning board so I wouldn’t invest there.

 

[Prozach2]

Great question - my 2 cents.

Dermel with drill press mount is bascally mandatory (although I am sure people will say you can just use a hand drill). All in I think that’s about 200ish

A good sander - like the porter cable bench sander Lowe’s sells for around 175.

Band saw - 150ish

I have had a lot of fun with my HF minimill for routing the bodies. Was in the 450 rangeplus the bits I think.

A couple of pin vises

A drill block $100-200 (basically another must if you have any interest in going fast).

I would not invest in a lathe. Buy your wheels.

My wish list has always included a planer but that won’t be cheap.

Somehow fitting a track into the budget would be a huge help and a lot of fun.

Any mirror, shelf, etc will do as a tuning board so I wouldn’t invest there.

Pretty new to this, so I'm about to ask some ignorant questions: What is a drill block, planer, minimill, clear jig.

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[zigzag]

Pretty new to this, so I'm about to ask some ignorant questions: What is a drill block, planer, minimill, clear jig.

Thanks for all the help guys!

So you are going to need a way to cut the weight pockets out for your weight. Lots of ways to do this - but one way is to mill the pockets out. Or just buy precut bodies from DD4H. Here is a mini mill https://www.harborfreight.com/two-speed-variable-bench-mill-drill-machine-44991.html. I assume HF still has a 20% off coupon out there. Also - you tube is your friend and I think Spacewalker has a bunch of videos out there on making a car body.

Planer - plans wood to the needed size. So if you are making your own blanks you an cut them down to approximate dimensions and then send them through a planer to get them to the exact dimensions while creating nice smooth sides to work with. Or just buy a bunch of sugar pine blanks from John

A drill block allows you to place your car body into the block and precision drill your axle holes at a 3degree cant for the rears and straight for the fronts. DD4H sells one but looks like he may out of stock at the moment. What I referred to as a drill block is the same thing as a drill jig (there are some ‘clear’ plastic ones on the market - ie clear jig)

Hope this helps

 

[Prozach2]

Thanks a lot guys. That's very helpful.

 

[B_Regal Racing]

here is an older version of this thread: http://pinewoodderbyonline.com/threads/basic-to-extream-pwd-tool-list.3144/