It's been a crazy couple of weeks in my northwoods shack. From finding this site, which turned my whole view of making the fastest car my son and I can upside down. To having the flu on the day I planned to build - that decency demands I dare not elaborate on.
I asked a lot of questions, especially in the "ask the pros" section, so I thought it was fitting that I also give my thanks to everyone who took the time out of their day (and night in many cases) to answer another newbies "idiot" questions. The answers and posts in general really helped.
So, THANK YOU for your help. That includes those that posted answers and suggestions that I didn't ask, but used just the same. I appreciate it.
Regardless of how my son's car performed, I planned on posting this, but I will admit it's a lot more pleasurable to write after his car did "ok". Maybe it's not the most competitive pack (I have no basis for comparison), but the difference between 1st and 4th is highly competitive (Two brothers took 2nd and 3rd after one won the pack last year). I'm guessing for most packs the difference between 1st and 4th is small.
Any journey to the winners circle is filled with peril, and running short on time (once again) didn't help. We worked on the car until the last possible minute, until we had to leave the house for the race (catching the flu really put me behind).
My son, once he saw fenders really wanted them. I spent WAY too much time trying to make that happen. If I could do it again, I would have not because trying to glue the axles in firmly with 60 minutes before check-in time will add gray hair at a rapid rate.
Bending the axle for the DFW went horribly wrong, with scrapes on the axle (we cut a notch in the axle, but it didn't bend at that point). I had to try to straighten the axle, rebend, readjust and so forth (all within two hours of show time). I trade stock options, but THIS was stressful.
This was my first year in trying to steer for rail riding, and it was a trial by fire. luckily I have read enough here and on 5kidsracing site to give me a sense for what I needed to do. however, I wasn't sure how well the superglue would hold the axles once I "tuned" (I use the word "tuned" in the loosest sense possible and mean no disrespect to the 8yr olds that actually "tune" their car). My tuning was on a board about three feet long and held higher by a 2x4 on one end to provide lift for about 5 minutes (did I mention I was running short on time).
After I put the said super glue into glue holes, I drilled and advised my son to hold the car upside down to let the glue set while spinning the wheels.
On the drive to the race, my son is coming to the realization that this year isn't going to be pretty, and hopes of glory are fading fast. I explained again that I was sorry for getting sick, and we now know so much more that next year will be great. I have to give him credit, after some silence and thought, he offered on his own that it didn't matter if we won, that the best part of the race was spending time with me building the car (I couldn't help, but think this kid has a successful career in politics awaiting him).
He was lying, I know it, albeit I did respect him (and appreciated) for it. But I know as every other dad here knows that for a 10yr old, getting a trophy is the most "fun" part of the process. For life skills, the best part is learning WHY we do each process to the car, but lets be honest, what kid doesn't want to win?
We arrived at the race, and I tried to pull the wheels out. Back wheels were rock solid (I want to mention that this year I placed the axle heads closer to the body than the BSA gap gauges suggest per a suggestion on this board).
Ok, so the rears are providing hope, and I checked the NDFW, which sat higher and was basically a junk wheel with zero prep was in solid also thank goodness, but when I checked the DFW it came right out as we walked inside the race. Houston, we have a problem.
My son's car has a bent DFW axle on a three wheeler that is willing to come out on the slightest pull. IF the wheel doesn't come off during the race (a big if) surely it will come out of alignment and maybe come to a halt during a race. I remain cool and collected in front of my son and I use the time to convey why it's important to not wait until the last minute while apologizing, but confidently said "we can fix this, it isn't an issue".
It was total BS, inside I was about to go into full panic mode wanting nothing more than find a corner to curl up in the fetal position and cry. I was soooo frustrated that all our efforts, all the actual workplace work I missed, and all the money spent came down to this. I didn't have glue with me and the race was going to start VERY soon. I tried placing tape on the axle as a means to hold the axle in place, but surprisingly enough, tape doesn't stick very well to a highly polished axle with graphite on it.....
I did have something in my tool bag that saved us. I had tungsten putty to bring the car right up to 5oz. I rolled a fine line of putty and shoved it into the axle hole, I put the axle in and it didn't hold. I repeated the process and BOOM it held.
I "tuned" the wheel with a pair of pliers as best I could on a school cafeteria table. While doing so my son questioned me for putting the tungsten putty in the front hole. He asked if it was a good idea to raise the weight on the front. I really felt good about that. It meant he was "getting it" and the concepts about weight, aerodynamics, and friction were really shaping his thinking. It also made me feel much better. I knew regardless of the car's performance, he learned a lot in the process including critical thinking.
He checked in his car and I positioned myself to take pics. It was a long wait. His den was last and the whole time I prayed to the Pinewood Derby gods that the DFW (and others) didn't fall off. I "knew" winning wasn't going to happen, but at least let him feel good about it (one friend at school bra
gged that his car would smoke my son's again this year, so I had that warm fuzzy feeling in my mind*). Fortune smiled upon us though.
After sitting through all the other den races, my son was up. He placed the car on the track just like I advised him to, and all I could think was “don't let the wheel come off”. Winning wasn't in my mind, but as luck would have it, not only did the DFW not come off, his car won the race(two cars race at a time). WOW, that was crazy, but during the first heat, if you car makes it past the finish line it has a chance to win.
He won (sometimes by a very small amount) every race in his den, including 2nd place car twice because it was double elimination. Holy cow! That was great and at that point if we went home it was everything it could be. Sure, there was the pack race that he was now qualified for, but even after winning the den, I wasn't quite at the level of cautiously optimistic yet.
Didn't matter, he now had a first place trophy in his hand, and the spirits would be high on the ride home.
However, he did win his first race for the Pack, and I became hopeful. He also lost a race to last year's winner, but that was ok, he might take top three and that would be great also. By luck of the brackets, last year's winner won every race and my son's car won every race (other than the one mentiond loss) so it all came down to those two again (I was really happy that my son would take second for the whole pack, major victory in my mind)
Since it was double elimination and my son lost one already - the other boy only needed to win the next race and it would all be over, however, my son needed to beat the other car twice to take first place.
Crazy enough, my son won, wow, that was nuts, especially after losing the first.
and then..... he won the next race to take first in the pack.
Thanks again to everyone that posted ideas and suggestions!
As you can quickly tell, I don't work with wood but once a year to help my son build pinewood derby cars, and maybe a few others. the front right wheel is the DFW, notice the cant on it (not by design). the white crack in the back is the result of the wood being so thin that when I put wood putty in to hold the weight it burst through (same slightly in front of the rear axles also)
COM is about 3/4 inch in front of rear axles
Raced on wood track. Timing only gives placing, so I don't know times.
* the boy that said he was going to smoke my son's car is actually a great kid and it was two friends having fun with each other.
I asked a lot of questions, especially in the "ask the pros" section, so I thought it was fitting that I also give my thanks to everyone who took the time out of their day (and night in many cases) to answer another newbies "idiot" questions. The answers and posts in general really helped.
So, THANK YOU for your help. That includes those that posted answers and suggestions that I didn't ask, but used just the same. I appreciate it.
Regardless of how my son's car performed, I planned on posting this, but I will admit it's a lot more pleasurable to write after his car did "ok". Maybe it's not the most competitive pack (I have no basis for comparison), but the difference between 1st and 4th is highly competitive (Two brothers took 2nd and 3rd after one won the pack last year). I'm guessing for most packs the difference between 1st and 4th is small.
Any journey to the winners circle is filled with peril, and running short on time (once again) didn't help. We worked on the car until the last possible minute, until we had to leave the house for the race (catching the flu really put me behind).
My son, once he saw fenders really wanted them. I spent WAY too much time trying to make that happen. If I could do it again, I would have not because trying to glue the axles in firmly with 60 minutes before check-in time will add gray hair at a rapid rate.
Bending the axle for the DFW went horribly wrong, with scrapes on the axle (we cut a notch in the axle, but it didn't bend at that point). I had to try to straighten the axle, rebend, readjust and so forth (all within two hours of show time). I trade stock options, but THIS was stressful.
This was my first year in trying to steer for rail riding, and it was a trial by fire. luckily I have read enough here and on 5kidsracing site to give me a sense for what I needed to do. however, I wasn't sure how well the superglue would hold the axles once I "tuned" (I use the word "tuned" in the loosest sense possible and mean no disrespect to the 8yr olds that actually "tune" their car). My tuning was on a board about three feet long and held higher by a 2x4 on one end to provide lift for about 5 minutes (did I mention I was running short on time).
After I put the said super glue into glue holes, I drilled and advised my son to hold the car upside down to let the glue set while spinning the wheels.
On the drive to the race, my son is coming to the realization that this year isn't going to be pretty, and hopes of glory are fading fast. I explained again that I was sorry for getting sick, and we now know so much more that next year will be great. I have to give him credit, after some silence and thought, he offered on his own that it didn't matter if we won, that the best part of the race was spending time with me building the car (I couldn't help, but think this kid has a successful career in politics awaiting him).
He was lying, I know it, albeit I did respect him (and appreciated) for it. But I know as every other dad here knows that for a 10yr old, getting a trophy is the most "fun" part of the process. For life skills, the best part is learning WHY we do each process to the car, but lets be honest, what kid doesn't want to win?
We arrived at the race, and I tried to pull the wheels out. Back wheels were rock solid (I want to mention that this year I placed the axle heads closer to the body than the BSA gap gauges suggest per a suggestion on this board).
Ok, so the rears are providing hope, and I checked the NDFW, which sat higher and was basically a junk wheel with zero prep was in solid also thank goodness, but when I checked the DFW it came right out as we walked inside the race. Houston, we have a problem.
My son's car has a bent DFW axle on a three wheeler that is willing to come out on the slightest pull. IF the wheel doesn't come off during the race (a big if) surely it will come out of alignment and maybe come to a halt during a race. I remain cool and collected in front of my son and I use the time to convey why it's important to not wait until the last minute while apologizing, but confidently said "we can fix this, it isn't an issue".
It was total BS, inside I was about to go into full panic mode wanting nothing more than find a corner to curl up in the fetal position and cry. I was soooo frustrated that all our efforts, all the actual workplace work I missed, and all the money spent came down to this. I didn't have glue with me and the race was going to start VERY soon. I tried placing tape on the axle as a means to hold the axle in place, but surprisingly enough, tape doesn't stick very well to a highly polished axle with graphite on it.....
I did have something in my tool bag that saved us. I had tungsten putty to bring the car right up to 5oz. I rolled a fine line of putty and shoved it into the axle hole, I put the axle in and it didn't hold. I repeated the process and BOOM it held.
I "tuned" the wheel with a pair of pliers as best I could on a school cafeteria table. While doing so my son questioned me for putting the tungsten putty in the front hole. He asked if it was a good idea to raise the weight on the front. I really felt good about that. It meant he was "getting it" and the concepts about weight, aerodynamics, and friction were really shaping his thinking. It also made me feel much better. I knew regardless of the car's performance, he learned a lot in the process including critical thinking.
He checked in his car and I positioned myself to take pics. It was a long wait. His den was last and the whole time I prayed to the Pinewood Derby gods that the DFW (and others) didn't fall off. I "knew" winning wasn't going to happen, but at least let him feel good about it (one friend at school bra
gged that his car would smoke my son's again this year, so I had that warm fuzzy feeling in my mind*). Fortune smiled upon us though.
After sitting through all the other den races, my son was up. He placed the car on the track just like I advised him to, and all I could think was “don't let the wheel come off”. Winning wasn't in my mind, but as luck would have it, not only did the DFW not come off, his car won the race(two cars race at a time). WOW, that was crazy, but during the first heat, if you car makes it past the finish line it has a chance to win.
He won (sometimes by a very small amount) every race in his den, including 2nd place car twice because it was double elimination. Holy cow! That was great and at that point if we went home it was everything it could be. Sure, there was the pack race that he was now qualified for, but even after winning the den, I wasn't quite at the level of cautiously optimistic yet.
Didn't matter, he now had a first place trophy in his hand, and the spirits would be high on the ride home.
However, he did win his first race for the Pack, and I became hopeful. He also lost a race to last year's winner, but that was ok, he might take top three and that would be great also. By luck of the brackets, last year's winner won every race and my son's car won every race (other than the one mentiond loss) so it all came down to those two again (I was really happy that my son would take second for the whole pack, major victory in my mind)
Since it was double elimination and my son lost one already - the other boy only needed to win the next race and it would all be over, however, my son needed to beat the other car twice to take first place.
Crazy enough, my son won, wow, that was nuts, especially after losing the first.
and then..... he won the next race to take first in the pack.
Thanks again to everyone that posted ideas and suggestions!
As you can quickly tell, I don't work with wood but once a year to help my son build pinewood derby cars, and maybe a few others. the front right wheel is the DFW, notice the cant on it (not by design). the white crack in the back is the result of the wood being so thin that when I put wood putty in to hold the weight it burst through (same slightly in front of the rear axles also)
COM is about 3/4 inch in front of rear axles
Raced on wood track. Timing only gives placing, so I don't know times.
* the boy that said he was going to smoke my son's car is actually a great kid and it was two friends having fun with each other.
