The "EVIL ONE" at it again

[Bw56]

Well we had our multiple District race Saturday and turn out was poor imho. We have a new person in charge and no one did any promoting of the event in the four months preceding. Not even a flier in the scout shop. Not my job and they knew that. There was a rash .002 undersized wheels, lots of overweight and no thought of a way to adjust quickly. One over size on length, weights sticking 3/4" behind the car. The best one was Mom argued the wheels were stock from the box and couldn't be undersized. Dad didn't say a thing but took her aside and ten minutes later had different wheels on the car lol.
We had several fast cars with the fastest running 3.02 something.
I feel the wheel problems that came from the same vender were from machining them and checking sizes while they were hot from weather or the machining, Just my feelings. My gage blocks, calipers etc, were at room temp from the night before. When you play on the edge expect to get bit once in a while.
We had several ladder cars entered and some paint jobs even I can't come anywhere close to.
"Built by the boys?" LOL
Oh and one car came in with wheels .0015 over the low limit. I let him know they were nicely done.

 

[Jeff H.]

Well, my Bear Cub can sketch out a ladder car in Correl Draw, then send the vector file to the laser cutter and press the start button.

The paint jobs are a whole different matter.

 

[Reecedad]

Well, my Bear Cub can sketch out a ladder car in Correl Draw, then send the vector file to the laser cutter and press the start button.

The paint jobs are a whole different matter.

Wow that's exactly the way I cut my bodies lol

 

[Bw56]

Cool, but the average house only has master cam and a 5 axis bridgeport. ( ie paper, pencil, and hand drill)

 

[derbydentist]

Oh and one car came in with wheels .0015 over the low limit. I let him know they were nicely done.

Haha so I think that was my brother and his kid that you commented on his wheels being nicely done- he told me after the race Bob made it a point to say how he liked that the wheels weren't so small in diameter

 

[Bw56]

It probably was. I didn't know who he was until after the races. As usual I didn't see much until the end. Wish you had been there. We needed some more hot cars for competition.

 

[DerbyDad4Hire]

There is a common gauge that is used and YES some raw wheels are smaller and do not pass.

If the Scouts want pinewood derby to die then these absurd rule sets and check ins are doing the trick. Make rule sets that don't create cheaters. Quit trying to slow the fast racers down to passify the ones that put no effort in. The good ones will win either way.

Stupid rules:

• 4 wheels touching
• No bent axles
• No machining the wheels (Set a realistic height and width limit and let them correct the horrible wheels)
  
• No canted wheels
• Graphite only
• No grooved axles
• Race organizers putting graphite on all the cars
• Forced early check in with cars being held overnight (This one is a joke. WAY TOO MUCH CHEATING HERE)

Rules that can't be teched in without car breakdown should be excluded. Rules that allow some kids to pass through with an advantage should be excluded.

YOU CAN"T LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD BY OVER RESTRICTING THE CARS. The more you restrict them the worse the better builders beat the rest, that is if everyone goes through the same tech in procedure.

This is supposed to be fun for the kids. Just like youth sports, the parents ruin the pinewood derby too. Teach the boys that everyone DOES NOT deserve a trophy just for showing up.

As far as built cars go... If my son shows up to a race is the car automatically illegal? Every one of you have all the info right here to beat any purchased cars. Quit complicating building a pinewood derby car. It really is easy to do.

RELAX, ENJOY, HAVE FUN, if you lose try harder next year.

This message is not aimed at or meant to harm any certain individual. No animals were harmed during typing.

 

[Loud2ns]

RELAX, ENJOY, HAVE FUN, if you lose try harder next year.

This shouldn't be such a foreign concept!!

 

[Bw56]

Lightening the wheels below where the clean up point is the only thing you probably wouldn't like in our rules. 1.175", that is the minimum wheel diameter, period. And the most broken rule. That was not the scouts fault, Dads bought them and didn't check them. They all came from the same vendor. That's a quality control problem. Ladder cars are not outlawed. We had three and they were works of art. Every car was checked for compliance exactly the same way. Except one, It had special handling instructions, but still everything was checked. One car had two sets of holes for the front wheels, He had to move them to the shorter standard wheelbase holes but dad knew that. Sorry I don't know how everyone did, I was busy until the end. I did challenge some to come back next year to kick some butt and get a bigger trophy.

 

[Jeff H.]

Cool, but the average house only has master cam and a 5 axis bridgeport. ( ie paper, pencil, and hand drill)

Yeah, the laser cutter is at a local maker space. Thinking about league racing - for the kids cars we stick to the common household tools.

 

[derbydentist]

Every one of you have all the info right here to beat any purchased cars.

Unless you are racing against one of the best racers in pinewood derby history like my brother was in this race because the top car was purchased from him haha!
This rule set is pretty good I think. I think the 1.175 min diameter is pretty reasonable - gives enough room to make the wheel true. The only rule I cringe at is having to poke holes in the axle wood to reveal the axle tips - but that's not that big of a deal I just don't like weakening that area if I don't have to.

My brother was very impressed with you and the race and said you did a great job!

 

[Bw56]

Thanks. The axle point view port is an aid and I use it to help identify a stock axle. It speeds up the process. I have never gone nuts if a car's axle points are not visible. But if you are trying to hide it...... Had a chance to chat with an elderly gentleman after the races, He has some impressive PWD knowledge.
On my HONOR..... A scout is trustworthy.... A DAD hates to lose vicariously. Still haven't caught a scout breaking the rules.

 

[derbydentist]

HaHa yep!

 

[Racing358t]

In a way I'm glad to be done with scout derby. Now we do some league stuff. A lot less drama regarding "rule bending" or stupid rules in league racing. But a lot harder to win.

Scott