How to Get Started Designing Your Pinewood Derby Car
How to Get Started Designing Your Pinewood Derby Car
We encourage our Cub Scouts to do their best, to be helpful, and to be kind to others. With Pinewood Derby season right around the corner, these words could not ring truer. The Pinewood Derby is the perfect time to teach Cub Scouts the value of sportsmanship, how to win with humility, and to accept loss with grace. The derby inspires Scouts to think outside the box, and with each Pinewood Derby, we're left speechless witnessing the innovative, charming, and exciting cars all of the Scouts design. To help Scouts bring their visions to life, we've compiled some of our favorite accessories available at the Scout Shop.
Transform your car into a firetruck, police car, or ice cream truck
Preserve your car with a display box
Let Your Scout's Design Shine
Not only do under-glow lights enhance the car's appearance, but they also give out lighting that everyone can enjoy looking at. The undermount light kit contains light strips that glow blue and have different lighting options. The accessory piece is an official product of the BSA and includes a battery pack and two strips of lighting that can be applied to the undermount of the vehicle. Although we prefer the constant glow setting, your Scout will also have the option of fast-blinking and slow-blinking lighting that's easy to adjust. And if you're concerned about exceeding the weight limit of 5 ounces, not to worry—the Pinewood Derby Under Light Kit weighs just half an ounce!
Tricked Out Wheels
All eyes will be on your Scout's car at the next Pinewood Derby. From electric blue to bright green, eye-popping pink, purple and white, these colorful wheel and axle replacement kits make your Scout's design come to life. Bonus: the wheels even glow in the dark! Imagine a sleek black derby car with eye-popping pink wheels or hot pink combined with the spark of electric blue! The colorful wheels put the finishing touch on a car and help your Scout practice decision-making on a micro-level.
Fun Peel-and-Stick Decals
Whether it's blue flames or unicorn rainbows, decal stickers help your Scout express whatever theme they choose to go with this year. The peel-and-stick decals are easy to use and put the finishing touches on a car after a hard day's work. Each decal accessory kit comes with a main decal sheet and an accessory sheet, and there's no cutting necessary! The Police decals go perfectly with the Police sound kit. There's even an Ice Cream Truck decal set too! Nevertheless, we hate being the bearers of bad news: ICE CREAM NOT INCLUDED.
HearYour Scout's Vision Come to Life
At ScoutShop.org, you can find the Pinewood Derby Ice Cream Truck, Fire Truck, Police, and Race Car. The Fire and Police sound kits even come with flashing light accessories. The accessories must be installed with a round drill, and sounds are activated only when the tiny silver button in the corner of the speaker box is pushed. So, there's no need to worry about motion-activated sensors. Plus, the car doubles as a fantastic toy after the race is over.
Put the Champ on Display
Every year, your Scout will get the opportunity to design a new car for the Pinewood Derby. Whether it's your Scout's first car or just a design too cool to be stored in a box, keep the smiles, and cherish the good memories with a Pinewood Derby Display Case. Too often, great-looking cars are lost or left to sit in hot attics or damp basem*nts, environments that can diminish the paint or rot the wood because of moisture. Your Scout's Pinewood Derby car is a precious object that took hours of hard work to complete. Compact enough to go on a bookshelf, mantle, or office desktop, the display case protects the car from moisture, dust, light, fingerprints, or heavy objects falling on top of the car and breaking it in storage. The display case is the perfect tool to preserve the memories you forge with your Scout no matter the threat.
Haven't Purchased Your Pinewood Derby Car Kit Yet?
With Christmas just weeks away and winter break quickly approaching, make sure you order your official Pinewood Derby Car Kit before it's too late! At the Scout Shop, you can load your virtual cart and check out easily. With just a few clicks, the Scout Shop delivers all the materials you need for the Pinewood Derby season. Keep your Scout's mind engaged during winter break and generate memories that will last a lifetime!
The wedge is a classic and probably the easiest shape (besides keeping a block) to build your Pinewood Derby car. The Wedge is the foundation of many cool car designs, and it is designed to be aerodynamic and is a one-cut wonder.
No need to get crazy here, but simply having a wedge-shaped Pinewood Derby car instead of the standard block out of the box will equal a 1.4-car advantage at the finish line.
A wood block with true, smooth wheels and axles will beat something honed in a wind tunnel with wobbly wheels. The most important thing for a fast pinewood derby car is true, straight wheels and axles. Next, the wheels and axles need to be as smooth (frictionless) as possible.
No loose materials of any kind (such as lead shot) are allowed in the car. No bent axels, and all 4 wheels need to be on the track. Once a car passes inspection and is entered into the race, only race committee members can touch it.
Three areas on a Pinewood Derby® car must be aligned; failure to do so leaves speed on the track! The rear wheels should be set at a 3-degree angle (camber). This angle reduces friction as only a tiny portion of the wheel makes contact with the track.
Much has been written about the physics of pinewood derby cars, and this is one rare case in racing where heavy = fast. Aerodynamics have little effect in such a short race, but weight does and putting the weight at the back of the car will make your car faster on the flat of the track.
The Pinewood Derby rules limit the weight of each car to 5 ounces. So where should you place weights to make the car heavier (faster)? Most PWD experts believe a car is faster when the weight is predominately placed towards the rear of the car.
Slide the axles and wheels onto the car and glue into place. Use an epoxy or nonresin glue, and make sure you don't get any on the surface of the axle where the wheel rides.
Bake the wooden block, usually at 250 degrees for two hours. This removes moisture, which allows you to apply weights when the block is finished. A heavier car is a faster car, but you can't go over that 5-ounce mark.
The end of the axle guide should be flush with the side of the car body. 4. Hold the Axle Guide in place with your thumb then gently press the car body straight down on the axle. Push until the wheel touches the car body.
The car may be hollowed out, drilled or modified and/or built up to the maximum weight by the addition of wood or metal. However, the material must be securely fastened to the car with screws, nails, or glue. No loose materials of any kind are permitted. Tape is NOT allowed to attach weights.
No loose materials of any kind such as lead shot are permitted in or on the car. c. If tape (masking, scotch, etc.) is used to hold weights on the car, it must be tightly attached to the car. Using tape to secure weight is not recommended.
10. Using tape (masking, scotch, etc.) to hold weights on the car is specifically prohibited. permissible as long as these details do not exceed the maximum length, width, and weight specifications.
The most basic aerodynamic design is a simple wedge. If you don't have time to design a complex car, a wedge will work just fine. Download a Pinewood Derby car template PDF to help you create your design.
Science says the heaviest part of your car should be about 1 inch in front of the rear axle. The idea is that the farther back the weight is, the more potential energy you have because your center of mass is higher up on the track.
Use the high grit (1000) sandpaper to sand the edge of the wheel while spinning it with the drill. Do not over-sand; you want to sand just enough to remove the flashing. With modified wheels, you'll want to sand off any burs from the cutting process but don't round over the edge.
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