I helped out with a single mom and her son cub scout with this pinewood derby.Some of the other cars were obviously built by the dad's or other adults.The car we built was not one of those.The boy learned a lot from shape and sand and paint as well as weights and Balance.After 2 days of heats double elimination to my and his complete surprise we won every race!On the last day it was down to our car and this pencil thin super painted dad built car. It was very close race.We got a second place trophy and the crowd favorite trophy with blue ribbon family participation award!I hope he still has that car and awards today.Thanks!
That's outstanding! I know as Dads we want our kids to be successes but sometimes you can give them too much help. I bet he was excited the whole time. Thanks for sharing that.
My own experience with the Pinewood derby was in the mid 70's.I built my car myself.Unfortunatly it didn't make it down the track very far.My lead weight was lumpy on the bottom and the track was grooved so it bottomed out mid way.Dissapointing to say the least.When I was asked to help my friend's son with his car and derby I was skeptical on our chances of winning at all let alone every race for 2 days!Over 200+ Cars were entered and the event was a 3 day schedule.
His Mom was so happy to see her son winning those races!His pack was really cheering him on!It was a real positive influence for everyone involved.I highly recommend to anyone this fantastic hobby and experience!Thanks for the video and my recollection of the greatest pine derby we ever had!
Love it. bought a bandsaw just for this. Church sent home pre-cut cars. good design I guess. gotta cut off more now because I have a bandsaw. graphite, yes. weights yes. Nice video man
You are the man! I've watched so many Pinewood Derby videos, but your's gives a lot of tips none of the others have! Thank you so much! We are going for the gold! I built one for myself too. I wish i saw your video before we cut ours! Next year we'll have this knowledge to make the ultimate car!
Glad you found it helpful. I'm really excited for you! We used to run and "Unlimited" class for the Dad’s and charged $5 a run. It was a good fundraiser for the pack.
Great info, making one with my grandson at the moment. I came up with the same ideas as you regarding the wheels, glad you confirmed them. I also made one thirty five years ago with my son and raced at Mildenhall Airbase here in the UK 🇬🇧 and we came second. We were really chuffed. It was one gram under the weight limit, so perfect. We placed a lead strip down the centre line which seemed to work Great presentation
🤣 So I was - I don't recommend that for safety considerations - but I'm pretty certain that I've drank worse in the field with the Marines and with the Boy Scouts. Neither are too careful about what goes into field coffee.
@@30minutewoodshop I was camping with friends and after having some grown-up sodas the day turned to night, which meant my vision was limited. I got a little hungry and happened to spot a big beef jerky stick in the center of the picnic table where we were sitting. After eating half of it I said "This beef jerky is terrible!" They informed me that it was a little campfire starting brick. Oops.
Ok - for Force caused by aerodynamic drag Fad = 0.5 · Cd · A · Rho(air) · v^2 In KMS. 0.5 * Coefficient of Drag is (per NASA) 1.05 * Area is 0.001313 m^2 * Rho(air density) is 1.202 * Velocity ~1m/s =0.000829N or 0.000189Lbs which is 0.00298 oz. About the weight of a feather restraining the cars progress down the track. Drag doesn't really kick in until you reach about 20 kph(ish) which is why it matters for speed skaters and bicyclists.
I'm not into calculus or engineering ideas but I did help my grandkids with their cars. Some of the host's ideas I agree with, some I don't. From experience I can say that you can overlubricate the wheels. Personally, I don't think graphite is the best lubricant. Lastly, the host says any consideration regarding aerodynamics is wasted time With something as small as a Pinewood Car, I still give thought to wind resistance reduction and a smooth finish.
Lol... Sure - in a test environment and all things being equal. But IRL not is constant, consistent, or easy. So don't worry about it the track and wheels will be more influential.
Mark Rober (former JPL engineer who worked on NASA missions) has a video about pinewood derby cars where he wins with one that is not very aerodynamic at all, and he shows some data from someone else that indicates the aerodynamics don't play a very big part in winning. In a sense, you are both right. All else equal, aerodynamics do matter, but the effect size for pinewood derby cars is so small that there are loads of other things that you should focus on first.
I helped out with a single mom and her son cub scout with this pinewood derby.Some of the other cars were obviously built by the dad's or other adults.The car we built was not one of those.The boy learned a lot from shape and sand and paint as well as weights and Balance.After 2 days of heats double elimination to my and his complete surprise
we won every race!On the last day it was down to our car and this pencil thin super painted dad built car.
It was very close race.We got a second place trophy and the crowd favorite trophy with blue ribbon family participation award!I hope he still has that car and awards today.Thanks!
He would be in his 30's now most likely with family of his own.I would think that would be one of his great stories to relate to them.
That's outstanding! I know as Dads we want our kids to be successes but sometimes you can give them too much help. I bet he was excited the whole time. Thanks for sharing that.
My own experience with the Pinewood derby was in the mid 70's.I built my car myself.Unfortunatly it didn't make it down the track very far.My lead weight was lumpy on the bottom and the track was grooved so it bottomed out mid way.Dissapointing to say the least.When I was asked to help my friend's son with his car and derby I was skeptical on our chances of winning at all let alone every race for 2 days!Over 200+ Cars were entered and the event was a 3 day schedule.
His Mom was so happy to see her son winning those races!His pack was really cheering him on!It was a real positive influence for everyone involved.I highly recommend to anyone this fantastic hobby and experience!Thanks for the video and my recollection of the greatest pine derby we ever had!
Love it. bought a bandsaw just for this. Church sent home pre-cut cars. good design I guess. gotta cut off more now because I have a bandsaw. graphite, yes. weights yes. Nice video man
Thanks!
You are the man! I've watched so many Pinewood Derby videos, but your's gives a lot of tips none of the others have! Thank you so much! We are going for the gold! I built one for myself too. I wish i saw your video before we cut ours! Next year we'll have this knowledge to make the ultimate car!
Glad you found it helpful. I'm really excited for you! We used to run and "Unlimited" class for the Dad’s and charged $5 a run. It was a good fundraiser for the pack.
Great info, making one with my grandson at the moment. I came up with the same ideas as you regarding the wheels, glad you confirmed them. I also made one thirty five years ago with my son and raced at Mildenhall Airbase here in the UK 🇬🇧 and we came second. We were really chuffed. It was one gram under the weight limit, so perfect. We placed a lead strip down the centre line which seemed to work
Great presentation
Thank you 🙏
Grinding right over your cup of coffee.
🤣 So I was - I don't recommend that for safety considerations - but I'm pretty certain that I've drank worse in the field with the Marines and with the Boy Scouts. Neither are too careful about what goes into field coffee.
@@30minutewoodshop I was camping with friends and after having some grown-up sodas the day turned to night, which meant my vision was limited. I got a little hungry and happened to spot a big beef jerky stick in the center of the picnic table where we were sitting. After eating half of it I said "This beef jerky is terrible!" They informed me that it was a little campfire starting brick. Oops.
Thats how he really gets the pinewood derby into his blood.
Great video. I like to fill the cars over the back axle with molten lead. Fun times😁
Great idea... I think? Never tried it. Maybe solder? I can't melt lead.
Can you share the calculations that show aerodynamics don’t matter?
Ok - for Force caused by aerodynamic drag Fad = 0.5 · Cd · A · Rho(air) · v^2 In KMS. 0.5 * Coefficient of Drag is (per NASA) 1.05 * Area is 0.001313 m^2 * Rho(air density) is 1.202 * Velocity ~1m/s =0.000829N or 0.000189Lbs which is 0.00298 oz. About the weight of a feather restraining the cars progress down the track. Drag doesn't really kick in until you reach about 20 kph(ish) which is why it matters for speed skaters and bicyclists.
I'm not into calculus or engineering ideas but I did help my grandkids with their cars. Some of the host's ideas I agree with, some I don't.
From experience I can say that you can overlubricate the wheels. Personally, I don't think graphite is the best lubricant.
Lastly, the host says any consideration regarding aerodynamics is wasted time
With something as small as a Pinewood Car, I still give thought to wind resistance reduction and a smooth finish.
Enjoyed this 👍
My pinewood derby cars were TERRIBLE. I was a big loser lol. Very fun though.
And that is the key ... FUN!! If the kids are having fun you are doing it right!
Michael enjoyed his pine wood derby days
Yeah, Cub Scout is tons of fun. More families should take advantage of it.
Do you bend the axles?
No, but I do lift one of the front wheels, so it only rides on 3 wheels.
@@30minutewoodshop good to know. This was a helpful video. I used your tips but I didn’t have time to make one front wheel higher.
Me and my son have a Tank this 😂year, not aerodynamic. Adding the axels today, its all painted and has its cannons. Haha
Cool!!! Best of luck to your Cub.
Back when : we couldn't use oil or graffit and we had nails for the axles
Lol... Yeah, things have changed a lot!
Semper Fi
Semper Fi Brother
There is a good reason why every single thing in this world that goes fast is streamline. Just say'n.
ROFL - at this speed it's because they look cool!! But there is no engineering reason... in the world ;-)
hmm... the nasa engineers disagree with you with regards to the importance of aerodynamics for pinewood derby. who should we listen to?
Lol... Sure - in a test environment and all things being equal. But IRL not is constant, consistent, or easy. So don't worry about it the track and wheels will be more influential.
Mark Rober (former JPL engineer who worked on NASA missions) has a video about pinewood derby cars where he wins with one that is not very aerodynamic at all, and he shows some data from someone else that indicates the aerodynamics don't play a very big part in winning.
In a sense, you are both right. All else equal, aerodynamics do matter, but the effect size for pinewood derby cars is so small that there are loads of other things that you should focus on first.