Product Reviews

Pinewood Freak Store

November 19th, 2006 · No Comments

I’ve put together a store of Pinewood Derby supplies, tools, and resources using Amazon.com. I haven’t tried everything in the store, but I’m carefully adding things that get good reviews or have great specs. When I’ve tried an item, I’ll write a short review in the product description. When you buy one of the items […]

Weight testing

January 16th, 2006 · No Comments

If you want to make sure you have a car that weighs in at exactly maximum weight, you’ll want to pick up a digital scale to test your weight at home. Digital kitchen scales can be bought for around $30, but make sure the one you’re buying can display measurements in ounces. A number of […]

Pro-Wheel Shaver

January 4th, 2006 · No Comments

The wheels you get with your car kit are not completely round. It’s hard to tell with the naked eye, but there are high and low spots along the tread on most wheels. They roll just fine, but those high and low spots keep the car from rolling smoothly. It bumps up and down instead. […]

NyOil lube tests

January 3rd, 2006 · 1 Comment

Randy at Maximum Velocity has done some tests using NyOil II as a lubricant. He found out that NyOil is twice as fast as the powdered graphite you get in tubes. Better yet, it lasts for months and for dozens of races before you need to re-lube. It’s not a dry lubricant, but soaks into the […]

The latest

Pinewood Derby in Iraq Feb 7: Some military personnel held a pinewood derby in Iraq and posted the pictures from it. The track is fairly decent and some of the cars are amazing. I wonder where they got all the materials and kits?
Maximum Weight Jan 2: I constantly hear from dads who remember from high school physics classes that mass doesn’t affect the rate at which something falls. If dropped in a vacuum, a bowling ball and a feather fall at exactly the same speed, so the same should be true of a Pinewood Derby car as well, right? If this […]
Even easier race day weight adjustment Jan 1: It’s important to make sure your car is exactly 5 ounces on race day. But I’d suggest keeping it slightly underweight until you get to the race. It’s always easier to add weight than it is to remove it. Last year our Scout District race was held outside on a car lot in April. Almost every […]
Why modifications are needed (Rules, Part 3) Nov 30: Other leaders and race organizers often ask me why a boy would need to modify the parts that come with their kit. Other than to gain an unfair advantage, why would someone lathe their wheels, change the axle slot location, or buy replacement axles? Wouldn’t it be best if everyone were using the exact same […]
Rule complexity (Rules, Part 2) Nov 28: I’ve seen race rules that are 3 pages long and set in small type. They cover wheel location, building materials, lubrication, sportsmanship, and even list allowable construction methods. This is madness. All this complexity is going to lead to mistakes, arguments, and more problems than you would believe. When creating complicated rule sets, people tend to create […]

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