PINEWOOD FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I find Track plans?

Track plans are in the Cub Scout How To book which is available at the Boy Scout Council Scout Shop near you. Here are some sites that can help you.  Good luck.

http://www.inetworld.net/bosworth/tracks.htm

http://www.pinewoodderbytrack.com/

http://www.rahul.net/mcgrew/derby/track/

What do you recommend for an advanced lubricant?

Where can I find pictures of cars?

Where can I find a race chart?

Pope's Pinewood Pages

How do you pack the wheel wells with graphite?

This was a tip designed for the older style wheels.  The wheel well was deeper and held more graphite.  On the new wheels, it does not work as well.

My Tiger Cub can't do all of this!  How much help should the adult give?

The amount of help allowed is decided by the pack. The purpose of the derby is that the father and son have a meaningful experience building the car. This can only be done if both work on it.

Boys have different experience levels. Some can probably handle power tools at that age but 99.9% can not. So the question of how much help to give is individual to the boy.

Personally, I think the pack should hold a "clinic" so that everyone is thinking along the same lines. Print out my tips and give them to everyone so that all the boys have an equal chance.

At a Tiger age, the boy should design the car with Dad's practical input. Unless you are very experienced with power tools, I would not let the Tiger do any cutting out. The boy can sand and sand and sand and sand by hand. If you can find a palm sander, he could easily sand the car. Dad will have to add the weights. The boy can paint. Get a spray can trigger from your local home improvement center and he can spray paint the car.   His fingers are probably not strong enough to hold down the button on the spray can.  Both Dad and son can work on the wheels and axles.

Hello, I have an eight year old cousin who is a cub scout and is designing a derby race car for the first time. What would be a highly recommended first car? (if you don't mind my asking)

Start with a wedge shape.  It is easy to sand and has plenty of wood in the back for the weights. 

Which design would you pick from the list?

Since wind resistance is of little consequence in 30 feet of track, go with what excites you.

On the design page...are there supposed to be links to pictures of the cars?

Sorry, but no.  Why do something that has already been done well.  For pictures of cars go to these sites.  Jay's page sometimes acts up.

Shape N Race Derby - Darin McGrew's Site

Jay's Pinewood Derby Page

How can we keep the boys occupied if they are not racing?

Find a second track and have a Hot Wheels race.  They fit nicely between the lanes.

Is it against the rules to.......................?

The "official" rules are those included in the box with the car.  But most districts, councils, or packs have developed other rules to avoid some people having an unfair advantage.  So the rules are those adopted by the pinewood derby committee that runs the race.  Check with your Cubmaster and District Executive.

My car went down the track fast but was passed up on the straight!  how come?

You will notice that some cars are slow to go down the track but seem to speed up at the bottom of the curve.  These are the ones that have well polished axles, but poor weight placement.  Others will go down the hill fine, but get past up on the straight.  These are the ones with good weight placement, but poor axles.

Do you have any plans?

Sorry, but I don't have plans.  The reason is that I like to see the personalized creative efforts of the Scouts.  I give them a sheet of graph paper with those little quarter inch squares.  They outline the block of wood (top and side view).  Then they get creative in design!  I've even had them bring their favorite hot wheels/matchbox cars for inspiration.

What is graphite?

Graphite is the lubrication.  Most rules do not allow any type of liquid lubrication.  Also, oils tend to collect dust particles and may even melt tires.

Graphite is very small chips of mineral that has a low coefficient of friction.  Often another refined mineral known as molybdenum is added.  Moly is like little ball bearings.  This reduces friction.  You can find a product called Hoby-lube at almost any hobby or craft shop that contains both. 

Scouts offers a white teflon that is not nearly as good.

One of the ways I came up with would be to line the inside of the wheel with some weight (i.e., lead tape).? Theory centrifugal or centrifugal force/fly wheel. Make sense? Legal??

I tried this using lead putty.  I had a friend do it another way.  We both found out that if the track were 150 feet long instead of 30 feet then it may work.  But in the short distance, there is not enough time for the fly wheel effect to work. Good try!  Keep thinking.

Are there height restrictions?

Only if your rules say there are.  Or if you are running an electronic finish line.