The scale is approximately 28:1.Ī band saw is by far the easiest tool to cut a pinewood derby car. Baking might remove more moisture but the block will quickly re-absorb the moisture after it is out of the oven and cooled down. Also, the blocks have already been kiln dried so all excess moisture has already been removed. The risk with baking is that you could warp the block. You can then add more weight to the back of the car. The idea behind baking the block is to remove moisture which will make the block lighter. The short answer is no, do not bake the block. The official BSA block is made from ponderosa pine. The dimensions of a pinewood derby car block are 7 inches long, 1 3/4 inches wide and 1 1/4 inches high. Keep the car in a shoe box until the race. If you are using oil, the oil will slowly evaporate over time so you should lubricate the car within a week of the race.
Just keep your car in a shoe box after lubricating until the race. If you are using graphite then there is no time limit on when you can lubricate your car. How soon before the race can I lubricate the car? Instructions for lubricating the wheels can be found here. It is a lot easier to lubricate before they are on the car but you should also add more graphite just before the race. Should I lubricate the wheels before or after they are on the car? You should add loose graphite to our graphite coated axles just as you would the standard axles. No, liquid lubricant and graphite don't do well when mixed. With the graphite for better lubricating characteristics.Ĭan liquid lubricants be used with the the graphite coated axles? It has a small amount of molybdenum mixed
We tested every available dry lubricant and the Hob-E-Lube Other than Krytox, be sure to test it first - some liquid lubricants Most Pinewood Derby car races prohibit liquid lubricants because The trick is to use a very small amount of the liquid. Our liquid lubricant (Krytox 100) is better thanĭry lubricants such as graphite. Follow these instructions to raise a wheel. The easiest way to raise a wheel is to lower the opposite wheel.
Raise the wheel that the car is steering toward. Your car will steer slightly left or right. First, mount all the wheels on your car then push your car on a flat surface. Raising one of the front wheels so it doesn't touch the track will make your car faster. Will my car be faster if I raise one of the front wheels? We offer a variety of sanded and lathed pinewood derby wheels. This is best done with a lathe so that the wheel doesn't become out of balance. The next step would be to remove plastic from the inside of the wheel to make it lighter. If your race rules allow it, you can sand your wheels or, better yet, put them on a lathe to make them round. To spin a wheel, put the wheel on an axle, hold the axle level then give it a spin with your finger. You should replace a wheel that spins less than the others. Spinning is useful when comparing the four wheels in a set. For example, wheels that have plastic removed to make them lighter won't spin as long as unmodified wheels but the lighter wheels are faster. A good wheels will spin for around 20 seconds but the spin time can vary with the type of wheel, lubricant and with the amount of force used to start the spin. How long should pinewood derby wheels spin?Ī long spinning wheel has less friction so the longer a wheel spins, the better. 03") away from the car block but can be as much as. The hub of the wheel should be a credit card thickness (about. How close should pinewood derby wheels be to the car? Sanding can still help by removing variations in the wheel circumference making the wheel rounder but sanding is no longer as necessary as it was. The new wheels no longer have a mold mark. In the past, pinewood derby wheels had a mold mark on the wheel tread that had to be removed by sanding. Pinewood derby wheels are 1.185" in circumference.