The sticky wheel

Posted on November 18, 2007 | Comments Off on The sticky wheel

Moral: never go to a Pinewood Derby with a car with a sticky wheel. I thought we could get away with it, after the epoxy spread to the wheel from where I had applied it to hold the axles on the wood. I turned it a few score times and applied powdered graphite to the axle and the tread in hopes of making it slippery enough that it would at least slide quickly. It came in 66th, dead last. It not only lost its three heats, it never got all the way to the finish line, but slowed and stopped about two-thirds of the way down the track. Next year, when Mr. B. is older and doesn’t have to rely on dumb old Dad, he should do better.

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0 responses to “The sticky wheel”

  1. Anna's avatar Anna | November 21, 2007 at 6:01 am |

    freakin’ hilarious (with deepest apologies, Mr. B)!! Ahh, the days of the pinewood derby… some real life lessons there! Dick, be sure you pick up a copy of “the Dangerous Book for Boys” by Christmas for young master Stanley. If that doesn’t cover pinewood race cars, I’d be shocked.

  2. Anna's avatar Anna | November 21, 2007 at 6:01 am |

    freakin’ hilarious (with deepest apologies, Mr. B)!! Ahh, the days of the pinewood derby… some real life lessons there! Dick, be sure you pick up a copy of “the Dangerous Book for Boys” by Christmas for young master Stanley. If that doesn’t cover pinewood race cars, I’d be shocked.

  3. Dick Stanley's avatar Dick Stanley | November 21, 2007 at 9:06 am |

    We have the book, Anna. I don’t believe it mentions the derby. But after two of them now, experiencing the best (i.e. third place) and the worst (tied for last with two other boys), we’re becoming professionals.

  4. Dick Stanley's avatar Dick Stanley | November 21, 2007 at 9:06 am |

    We have the book, Anna. I don’t believe it mentions the derby. But after two of them now, experiencing the best (i.e. third place) and the worst (tied for last with two other boys), we’re becoming professionals.

  5. jdallen's avatar jdallen | November 25, 2007 at 12:25 pm |

    I remember when my first son and I did his. The guy down the street did things like build his own yacht, cabinets below deck and all. His kid’s car looked like an Indy racer, and had a finish on it like one, too.
    The other dad’s cars were not much worse, except mine. My kids did their own work.

  6. jdallen's avatar jdallen | November 25, 2007 at 12:25 pm |

    I remember when my first son and I did his. The guy down the street did things like build his own yacht, cabinets below deck and all. His kid’s car looked like an Indy racer, and had a finish on it like one, too.
    The other dad’s cars were not much worse, except mine. My kids did their own work.

  7. Dick Stanley's avatar Dick Stanley | November 25, 2007 at 11:52 pm |

    Lots of the cars we’ve seen were obviously done by the fathers. Mr. B.’s done about half the work on his first two cars. Next year he’ll do it all, except use the band saw to cut the design–but it’ll be his design as it was for the first two. He’ll also do the glue, so I don’t get the blame if something goes wrong.

  8. Dick Stanley's avatar Dick Stanley | November 25, 2007 at 11:52 pm |

    Lots of the cars we’ve seen were obviously done by the fathers. Mr. B.’s done about half the work on his first two cars. Next year he’ll do it all, except use the band saw to cut the design–but it’ll be his design as it was for the first two. He’ll also do the glue, so I don’t get the blame if something goes wrong.