Pinewood Derby Totem Pole Car Finished

So many projects and so little time, but I did finally finish the totem pole pinewood derby car that I started in this post a while back. The race is over but I decided that I've won enough trophies over the years so I didn't build this car for speed; rather I went for making a unique car design and I believe that I hit the mark on that account.

The design has an eagle on top, a coyote, a frog, an Indian chief, then a bear. This particular car makes a great addition to my other table-totem pole display when sat upright and I'm sure that it will be quite a conversational piece for years to come.

Pinewood Derby 2010: The Power Of Simple Tools

Currently everyone is focused on the upcoming April Fool's 500 Pinewood Derby race next month so both woodshop and Scouting classes have been spent working on the winning cars. During Scouting classes we are usually on the trail working with map & compass, fire building, or perhaps a natural science hike but lately we've been working on our cars.

Working on our cars outside the woodshop during Scouting classes presents a wonderful opportunity for the kids to be more resourceful since the saws, drills, and hammers aren't available. What we do have are the most essential tools available which are our hands and our minds.

After more than 15 years in the woodshop, I am still amazed at the power found in a simple piece of sandpaper. Here we have all of these wonderful power tools (and yes they are wonderful!) but in their shadow I so often see equally powerful transformations of the mind and hands occur with just a simple piece of sandpaper.

As you can see from the pictures to the left, I spent almost two hours last Friday with one group working on their derby cars with no more than one piece of sandpaper per person and a few carving tools. The kids really got into the sanding with an intensity that would never be accomplished inside the woodshop. This was all that they had so they adapted to the situation and used their sandpaper like the sculpting tool that it was. They would fold in, re-enforce it, and shape it to reach the odd contours of their wood.

On the car to the right, a very nice hood scoop was first chiseled away with a small carving knife then another 45 minutes was spent carefully shaping it with a simple piece of sandpaper. Also notice the fine hood lines directly in front of the scoop that was the result of correctly folded sandpaper, even hand motions, and a fine connection of hands and mind to wood.

These same connections are also obtained from using power tools but sometimes I believe that an even more powerful connection occurs with just our hands and simple tools. Using just the hands is a more "primitive" connection with the wood and I think that something in our head registers the activity in our brain as being real, basic, and fundamental to our very being.

As seen in the pictures to the right I worked with another group today in our cabin as they had only sandpaper, carving tools, and paint brushes as their main tools. And once again another hour passed by way too fast. Here 12 kids sat around the table using their hands to fashion the  cars in their own way and if I had to sum up the class in one word it would have been "contentment".

They sanded their wood, they painted their tire rims, and they carved shapes to their cars. I moved around the class providing hints but most of all I complimented the creative ideas that had been produced from such very simple tools. Even though we weren't inside the woodshop with all it's expensive power tools, I also didn't hear a single whimper. They only had their minds and a few simple tools to make a meaningful and productive connection with their wood and they did it well.

For hours on end, they are content when using their hands to make something. They are calm, patient, and seem to have a lot more mutual respect for one another during these periods. They are also learning to be resourceful with just a few basic tools. Like the sandpaper they use to shape their cars, I am also convinced that the character of these kids lives are also gradually "shaped" into a better, more successful person. Never underestimate the power of using simple tools.

Pinewood Derby 2010: I've Decided On A Totem Pole Car!

For the adults category of this year's "April Fool's 500" pinewood derby race, I have begun carving my car. Seems like I've made every car possible during the last 30 years of ardent racing competition so I decided to pursue a totem pole car for 2010. As the accompanying pictures show I have designed it to sit upright, just as a real totem stands on sacred land so it will double as a fine nik-nak shelf piece after the race.

Each car starts out as just a 7" block of pine with four plastic wheels and axles, then as the pictures to the left show a design must then be thought out and applied to the wood. My totem starts out on the bottom with a bear, an Indian with full head dress, a frog, a coyote, and an eagle towering above on the top.As the pictures above indicate, I used some of the scrap wood cut away from the center of the pinewood block for shaping the eagle wings separately.

This car is going to be extremely light so it's not going to be a fast car... and that's okay because for a second year I've decided not to go for speed

because I just want to have a nice car and I think that a totem pole will be that car. Although I've begun painting the totem-car I still have a lot of detailing to go, so perhaps I'll post pictures of the finished car later.

The trophy shown in the pictures to the right is the car that I entered from last years race and yes, that's Dolly Pardon driving her pink country girl car. As mentioned above I also decided to step aside from last years race since I already have enough winning trophies on my display shelf and that would give others a chance to win.

So how did I get that wonderful trophy you ask? Although I didn't race it in the speed race I did enter the car in the competition for "Best of Show" and I'll be darn if she didn't win! Dolly is one of the funnest cars I've ever made and she surely produced a lot of laughs from everyone. Some even accused her of being too "front" heavy (use your imagination) so I guess it's a good thing that I didn't race this car. A pinewood derby race has the potential for a lot of fun, laughs, and group spirit so once again, if you haven't been part of such a race then find one in your community and help a kid have the time of his life!

Pinewood Derby 2010: Start Your Engines!

The pinewood derby comes around these parts about spring time each year and April 1st is currently the official race day for the April Fool's 500. During Scout classes we will be examining a lot of things which will include the history of this classic Scouting event since 1953, a look at different car designs, our rules for the race, then ultimately each participant will design their winning car on a project design sheet.

Although the initial beginning of the

event begins in the classroom it is the moment of actual hands-on activity that everyone anticipates. To a pre-occupied adult the preparation for a race might seem insignificant but in the minds of kids this is a very big event for them. I know because I'm working directly with them and I know for a fact that their brains are on "wide-open". Walking around campus or the dining hall someone is always sharing their new idea for a car design with me so getting them in the woodshop is as exciting for me as it is for them.

Once the foundation has been laid and they understand the basics of what the race is about, many of the kids can come up with some very creative designs. Every year I'm always surprised at what their minds conjure up once they have just a basic understanding of the cars. As seen in the picture above, just last week one of my students had cut out his car then decided to use the scroll saw for some fancy cutting out of a nice tail-end spoiler. I've seen a lot of spoilers glued on to the tail-end of a car but this kid knew how to make the scroll saw work for him and he now has some very attractive detail that stands out from the crowd. That's special.

Some of the students will spend a lot of time sketching out their design as a combination of their own ideas and the designs gleaned from several books on cars that I have available for research. As a beginner woodworker we have all attempted to copy an exact design from a book or magazine to make it ours and that's just fine as part of the learning process. But at some point during the life of a woodworker something begins to "click" inside our heads when we step out of our comfort zones and take a risk. Before you know it we are designing and building things that we never could have imagined just a few years earlier. That's just the magic of woodworking and I love to see it happening right before my eyes... and it does every day in woodshop class.


As seen in some of the following pictures the pinewood derby has mainly been a Cub Scout activity for boys between 6 and 10 years old for more than 50 years and the popularity of the sport is huge in the United States. Strangely it can be just as compelling for the adult leaders as it is for the kids and our troop is no exception so we also have an adults race category so the big kids can have a little fun too.

And even though pinewood derby racing is primarily for the little kids I can honestly say that it has a very broad appeal to all age groups. It's fun, exciting, and contagious! The age group of our troop runs between 11 and 16 years old and it amazes me that more Boy Scout troops don't have annual races... well, except for us of course. Pinewood Derby racing is mostly a Cub Scout activity but don't tell that to our troop!

If you aren't already part of a big race day each year then consider getting involved and working with a kid on a car that might not have one otherwise. Pinewood Derby is one of the most effective parent/son activities around so turn off the video games and the TV and spend some quality time together. You won't regret it.