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| This picture doesn't do it justice, but this tiny closet is like Mary Poppins' bag. Dave reaches in and grabs whatever he needs. I've seen a small excavator come out of here. |
Our cub scout group hosts a Kub Kar rally every early spring. In the US, this is known as a pinewood derby. The basic rules are you have to make your cub car from the official kub kar block of wood, and it can't weight more than 142g (5oz) or be more then 7 inches long. Everything else goes.
I'm not sure what the original idea behind this was. Maybe to create a project that kids could do with their parents, teach kids tool safety basics, and have them use their imaginations. The problem is, a Kub Kar rally is a competition. Which means the fastest car wins. Which means some very clever adults have figured out a formula for a "winning" car. Which means you need shop tools. Which means I needed Dave.
Here's what generous men and woman have shared with me on the internet regarding pinewood or kub kars:
You must polish the axles - take of all the burs and make them gleam
This requires 2000 grit sandpaper. You know where you can get 2000 grit sandpaper in Burnaby? Nowhere. I'm being facetious. But so far the only place I've found it is at an auto parts store.
You must polish the wheels
See the above paragraph.
You must coat the interior hole of the wheels where the axle head sits with graphite
You apply the graphite with a pipe cleaner. Finding graphite is no picnic. You have to understand the difference between wet graphite lube, dry graphite lube, and dry graphite powder. For some reason in my neck of the woods, dry graphite powder is associated with keys and locks. Sadly this is not intuitive and until you figure that out, you won't find graphite powder in the lubrication section of your local hardware store.
Your car must be very thin
To take a block of wood and turn it into anything resembling a vehicle or anything for that matter requires a jig saw. Just about everyone has a hammer, most people own a screw driver, but no one owns a jig saw unless they are a furniture maker,carpenter...or Dave.
Once you've cut your car's form you need to sand it smooth. The most effective way to do this is with a detail or palm sander. None of which an eight to ten year old is capable of using without intense supervision. And some know how from the supervisor. More Dave.
Your car must be weighted at the back just in front of the rear axle
This means you've got to put some kind of weight in or on your car. But be careful you don't want to mess with the aerodynamics. The internet has taught me lead is the way to go. You can get lead at Canadian Tire. We use the malleable lead rods in our cub pack. They are easy to cut. Should kids be handling them? Probably not. This requires more research on a car that's supposed to be a simple project that any kid can do with his parent. Witness my very dramatic eye roll.
Also fitting it all just in front of the rear axle requires some engineering skill. I gave up at this point and just made sure it was in the back.
When fastening your wheels, you must angle the axles
Your front wheels should angle in and your back wheels should angle out. Both my husband and Dave understand this concept and how to achieve it. It would take me multiple tries to achieve this on purpose.
And finally, your car's weight must rest on only three wheels
Which means when you are fastening the wheels onto your car with the axles you need to tweak it so that only three are actually in use and one is for show. I can do this accidentally. But if my life depended on it, there is no way. Also I'm not sure this one is legal in Canada. I looked up Kub Kar rules on the Scouts Canada's website and the version they've got posted from 2010 (sigh), says the car has to run on all four wheels.
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| This is considered a winning car. Does this look like an eight year old made it? |
So off to Dave's we go to cut out our block of wood. My son hopes out of the car, gives Dave the block of wood, explains what he wants and heads into the house to lay on the reclining couch and eat Cheetos while watching cooking shows with Marnie. Dave heads into his cupboard to cut and sand a kub kar. For this I will have to bake Dave copious amounts of chocolate chip cookies.
After that's done, and my son has debated the fairness of who should win Guy's Grocery Games with Marn, it's time to paint the car. This is where Dave instructs P on how to spray paint. In retrospect, I'm not sure this is a skill I want my son to have.
Once that's been accomplished, the decorating debate begins only to be solved by Marn's huge sticker collection. She's got edging stickers. Of course she does.
Doesn't everyone have a large box of edging stickers?
Together, Marnie and P carefully aligned the stickers to make the racer look extra speedy. Now I'm off to buy 2000 grit sandpaper and see just how polished an axle I can achieve.
Tune in soon to see the finished product and find out how the car did in the actual race.
