Getting Started with the Derby Dose
Alright, so I got this idea stuck in my head. Needed to work on this little wooden car project, you know, for the derby thing. The main headache? Getting the weight spot on. Too light, it’s slow. Too heavy, disqualified. This whole thing became my ‘derby dose’ mission – getting that perfect dose of weight.
First thing, I grabbed the standard block of wood they give you. Looked simple enough, right? Wrong. Stared at it for a good hour. Then I sketched out a rough shape. Nothing fancy, just something that looked like it might go fast. Found my old coping saw in the garage, dusted it off. Started cutting. Wood dust everywhere. Made a real mess.
The Tricky Part
Cutting the basic shape was okay. Tedious, but okay. Then came the real pain: the weight. Needed to get it right up to the limit, five ounces, not a bit over. I had these little tungsten weights. Expensive little things. Started drilling holes in the bottom of the car. Drilled one, put a weight in. Weighed it. Still way too light. Drilled another. Added more weight. Still not there. This back and forth took forever.
- Drill a hole.
- Add some weight.
- Put it on the scale.
- Swear a little bit.
- Repeat.
It felt like I was trying to give the car its medicine, just the right dose. Drilled too big a hole once, had to fill it back in with wood putty. That stuff takes ages to dry. Sat there watching paint dry, literally. Well, putty.
Sanding and Painting… More Waiting
Got the weight almost perfect. Left a tiny bit of room because paint adds weight too, see? Learned that the hard way last time. Then came sanding. Sand, sand, sand. Started with rough paper, then finer stuff. Got it smooth eventually. My fingers were raw. Decided on a simple red paint job. Sprayed the first coat. Looked alright. Waited for it to dry. Second coat. More waiting. It’s amazing how much waiting is involved in making something supposedly fast.
Final Touches
After the paint finally cured, I did the final weigh-in. Added tiny bits of tungsten putty in the last hole I drilled, nudging it right up to the limit. Glued the weights in place so they wouldn’t shift. Put the wheels on, polished the axles like everyone says you should. Used graphite powder. More mess.
End result? It looked like a little red block of wood with wheels, pretty much. But it was the right weight. Exactly. That ‘derby dose’ was finally administered. Took way longer than I thought it would. Lots of fiddling around. But hey, got it done. Now just gotta see if the thing actually rolls straight.
