Getting Started in Pinewood Derby

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Follow along with cool kid Dash Derby as he takes you and your child through seven easy steps to building your first pinewood derby race car together. No woodworking skill required, just patience and fun! Unlike any other pinewood derby book, it's not about winning the race; it's about spending time with your child building a car you can be proud of...even if it isn't perfect. With 12 patterns and paint designs to choose from, Getting Started in Pinewood Derby will help you have a stress-free good-time building a car that will get down the track. Maybe next year, you can worry about taking home first place.

Reviews

is directed at both kids and grownups interested in getting started with these wooden racecars. No initial woodworking knowledge is necessary, and the book includes comic book style illustrations and tips for kids, as well as 12 car patterns, paint designs, and ideas for personalizing your racecar. Author and illustrator Troy Thorne is a father and a Scouting volunteer.
DERBY MANUAL FOR BEGINNERS On your mark, get set, are you ready to create a winning race car from a block of wood and plastic wheels Pinewood Derby racing season is approaching, with Cub Scouts starting at the end of December. And a similar event, Awana Grand Prix, held by the religious organization, gets into gear in January. Rookie racers (and their parents) can find help in Troy Thorne's "Getting Started in Pinewood Derby: A Step-By-Step Workbook to Building Your First Car," just published by Fox Chapel Publishing, East Petersburg. The 96-page glossy paperback manual is filled with step-by-step kid-friendly instructions, accompanied by colorful photos and illustrations, even patterns. Thorne's first tips are for parents: "The car doesn't have to be perfect if just needs to be your kid's!" they should keep in mind "[i]t's impossible for your child to fully experience the Pinewood Derby if YOU build the car." Following pages of advice on design selection, safety considerations and tools, cartoon character Dash Derby leads the way through shopping, shaping, painting, axle and wheel prep, weighting and test runs to race day. There's even a section in the back to log race results and paste photos of the car under construction and perhaps in front of the checkered flag. Thorne appears to have all the qualifications to offer advice: experienced woodworker, assistant scoutmaster and father of two race participants, one of whom was a national finalist in the All-Star Derby Design Contest.
GETTING STARTED IN PINEWOOD DERBY, by Troy Thorne, is a step-by-step workbook that teaches adults and children how to spend quality time together while building their first Pinewood Derby car. Colorfully illustrated in comic-book style, this handy guide provides 12 patterns and paint designs from which to choose and ideas for personalizing a race car. It's perfect for the woodworker who wants to share some shop time with a son or daughter.
I was really excited when I first saw this book - the graphics just look like so much fun. I couldn't wait to see what was inside. Inside, I was not disappointed. Not only does it include wonderful, very clear photos for the step-by-step process of building a derby car, but there are also funny jokes shared by the cute little "Dash Derby" character posted throughout the book, that add to its uniqueness and its "draw" for children and youth. Beyond the cuteness factor, this books is technical - but not in a professional woodworker kind of way. Next to the photos and directions that show how to tape sandpaper to a work surface and move the wood rather than the sandpaper to sand, there are these words of wisdom, "Before you ask your mom or dad where they keep the elbow grease [...] "Elbow Grease" is what people say when they mean that doing something will take some hard work!" The book takes the builder through gathering the materials needed, building the car, making sure it is within regulations, decorating it, making sure it works perfectly, and then, finally what to do on race day - including having backup materials for not only your car but for your friends'/competitors' as well. How cool is that! My Ratings of The Book Layout and Appearance: Inviting, inspiring and informative. Thumbs Up! Instructions: Clear information and instructions - and done in a fun way. Thumbs Up! Projects Selection: A variety of plans provided to inspire creativity. Great. Inspiration: I want to attend a derby race to see some of these cars in action. Thumbs Up! Overall: Thumbs Up!
In May of 1953 Cub Scout Master Don Murphy came up with the idea of a Pinewood derby and this has become an annual event. Specific rules have been laid out and Pinewood Derby races are held throughout the US. Troy Thorne wrote this step-by-step workbook as a guide to building your first race car and the book has been illustrated by Jason Deller. In May of 1953 Cub Scout Master Don Murphy came up with the idea of a Pinewood derby and this has become an annual event. Specific rules have been laid out and Pinewood Derby races are held throughout the US. Troy Thorne wrote this step-by-step workbook as a guide to building your first race car and the book has been illustrated by Jason Deller. There are a dozen classic design patterns to work with and the book is rife with racing tips to help your car take the checkered flag. Great fun!
Most kids speak with great nostalgia when the subject of Pinewood Derby cars is brought up. Designs from the speedy and elegant to the loud, and in my case at least, ridiculous. However there are a growing group of both parents and kids who know don't know a thing about how to craft a racer or what's possible to do in the first place. Our friend Troy Thorne over at Fox Chapel Publishing recently wrote Getting Started in Pinewood Derby to try and remedy that. Troy has an excellent way of breaking the process down and giving step by step instuctions that builders of any age can both understand and duplicate complete with sweet pictures and helpful tips that get you over the rough spots. There are also a dozen plans in the book that can be cut out and used as templates to replicate his designs exactly and give the other competitors a run for their money. Couple this with the painting ideas, axle and wheel prep, weighting and test run instructions and you've got 95 pages of racer building know how to back you and the young'n up. When we met him at Maker Faire a few years ago our first question to Troy was "Do your designs really work" He pointed us over to his booth where he had close to 50 lightning fast racers on display with a test track set up behind them and told us to find out for ourselves. We did. They Do. If you're looking for step-by-step awesome in a book that will put a smile on your kids face and be competitive entry into the local race Mr. Thorne's Getting Started in Pinewood Derby is a great start.
My son is a Cub Scout. Last year, my son and husband built a car that barely made it down the track. Obviously, my son was very disappointed! This year, I received the Getting Started in Pinewood Derby Step-by-Step Workbook to Building Your First Car. While it wasn't the first car my son and husband ever built together, this year's car was the first successful car, and this book was wonderful. As the title implies, this book gives step-by-step instructions on how to build a Pinewood Derby car. It covers everything, including the needed tools, shaping and sanding, painting, weights, construction, and even troubleshooting a car that doesn't drive straight. Throughout the book, there are simple tips and tricks, used for shape as well as decoration, which make building the car even easier. Furthermore, there are so many ideas, tips, and tricks presented, that not all of them could possibly be used on one car. At the very end, there are a couple of pages for a Memories Record, with space for pictures and race records. My son has a tendency to "put the cart before the horse," so to speak, and having the instructions in front of him helped to keep him focused on the step at hand. It also helped my husband to guide him through the process of building the car. In the end, my son had a car he was proud of--with wheels that turned well. His car was not the fastest, but that did not matter. He was proud of his hard work and the fabulous car he had created. I recommend this book for any Cub Scout and father trying to build a car together.

Author Bio

Creative Director for Fox Chapel Publishing, and a Pinewood Derby-winning dad, Troy Thorne is a graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design, and spent over 10 years in the advertising field. He is an active scouting volunteer, builds furniture and canoes and works with his son who was a national finalist in the All-Star Derby Design Contest.