Aerodynamic Pinewood Derby Car

We are going to screw the pinewood derby block into a piece of plywood so that it is held tight to the wasteboard and can be cut on all sides by the machine. The standard pinewood derby block is 1 3/4" thick, and Easel expects our carving material to be 1.5" thick. The plywood is 1/4" thick so we create a spacer that is also 1 3/4" thick to give us our total desired thickness. Use some pieces of scrap or 3D print the spacer attached to this project if you have a printer available. If you have a smart clamp like the one found in the Carvey, be sure to place it under the smart clamp as shown in the photograph.

Estimated time: 30 minutes

To secure the pinewood derby block to the plywood I used 1/4" countersunk screws. First, measure such that the long side of the block is 3" from the front of the plywood and wasteboard for your machine. Then, measure such that the short side of the block block is 2.5" from the left side of the plywood board. Clamp or carefully hold the block in place and use a few screws to fix the block to the board from the bottom. Be careful putting screws towards where the front will be cut as the machine will carve it quite thin.

Estimated time: 20 minutes

Clamp the block and plywood to the wasteboard and insert your 1/8" cutting tool. Start the carve from Easel. Use the 1/16" tool for a finishing carve to clean it up (optional). Attach the wheels per the instructions that came with your pinewood derby car kit.

Recommendation: Use a drill or modify the Easel project to add holes for weights. Without additional weight, the whole assembly is only about 2.5 ounces.

Estimated time: 240 minutes