Categories: Cedar Point

Pinewood Derby: From Square to Millennium Force

<p><P><P>Around here&comma; we obviously have a passion for fresh cut fries&comma; <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;review-kings-island-chicken-shack-hand-breaded-tenders&sol;">Kings Island chicken tenders<&sol;a>&comma; and <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;review-cedar-point-bay-harbor-lobster-bisque&sol;">Bay Harbor&&num;8217&semi;s lobster bisque<&sol;a>&period; However&comma; the real excitement comes when our bellies are full and we are taking the best collection of roller coasters in the world from across the <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;cedar-fair-parks&sol;">Cedar Fair<&sol;a> chain&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Our same passion hit our oldest son hard after his first ride on Cedar Point&&num;8217&semi;s Millennium Force&period; That desire to constantly crave the thrill carries over into his everyday life often&period; He made us make him a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;facebook&period;com&sol;CPFoodBlog&sol;photos&sol;a&period;241521286049855&period;1073741829&period;157350967800221&sol;435823349952980&sol;&quest;type&equals;3&&num;038&semi;permPage&equals;1" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Millennium Force Halloween costume<&sol;a> that won him the best in show at the park&period; His artwork at home and school often centers around roller coasters&period; Lastly his passion carried over when asked what he wanted his Boy Scouts pinewood derby car to resemble&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>When asked with the question&comma; would you rather it go really fast and potentially win&comma; or would be like it to look cool&comma; he declared his desire to race the Millennium Force&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>So off we went to design his pinewood derby car to resemble a roller coaster&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As any pinewood derby car goes&comma; it starts out with a solid block of wood&comma; 4 nails&comma; and 4 wheels&period; The rest is up to you&period; So off we went on this journey by researching online about how to design a pinewood derby car&comma; what makes them fast&comma; and to review the rules for our local Boy Scouts pack&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>We then used our son&&num;8217&semi;s Millennium Force model as a guide in designing the vehicle&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>First we carefully traced out the general locations where we wanted to make cuts in the block of wood to get the general shape of the vehicle&period; Then we carefully used a bench grinder to sand away the wood to resemble the shape we wanted&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-1&period;jpg" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-7018"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"160117 Boys Scout Pinewood Derby Cedar Point Millennium Force &lpar;1&rpar;" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"768" class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7018" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Once we were content with the shape&comma; we sanded the vehicle down with two grades of sandpaper&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-2&period;jpg" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-7019"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"160117 Boys Scout Pinewood Derby Cedar Point Millennium Force &lpar;2&rpar;" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"768" class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7019" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Next came painting&comma; which was a multi-day process&period; We carefully painted the vehicle and sanded to make sure a smooth finish&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-3&period;jpg" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-7020"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-3&period;jpg" alt&equals;"160117 Boys Scout Pinewood Derby Cedar Point Millennium Force &lpar;3&rpar;" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"768" class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7020" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-4&period;jpg" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-7021"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-4&period;jpg" alt&equals;"160117 Boys Scout Pinewood Derby Cedar Point Millennium Force &lpar;4&rpar;" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"768" class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7021" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-5&period;jpg" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-7022"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-5&period;jpg" alt&equals;"160117 Boys Scout Pinewood Derby Cedar Point Millennium Force &lpar;5&rpar;" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"768" class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7022" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Once we were content with the paint&comma; we used a clear coat to seal the vehicle&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-6&period;jpg" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-7023"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-6&period;jpg" alt&equals;"160117 Boys Scout Pinewood Derby Cedar Point Millennium Force &lpar;6&rpar;" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"768" class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7023" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>After outfitting the Millennium Force pinewood derby vehicle with wheels and using some graphite powder on the wheels&comma; we were shocked to see our vehicle was substantially under the allotted weight of 5 ounces &lpar;we were only at 2 3&sol;4 ounces&rpar;&period; So thankfully we pre-purchased a weight kit&period; Again to our surprise&comma; we used the entire package of weights&comma; and the final weight of the vehicle came in at 4 5&sol;8 ounces&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Based on pinewood derby tips&comma; we placed all the weight within 1&&num;8243&semi; forward of the rear wheel&period; <&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-7&period;jpg" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-7024"><img src&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;01&sol;160117-Boys-Scout-Pinewood-Derby-Cedar-Point-Millennium-Force-7&period;jpg" alt&equals;"160117 Boys Scout Pinewood Derby Cedar Point Millennium Force &lpar;7&rpar;" width&equals;"1024" height&equals;"768" class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7024" &sol;><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Will we top out at a speed of 90&plus; MPH like the real Millennium Force&period; Of course not&period; However&comma; we set out to design the vehicle more for visual then function&period; If we happen to win&comma; great&period; If not&comma; our son has a great souvenir he can use to pretend the wind is blowing in his hair during the off-season&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>&ast; If you liked this post&comma; join other readers who have signed up to for our <a href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;cpfoodblog&period;com&sol;newsletter&sol;">free Newsletter<&sol;a>&&num;8230&semi;because then you will never miss another update&excl;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;

Justin

Find me enjoying the atmosphere, the shows and covered in sugar from an elephant ear.

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  • When I was a den leader for my son's den, the adults always made their own and competed as well. (helped the more competitive dads get it out of their system!) I built a three bench PTC car for mine one year, and an NAD Century Flyer with working lights for another. Your son did a great job! How'd he do in the race?

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