Pinewood Derby --Non BSA Axle Suspicion

[GNX Guy]

What would you do if you suspect a parent has used nickle plated axles for the car. Our rules state official BSA Axles only.

 

How can one prove it?

 

How can you tell with the axles installed in the car?

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

[OneHour]

Does it look like BSA nail? If it does then there is not much that you can do. Now, nickel-plated axles are great; however, it is still only 1 factor that will allow the car to win. There are the others factors: lube, wheels, weight, and alignment.

 

One thing that would work is to ask the boy how HE made the car! Of course, you will have to ask other scouts as well.

 

"Johny, how did you get those axles to shine so well?"

 

Usually, the boy is more honest than his parent ... "my dad bought the axles from the Internet ... "

[packsaddle]

This is difficult. At some point the concept of 'honor' has to be trusted. If a parent is so inclined, they will be able to 'cheat' or beat the system and there is almost no way to stop this. I did the 'weigh in' inspection for years for the District and saw a huge range of these things, only a few were intentional.

 

There is no good answer to your problem. If the parent has plated the axles and they are installed, unless they confess what they did you have to trust them.

My approach, if there was some suspicion, was to complete the superficial inspection, and then ask the BOY if the axles were the official ones from the kit. Or if they had been modified in some way. Or if they had used liquid lubricants, like silicone. Etc, etc, depending on whatever suspicion I had.

If there was some hesitation and there often was, maybe the boy was shy, I would turn to the parent and ask them the same question directly.

There is a tendency for people who are NOT pathological liars to resist telling a lie in front of a family member who knows otherwise, especially their child. If the parent admitted something that broke the rules, I informed them of this.

If the boy indicated no problems I passed the car.

 

A pathological liar will likely go undetected. But honor still works for the rest of us.

[eagle-pete]

First, you should have an Official Car Inspector. Their job is to determine if the car passes inspection and falls within your "Fair and Reasonable" standards for your race.

 

If the Car Inspector determines that something other than the axles provided in the Official BSA Pinewood Derby car kit has been used and a parent (or boy for that matter) wishes to dispute this, he should be referred to your Pinewood Derby Committee. Once they make a ruling, it is the final word on the matter. (Although the word of the Car Inspector should carry a lot of weight).

 

As to how to inspect the axles - provide the Car Inspector with an axle from the kit to be used for inspections. Have him compare both heads of the two axles (his inspection axle and the one installed on the car). You can see part of the axle on the car (may require a flashlight, which should be a standard tool supplied to your car inspector(s)). If there appears to be obvious color or finish differences, or the heads do not match on the axles, I would say that is sufficient reason to disqualify the car.

 

Your Pinewood Committee should determine, well in advance, how strict or lenient they will be with regards to adherence to the rules. All rules, policies, and guidelines should be documented and made available to all race participants well before race day.

 

Eagle Pete(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)

[LongHaul]

OneHour mentioned it first, BSA uses nails not axles. If there is an axle running across the bottom of the car it is not BSA issue. If the nail itself is suspected of being nickel plate that's a different matter. Short of using chemicals on the head of the nail, asking questions is probably your only resource.

LongHaul

[GNX Guy]

Thanks Longhaul, however the tern axle is not indicitive of whether it is a 1 piece solid axle which we all know is not from the BSA Kit or the stock nails which are 2 separate pieces, also called axles.

 

I've come to realize that the aftermarket nickle plated axles generally have either blunt tips, or machined points. The BSA axles are found to have chisel points. If the axle slots are used you may be able to see the tips. If you can't see the tips, it may be very difficult to determine without pulling the axle.

 

 

[Eagledad]

Hi All

 

Announce that do to some folks confused about rules, the pack will purchase nickel plated axles for every scout. Great time for a Cub Master minute.

 

Barry

[eolesen]

That's a great suggestion for a pack heat, but if you have district or even council events, it's still probably giving an unfair advantage.

 

Rules are rules, and creating new rules to accommodate those who don't play by the original rules makes BSA start to look like Congress...

[Eagledad]

>>but if you have district or even council events, it's still probably giving an unfair advantage.

[evmori]

Announce that do to some folks confused about rules, the pack will purchase nickel plated axles for every scout. Great time for a Cub Master minute.

 

RAOTFLMAO!

 

Classic! Great answer Barry!

[Gold Winger]

Back in my Cub Scout days, we would have rejected the car. Everyone was given a set of the rules for the district races. The Cub Scout and parents were expected to follow the rules. Not letting Johnny race his car that is too heavy or has special wheels may make him feel bad but what about the other boys who KNOW that Johnny won because he cheated and we let him cheat.