MOUSETRAP POWERED CARS

Not a kit, but a complete "do-it-yourself", "build-your-own" mousetrap vehicle package. Comes with everything you need to build your very own mousetrap powered vehicle, all the hard-to-find parts and components in one package. Perfect for those who cannot use a kit and/or for those who want to design and build their very own mousetrap powered vehicle from scratch. Comes with our complete step-by-step instruction guide that is filled with tons of top secret performance tips and tricks that have been developed exclusively by Doc Fizzix, with over 30 years of experience, so you will have all the information you need to make your mousetrap car project a winner. The Build Your Own Kits is a complete do-it-yourself mousetrap racer package that includes all the hard-to-find parts for building your very own mousetrap powered racer. Includes everything you need to make your mousetrap STEM vehicle project a winner:

• Lightweight Balsa Wood
• Ultra-thin Low Inertia DVD Layer Wheels
• Flexible Shock Absorbing Rubber CD/DVD Inserts
• lightweight, 3/16" inch brass tubing axles
• "easy-wind" and "snag-free" string release system
• Thrust washers for reduced frictions.
• Top secret, step-by-step instruction guide

Top Highlights:

• A complete "do-it-yourself", "build-your-own" mousetrap vehicle package. Comes with everything you need to build your very own mousetrap powered vehicle, all the hard-to-find parts and components in one package. Perfect for those who cannot use a kit and/or for those who want to design and build their very own mousetrap powered vehicle from scratch.
• Engineered to be a top performing long-distance traveler. Comes with a 12" inch lever arm but can easily be adjusted and modified to meet all your mousetrap vehicle contest and/or STEM challenge needs.
• Flexible design options, can be assembled in a variety of different ways making it the perfect all purpose mousetrap project kit for just about any type of STEM mousetrap car challenge you can dream up.
• Includes Doc Fizzix’s Ultra thin, low-inertia wheels that are half the thickness of a normal CD/DVD and have only half the rotational inertia. Less rotational inertia means your mousetrap car will travel further and faster when compared to a similar vehicle using normal thickness CD wheel.
• Comes with lightweight, 3/16" inch diameter brass tubing axles that spin freely with less friction for an increase in both speed and distance. Brass tubing axles do not warp like wooden dowels and provide for a much smoother ride without wobble.
• Comes with Doc Fizzix's flexible rubber CD/DVD wheel spacers that are designed to act as tiny shock absorbers to damper small bumps and imperfections on the floor's surface providing for a smoother ride with an increase in both the speed and distance.
• Features Doc Fizzix's "easy-wind", "snag-free" propulsion system designed specifically for mousetrap powered racers.
• Comes with our complete step-by-step instruction guide that is written the for the visual learner filled with tons of top secret performance tips and tricks.
• All our products are 100% made in the U.S.A by Doc Fizzix in Spicewood, TX.

Assembly Time:

The Build Your Own Kit can be assembled in less than 60 minutes for most first time builders. This kit requires the drilling of axle holes.

Skill Level:

Required Skills

• Able to measure with a ruler in both inches and/or centimeters.
• Experience working with wood glue and/or Cyanoacrylate glues (Super Glues).
• Able to glue two pieces of balsa wood together.
• Able to tie a loop knot in string.
• Able to use needle nose pliers to cut wire.
• Able to use a power drill and/or a Dremal Tool.

Recommended Skills

• Some knowledge of how a mousetrap car works.
• Able to sand parts to make them smooth.
• Can problem solve during construction and make adjustments.
• Can determine how to make adjustments to improve performance.

Tools Required:

• Needle-nose-pliers
• Wood or Super glue
• Power Drill (or Dremal Tool)
• Drill Bits
• X-acto knife or hobby knife (Recommended)

*Kits require assembly, actual results will vary and depends on the constructions skills of the builder, glue and tools not included.

Includes the following:

• 1x - Victor mouse trap
• 2x - 18" x 1.5" x 3/16" balsa wood
• 1x - 12" x 3" x 3/16" balsa wood
• 6x - Low inertia DVD layer wheels
• 2x - 6" inch Brass tubing axles
• 8x - CD/DVD flexible rubber wheel adapters
• 4x - Thrust washers
• 1x - 12 inch lever arm
• 3x - Zip-ties
• 1x - 18 inches Kevlar high-tech string
• Doc Fizzix's easy-wind, snag-free propulsion system
• Step-by-step plans with performance tips and tricks

Pulling Distance and Travel Distance

When it comes to building a top performance mousetrap powered vehicle gearing is probably the most important concept every builder needs to understand. Gearing is how you control both the speed and the pulling distance for any mousetrap powered car. In order to understand gearing you will need to understand the following three terms:

• Gearing.
• Pulling Distance.
• Total Travel Distance.

The gearing of a mousetrap vehicle is determined by three components, the length of the mousetrap's snapper lever arm, the diameter of the drive axle, and the diameter of the drive wheels. By attaching a lever arm to a mousetrap's snapper arm you can control both the pulling force and the amount of string that can be wound around the drive axle. The amount of torque delivered by the mousetrap's spring does not change but you can change the amount of pulling force delivered to the drive axle by changing the length of the mousetrap's lever arm. A longer lever arm decreases the pulling force but extends that pulling force over a greater distance. Shorter lever arms deliver a larger pulling force to the drive axle but have a shorter pulling distance. If you want to build a good long distance traveling mousetrap car then you will want a longer lever arm that has a smaller pulling force but that force acts over a greater pulling distance. Longer lever arms will give your vehicle more wraps of string that can be wound and unwound from the drive axle. If you want to build a good speed-trap racer then a shorter lever arm will generate more force for a greater acceleration but over a shorter pulling distance. The ratio of the drive wheels diameter to the drive axle diameter also play an important part in the gearing of a mousetrap racer, but the most common way to control both the speed and the pulling distance for any mousetrap powered car is by changing the length of the lever arm.

The pulling distance is a measure of the maximum distance a vehicle can be pulled under the force of the mousetrap's spring. The pulling distance is determined by the length of the lever arm attached to the mousetrap along with the axle and wheel ratio. The axle and wheel ratio determines the linear distance a mousetrap vehicle will travel for each wrap of string pulled from the drive axle. The lever arm length determines how many wraps of string can be wound around the drive axle. The more wraps of string that can be unwound from the drive axle means the greater the pulling distance. The total length of string that can be unwound from the drive axle is, at its maximum, twice the lever arm length.

The total travel distance is a measure of the total linear distance a mousetrap vehicle traveled from the start line and this includes the pulling distance and any coasting distance after the mousetrap is no longer pulling string from the drive axle. The coasting distance is determined by how much friction is acting against a vehicles motion, we call this the rolling friction. The greater the rolling friction acting against a vehicles motion, the shorter the coasting distance. It is the number one objective for every builder to eliminate as much rolling friction as possible in order to increase the coasting distance and/or speed of the mousetrap racer. Our kits are designed to eliminate as much rolling friction as possible but the components we use.

The Build Your Own Kits comes with a 12 inch lever arm for a maximum of 24 inches of string that can be wound around the drive axle. Based on the overall gearing, the maximum pulling distance for the Build Your Own Kit is 14 meters (47 feet) with an average total travel distance of 30 meters (98 feet) after the pulling force is spent for most first time builders. You can alwasy cut the lever to change the gearing as needed.

Easy-wind, snag-free propulsion system

As with all our top mousetrap racer kits, The Build Your Own Kit includes our "easy-wind" and "snag-free" string release system that will not tangle and/or snag on release for maximum performance, a technique developed exclusively by Doc Fizzix for mousetrap and rubber band powered racers. Our snag-free propulsion system is designed to release from the drive axle once the pulling force is spent in order to maximize the coasting distance.

Ultra-thin, low-inertia wheels and Axle System

One of the design secrets that make The Build Your Own Kit a guaranteed winner is it's low inertia wheels and axle system. The Build Your Own Kit includes our exclusive ultra-thin, low inertia, DVD layer wheels that are the same diameter as a normal CD/DVD but with only half the thickness. Because these wheels are only half the thickness of a normal CD/DVD they have only half the rotational inertia, half the rotational inertia means that your vehicle will have a greater acceleration off the line, less friction, and a much greater travel distance compared to a similar mousetrap car that is using normal thickness CDs/DVDs.

Our low-inertia wheel and axle system includes our lightweight, 3/16" inch diameter brass tubing axles that spin with less friction than wooden dowels for an increase in both the speed and the travel distance of your vehicle. Brass-tubing will not warp like wood dowels used by many of our competitors in their kits so our mousetrap vehicles will travel smoother, with less wobble, and less wasted energy for an increase in both speed and travel distance.

Key components to our low-inertia wheel and axle system

• Ultra-thin, Low-Inertia DVD layer wheels.
• lightweight Brass Tubbing Axles.
• Flexible Shock Absorbing Rubber CD/DVD Inserts.
• Thrust washers for reduced frictions.

Flexible Rubber CD/DVD Wheel Spacers

Lets face it, even the smoothest hallways and surfaces still have some small imperfections and bumps that can steal energy from a moving vehicle causing a decrease in performance. Our CD/DVD inserts are manufactured from a flexible rubber that is engineered and designed to act as tiny shock absorbers to damper small bumps and imperfections along the road surface providing for a smoother ride with less wasted energy causing an increase in both the speed and travel distance of your STEM vehicle project. Our CD/DVD Inserts are designed to fit perfectly inside any standard sized CD/DVD opening in order to converts the hole size down to fit a 3/16" inch diameter axle.

Easy to Follow, Step-by-Step Instructions

As with all our mousetrap vehicle kits, The Build Your Own Kit comes with our complete step-by-step instruction guide that is written the for the visual learner filled with tons of top secret performance tips and tricks that have been developed, tested, and perfected exclusively by Doc Fizzix, with over 30 years of experience, so you will have all the information you need to make your mousetrap vehicle project a success. Our easy to follow, step-by-step instructions are filled images and diagrams designed to eliminate the guess work. You will feel confident and feel like a professional builder as you follow our detailed step-by-step instructions.

Flexible Design Options

While designed to be a top performing long-distance racer, the The Build Your Own Kit is an easy-to-build, top performing long-distance-traveler that can be assembled in a variety of different ways making it the perfect all purpose mousetrap racer kit available for just about any type of contest and/or STEM mousetrap car challenge.

Reversible

A common mousetrap vehicle challenge is to build a car that travels forward and then comes back to the start. The reversibility of a mousetrap racer is just how you wind the string around the drive axle. Because of the unique design of our snag-free propulsion system, this kit can be used for all reversing mousetrap car challenges.

Same Day Shipping!

All orders received before 12:00 p.m. CST are processed and ship on the same day as long as the item(s) are in stock; orders received after 12:00 p.m. CST will be processed and shipped on the following business day as long as the item(s) are in stock. Online orders take priority over phone and mail orders and therefor ship with a priority level of Burning-Red-Hot. Because of the extreme popularity of Doc Fizzix Products, items can go out of stock without warning. If an item goes out of stock, it will ship as soon as the item is back in stock with a priority level of Super-Duper-Burning-Red-Hot.

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