This Scout Dad’s Use for Old Pinewood Derby Cars Will Make You Want to Get Crafty

Love the Scouting memories but need a new use for those fewer-than-five-ounces blocks on wheels? Neil Fern, father to two Scouts, is here to save the seasoned Pinewood Derby parent’s day. Hear from Neil below and check out his step-by-step how-to guide at the bottom of this post.

Do you have a box full of Pinewood Derby cars? Not sure what to do with them? Put those works of art on display for your Scout, instead of tucking them away. The five shelf Pinewood Derby display accommodates one car for each year of Cub Scouts. Plus, this cabinet offers removable shelves allowing a variety of configurations. It’s the perfect addition to any Scout’s curated gallery and ends up being a really cool addition to a kid’s room.

As a den leader and father of two Scouts, our collection of Pinewood Derby cars had outgrown a catch-all drawer. Armed with desire and (very) little wood working skills, I started by drafting a design and (luckily for you) found many flaws before I started building. This led to a revised sketch and this process was repeated, many times. So rest assured, this blueprint is quality tested.

For some background on the design, I used a blind rabbit joint to eliminate the need for nails and screws on the cabinet. As they say, measure twice and cut once – this helped me succeed and will help you too. 

Once I had the cabinet built and my fear of wood working failure behind me, I realized the cabinet needed a door to keep the dust off those works of art. Again, after a few revisions I had a workable design. In an effort to keep the cabinet door low profile, I decided on a lap joint for the door frame supported by glue and a screw to hold it together. 

On a final note before I share the building instructions with you, I was able to make a Scouting activity out of this adventure. I ended up making many of these as unassembled kits. It didn’t take much effort to make several of these rather than just 1. They were given to my children and Webelos den to assemble and finish. These kits could be built by adults and Boy Scouts (with some parental assistance) and given to Cub Scouts to assemble. Remember to be safe around power tools and good luck on your project.