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Power Tool Race and Derby: Start Your Chain Saws

by Jamie Rhein (RSS feed) on May 29th 2007 at 5:30PM

I'm mentioning this event now because I want to give you time to get started on your own efforts or plan to get there to be a witness. The Seattle Power Tool Race and Derby is coming up June 23 in Washington state. This doesn't mean you set your electric drill on the ground and yell, "On your mark. Get Set. Go!" or run with a power tool as you race and hope for the best, as in "Watch for the nail gun!" This is where folks who have created mobile contraptions with power tools and parts of tools put them in competitions with names like: Grudge Matches, Deadly Ring of Death and Jumping Jackass. Beer drinking is involved, but it's a family friendly affair. Kids can even compete with their own inventions.

If there is a part of you that wonders, "Is this for real?" I can assure you it is. But if it sounds kind of, well, stupid, it's supposed to be. The reason for the derby is to have fun in a wacky kind of creative way. Consider this one. The Giant Gerbil Ball has a person inside it. Flickr has many other pictures from last year's event to give you an idea of what's possible. The hobby horse in the photo is somehow affixed to a single power saw.

Power tool races don't happen only in Seattle. Check out the blog, Make:Technology on Your Time for photos and a You Tube video of an event in San Francisco.

Filed under: Festivals and Events, North America, United States, Video

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