Axle Polishing Kit

Proper polishing of your Pinewood Derby axles will make a big difference in the speed of your car. Follow these easy steps and you will have winning axles in no time.

This kit includes:

  • File
  • Two stripes of #400 sandpaper
  • Two stripes of #1200 sandpaper
  • Axle Polish
  • Instructions

You will also need:

  • Clean cloth rag
  • Drill
  • Marker

Instructions

1. The first step is to inspect your axles for obvious flaws. Look for deep scratches and a misshaped axle head.  Replace any bad axles with new ones.
2. Mount an axle on a drill.  Turn the drill on and watch the axle head. It should be steady. If the head vibrates or wobbles, your axle is not straight. Replace the axle or use our Pro Axle Press to straighten the axle.  Repeat for all four axles.

Now you should have four good axles. The goal is to remove the crimp marks on the axle shaft and the burrs on the axle head then give the axle a good polishing.

3. Use a marker pen and mark the crimp marks on the axle. Be sure to mark the crimp marks on both sides of the shaft.  This is the area that you will be filing.  Let the ink dry.
4. This step takes two people. One person should hold the drill and the other person will do the filing.  Mount the axle on the drill.  Leave at least ½” of axle exposed. Turn the drill on and carefully file the marked area. Be careful to not stray out of the marked area. Stop when the ink and crimp marks are gone.

5. Move the file to the axle head, tilt the file slightly as shown above and file the head until it is smooth and the burrs are gone. The head should have a slight taper when you are done as shown:


6. Now you are going to polish the axle with the sandpaper. Use the #400 sandpaper first. It has a red mark on the back.

7. Dip the sandpaper strip into a glass of water. Hold each end of the strip with each hand. Use about 1/2” of new paper to sand the axle for about 15 seconds at low speed.

 

8.  Repeat using the #1200 sandpaper (no red mark on the back).

9. Dry the axle with a soft cloth.

10. Cut three 8” by 1” strips from an old t-shirt or other light cloth.

11. Spread a very thin layer of the axle polish on a 4” center section of one of the cloth strips.


12. Hold each end of the cloth strip and place the center of the strip under the axle shaft using moderate pressure. Turn the drill on and spin the axle while slowly moving the cloth about one inch for about 10 seconds.

 

13. If done right, there should be a dark residue on the cloth.

14. Using the same method, take one of the clean cloth strips and clean the axle of any excess polish.

15. Repeat for the other axles.
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