I know the axle prep has been beaten to death but I have a couple questions specifically about the stock BSA axles and trying to maintain the largest diameter possible.
The crimp marks on the nail shaft, do they need to be completely sanded off? I hit them with an Emory board lightly and did the wet sand starting with 800 and went up to 6000 and then DD4H polish. The axles were shiny but some of the crimp marks were still visible. Under 10X magnification the marks didn’t appear to have any rough edges and I assume what was still visible were the “valleys”. Any issues with leaving them?
Since BSA axles are oval shaped and from what I have read here I believe the crimp marks are on the high side of the oval. They would be a good reference mark for the axle install and making sure the high side is running top of car to bottom of car.
I have tried using files with the axle chucked in the drill press to get the casting marks off the head/shaft. I seem to always bugger up the shaft and recently figured out that with the drill press turned off a triangle file works great and takes just a few swipes to get them off, after I get them off I turn on the drill press, use the emory board on the shaft for the crimp marks, then switch back to a file for tapering and narrowing the nail head diameter. Are there any better ways to do this?
Are the recommendations of “don’t sand any longer than 10/15 seconds per grit” for Dremel tool users spinning at 13k+ RPM’s only. Out of ignorance on my sons Cub Scout derby car this year the axle/hub fit was really really loose. I am sure it was because we sanded the axles to thin (spent too much time with too high a grit papers) and used the pine car hub reamer…….? I recently bought a bunch of extra axles to practice cutting the KHouse groove, and work on polishing techniques. My drill press only turns 3k so I have been doing the 800 & 1000 for 15 seconds, 1500-3200 for 25 seconds, once I hit 4000-6000 I spend 60 seconds on them. I realize everyone has their own preferences but again I want to polish properly without reducing the axle size more than necessary.
Last question about axle prep (for now – LOL). Using DD4H polish with a piece of cloth and with the axle chucked in my drill press how long should I work the polish in? Doesn’t seem to take long to get the black residue, at first I was worried about not spending enough time on it (10 seconds or so) but any longer and I thought I might burn the polish.
The crimp marks on the nail shaft, do they need to be completely sanded off? I hit them with an Emory board lightly and did the wet sand starting with 800 and went up to 6000 and then DD4H polish. The axles were shiny but some of the crimp marks were still visible. Under 10X magnification the marks didn’t appear to have any rough edges and I assume what was still visible were the “valleys”. Any issues with leaving them?
Since BSA axles are oval shaped and from what I have read here I believe the crimp marks are on the high side of the oval. They would be a good reference mark for the axle install and making sure the high side is running top of car to bottom of car.
I have tried using files with the axle chucked in the drill press to get the casting marks off the head/shaft. I seem to always bugger up the shaft and recently figured out that with the drill press turned off a triangle file works great and takes just a few swipes to get them off, after I get them off I turn on the drill press, use the emory board on the shaft for the crimp marks, then switch back to a file for tapering and narrowing the nail head diameter. Are there any better ways to do this?
Are the recommendations of “don’t sand any longer than 10/15 seconds per grit” for Dremel tool users spinning at 13k+ RPM’s only. Out of ignorance on my sons Cub Scout derby car this year the axle/hub fit was really really loose. I am sure it was because we sanded the axles to thin (spent too much time with too high a grit papers) and used the pine car hub reamer…….? I recently bought a bunch of extra axles to practice cutting the KHouse groove, and work on polishing techniques. My drill press only turns 3k so I have been doing the 800 & 1000 for 15 seconds, 1500-3200 for 25 seconds, once I hit 4000-6000 I spend 60 seconds on them. I realize everyone has their own preferences but again I want to polish properly without reducing the axle size more than necessary.
Last question about axle prep (for now – LOL). Using DD4H polish with a piece of cloth and with the axle chucked in my drill press how long should I work the polish in? Doesn’t seem to take long to get the black residue, at first I was worried about not spending enough time on it (10 seconds or so) but any longer and I thought I might burn the polish.
