Nail polish at hub...additional prep?
- Thread starter chromegsx
- Start date
In our 'old Cub Scout days' we used both a decent (but not teflon) nail polish and the 'Paint On Graphite' product. I thought they both worked decent, but I can't say how they compare. You can always experiment on another sample and see how slippery they are. I used to use a lot of micromesh and would polish everything with the high grades of that (6-12K).
We'll I left it on and we assembled.we polished once with micro gloss put a drop of oil on and wiped excess. Didn't seem to get sticky but if it runs like a turtle tomorrow at testing I'll know the first thing I'll be doing late into the hours of the night. But for now it looks like this will be the first year I actually get some sleep before the race. /images/boards/smilies/wink.gif. Initial testing was positive on a low slope.
What type of paint was used? In the past I've used enamel based engine paints with good luck, but it's too late for a new paint job at this point. The enamel dries hard and leaves a nice shiny finish, then a quick dab of graphite around the axle hole and it was good to go.
/images/boards/smilies/confused.gif We are doing oil. Normally with graphite lube, I do rub some into the nail polish, but this is our first time with oil, well 2nd actually, but my son's first with him doing all the work on the car except the table saw. So I wasn't sure what would need done with it. But I think the clear cote we used is enamel, but we removed the paint around axle holes to prep for nail polish. nail polish on paint didn't work well for me when I tried it a few years ago. It made it all gooey and I had to redo those areas without paint or polish, and put a piece of aluminum tape at the axle holes and polished that then rubbed graphite in. Thinking back now that would have been the way to go as the wheel is on an aluminum nail anyway (awana axles and wheels) so oil on the aluminum tape would make it the same as the wheel on axle... sort of...except for orientation and lack of hydrodynamic hicky thingy ma jiggy./images/boards/smilies/smile.gif
There's a whole 'nother thread on teflon nail polish and some of us found that if you tried to use anything but the stuff labeled as teflon or teflon like then it didn't work so well. I put some on a test piece and found that it caused a sticking like friction and was better off without it.
Sorry..... I missed that very important bit of information. Skip the graphite and stick with everything else I said about the enamel paint.chromegsx said:
4wheeldrift said:
When I rubbed my finger over after initial application and dry time, I got the same feeling as if it might cause sticking, which is why I was asking about additional prep. Bummer...well if test runs get cancelled tonight, maybe I'll pull the FDW and redo that contact area. with a small piece of aluminum tape polished. I'll have to see if I can order some teflon nail polish for next year. or just touch up with enamel clear cote if thats what I have.
I am no longer a fan of nail polish at least without a proper prep to the edges of the hole. Although it didn't get sticky in the oil application, the contact area of wheel was being gouged by imperfections in the wood around the hole which the nail polish solidified. Will have to rethink how to do a treatment with nail polish there. I sanded it all off with 2000 grit and ran bare wood after that discovery. This was a lesson learned as the result of not reading all the words on the paper in the kit and being forced to swap on full weight wheels. I wouldn't say it made a huge difference, but every little bit counts.
Nope... I got that point. My problem wouldn't have been fixed with any type of nail polish. little burrs, if you will, of wood fiber were hardened by the polish causing it to gouge the hub of the wheel on the way down the track. Looking at the wheel hub and the hole in the wood made it immediately obvious what was going on. I need to pay more attention to the drilled hole edge prior to any post treatment.
If I don't use spacers or a delrin washer ill do one of the following:
Ill just sand the wood smooth as silk and then rub graphite into it as much as possible....
Ill just put toothpicks in the holes and just paint as usual and clear as usual, and then go back after its all dry and sand smooth and buff graphite in...
Or if its bare wood but painting is done, ill sand smooth, spray one coat of clear on the area....let dry...and spray a second clear on it (I use Upol)....the clear I use hardens pretty well and fast and after two coats even on bare sanded wood, there is enough there to sand smooth and buff graphite in and it doesn't have the "sticky" feeling that typical enamel or acrylic nail polish has....
Ive also tried using monokote or smooth vinyl coverings over the area and punch a hole thru it for the axel and that seems to work well too. Others have posted on this with more experience in using this stuff instead of paint and clear....it certainly feels very slick when rubbing a wheel on it...
Ill just sand the wood smooth as silk and then rub graphite into it as much as possible....
Ill just put toothpicks in the holes and just paint as usual and clear as usual, and then go back after its all dry and sand smooth and buff graphite in...
Or if its bare wood but painting is done, ill sand smooth, spray one coat of clear on the area....let dry...and spray a second clear on it (I use Upol)....the clear I use hardens pretty well and fast and after two coats even on bare sanded wood, there is enough there to sand smooth and buff graphite in and it doesn't have the "sticky" feeling that typical enamel or acrylic nail polish has....
Ive also tried using monokote or smooth vinyl coverings over the area and punch a hole thru it for the axel and that seems to work well too. Others have posted on this with more experience in using this stuff instead of paint and clear....it certainly feels very slick when rubbing a wheel on it...
Whooah! Now that's some serious bling! Kudos to the avatar magician.
Thanks for the tips WK, hope it helps someone out. Does it apply for oil cars minus the graphite part? I doubt I'll go back to graphite unless rules force me too. I've had very good success with oil so far using what one can find on the various places on the net, but I'll still have to invest a bit more to make up the car lengths I'd be behind the pros here. You guys have been very helpful to the person that takes the time to study, research and try all these tips. One of these days I hope to send a car in to a race. Kids and extracurriculars keep my free time pretty well tied up.
Thanks for the tips WK, hope it helps someone out. Does it apply for oil cars minus the graphite part? I doubt I'll go back to graphite unless rules force me too. I've had very good success with oil so far using what one can find on the various places on the net, but I'll still have to invest a bit more to make up the car lengths I'd be behind the pros here. You guys have been very helpful to the person that takes the time to study, research and try all these tips. One of these days I hope to send a car in to a race. Kids and extracurriculars keep my free time pretty well tied up.
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