Pinewood Derby axles have been made in the USA ever since the conception of the derby back in the 50’s.  Recently, the Boy Scouts of America contracted with Revell to start providing some officially Licensed BSA Pinewood Derby components including wheels and axles.  Almost everyone has heard of Revell… the famous plastic model makers.

The Chinese Connection

Revell decided it would be more cost effective if they had the derby components manufactured in China.  When word got out, it sent a wave of resentment from many red, white and blue Americans.  How could we allow Pinewood Derby components to be made in China?  The Pinewood Derby, a time honored American tradition gone to China.  Say it ain’t so.

Well it is so.  Today, we basically have two types of BSA Pinewood Derby wheels and axles floating around.  They are either made in the USA or in China.

In recent history the process has remained the same.  The axles were pressed in a manner that left obvious crimp marked on the axle shaft at the location where the wheel rides.  These crimps needed to be filed and smoothed by the racer in order for the car to be faster.  This is how the USA axles are presently made.

The axles from China go through a slightly different fabrication process.  There are no crimps on the axle shaft that the wheel rubs.  So that reduces friction a great deal without the process of filing.  These axles shafts are actually very smooth and do not require near the preparation work as USA axles.  The axles can be raced with no additional preparation. However, its still a good idea use some extra fine polish to buff them even smoother.

How Can You Tell?

How can you tell the China axles from USA axles?  At the time this article was written, all axles that come in the official BSA Grand Prix Pinewood Derby kits are made in the USA.  All axles purchased at a BSA scout store are made in the USA.  All axles distributed by Revell are made in China.  Just look at the container and it will tell where they’re made. You can also look on the axle shaft near the head where the wheels will ride.  The crimp marks on the USA axles are easy to see.

So, if you have a choice between USA axles or axles made in China go with the Chinese version.  They will be faster with no preparation.  However, for the fastest official BSA Pinewood Derby axles consider grooved axles made by Derby Worx.

You can view a complete line of hi-performance BSA Pinewood Derby Axles at www.DerbyMonkeyGarage.com and www.DerbyMax.com

The mystery is… Are you lubricating your axles well enough? 

Most Pinewood Derby racers use graphite for lubrication.  Most racers lube the insde of the wheel bores, insert the axles, spin the wheels a few time, and their done.  You can take that technique to the next level by embedding the graphite into the axle shaft.

It doesn’t matter how well you polish yout axles… there will always be minute scratches and pits on the axle surface.  Instead of ignoring those blemishes… racers are better served if they fill those blemishes with graphite.  Some Pinewood Derby experts only lightly polish their axles so that many fine scratches and pits remain.  They believe that the many blemishes will hold more graphite and provide better and longer lasting lubrication.

Not just any graphite will work well with the embedding technique.  The individual graphite particles must be minute in order to entrench themselves into the axle shaft.  The graphite should be no greater than 325 mesh in order to achieve the best results.

Now you must figure out a way to rub the graphite into the axle shaft.  An extremely easy and efficient method for achieving this is the Derby Monkey Axle Lube Kit.

This axle treatment kit is for graphite coating Pinewood Derby axles. Place the axle in the pin vise and rotate the axle back-and-forth over the graphite pad. This fills the microscopic scratches and creates a micro-thin graphite film on the axle shaft. This additional amount of lubrication can help you to victory lane.

It is recommended that Monkey Dust Premium Graphite be used because the graphite particles are milled to a microscopic 325 mesh which makes it the finest Pinewood Derby graphite on the market.

Derby Monkey Axle Lube Kit Includes:

• Pin Vise
• Cradle
• Graphite Pad
• Pad Strap

The complete Axle Lube kit includes Monky Dust Micro-Fine 325 Mesh Graphite.

Pinewood Derby Axle Polishing Kit

The kit consists of a total of 12 sheets of sandpaper, one jar of Monkey Jam Premium Axle Polish, one micro-fiber polishing cloth and instructions on how to put a district caliber polish on your Pinewood Derby axles.

Included in this kit is one jar of Monkey Jam Premium Axle Polish,an extraordinary metal polish that will give your axles a super mirror finish. The particles that make up Monkey Jam are less than 0.5 microns which is equivalent to approximately 100,000 grit sandpaper.
Kit includes one of each of the following:

• 400 grit – 3½″ x 4½″ – Wet/Dry Sandpaper
• 600 grit – 3½″ x 4½″ – Wet/Dry Sandpaper
• 1200 grit – 3½″ x 4½″ – Wet/Dry Sandpaper
• 1,500 grit – 3″ x 6″ – Micro-Mesh Sandpaper
• 1,800 grit – 3″ x 6″ – Micro-Mesh Sandpaper
• 2,400 grit – 3″ x 6″ – Micro-Mesh Sandpaper
• 3,200 grit – 3″ x 6″ – Micro-Mesh Sandpaper
• 3,600 grit – 3″ x 6″ – Micro-Mesh Sandpaper
• 4,000 grit – 3″ x 6″ – Micro-Mesh Sandpaper
• 6,000 grit – 3″ x 6″ – Micro-Mesh Sandpaper
• 8,000 grit – 3″ x 6″ – Micro-Mesh Sandpaper
• 12,000 grit – 3″ x 6″ – Micro-Mesh Sandpaper
• 100,000 grit – Monkey Jam Premium Axle Polish
• Ultra soft 3½″ x 7″ micro-fiber polishing cloth

One Ultimate Axle Polishing Kit is enough to polish 8 to 12 sets of axles.

Instructions:

1. Cut each sandpaper into 1/4″ strips, 3½” long
2. Insert axle in drill and start
3. Use a file to remove the crimp marks on the axle head and shaft
4. Dip a strip of 3the 400 grit sandpaper in water
5. Apply sandpaper to the spinning axle for 15 seconds
6. Polish the portion of the axle on which the wheel will spin
7. Polish the inside of the axle head
8. Repeat steps 4-7 using the other papers in order
9. Rub a liberal amount of Monkey Jam on a new ¼” strip of polishing cloth
10. Slide cloth back and forth on axle shaft and inside of nail head
11. Apply polish to axle for 15 seconds
12. Repeat steps 9-12 with same axle and new cloth
13. Repeat the above steps for each axle
14. Clean axles thoroughly with alcohol

Get The Ultimate Axle Polishing Kit HERE

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Answer: Most folks cut the axle slots with a table saw.  However, the blade has to be very thin and adjusted so that it won’t cut very deep.  You can usually get a straight and square groove doing it that way.
 
Drilling holes is still much better as long as you can drill them straight, perpindicular to the body and parallel with each other.  If you have a good drill press you can drill your holes while the body is still in block form.  If the block is square to begin with… your holes should be pretty good.
 
They make several specialy tools to help you drill perefect axle holes.  These tools range in price from $12 to $85.  The $12 Pro Body Tool works very well.  You can see it at http://www.derbymonkeygarage.com/products/Prob_Body_Tool_II-75-5.html  It also comes with the perfect size drill bit for BSA axles.  You can use this with a hand drill or drill press.  You can even use a hand held pin vise (twist drill).

Visit www.DerbyMonkeyGarage.com

Answer:  The short answer is yes Monkey Jam is better for fine polishing Pinewood Derby axles because the grit particle size in Monkey Jam is much smaller than the majority of red jewelers rouge.  So this means that Monkey Jam is a much finer polish and will leave a much smoother axle surface.

The long answer is more detailed. One of the major difficulties in using and understanding jewelers rouge, or any abrasive compound for that matter, is that each manufacturer uses his own recipe to make the finished material.

Derby Monkey researched the above question and this is what they found. There are two types of aluminum oxide (jewelers rouge) used in polish, sometimes called “A” and “B”.  Aluminum oxides labeled as “A” and “B” are not all equal in quality or performance. The size of the alumina particle is very different. Aluminum oxide “A” is 0.3 micron in size and Aluminum “B” is an extremely small micron size of 0.05. To put this into perspective, 50,000 grit is approximately .5 micron and 100,000 grit is about .25 micron.

When we purchase a bar of red jewelers rouge we have no idea of the amount of oxide used or the size of the particle used in manufacturing the bar. This can vary greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer.

The researched determined that the material that makes up Monkey Jam, Magnesium oxide in a petroleum carrier, has an extremely small 0.05 micron partial size.  That should compare to sandpaper finer than 100,000 grit.

So, for polishing Pinewood Derby Axles, playit safe and go with the Monkey Jam.  Monkey Jam may be the very best Pinewood Derby axle polish available.  Read More

Want the truth about Pinewood Derby Axles?  Do you want to prepare your own or buy aftermarket pinewood derby axles?  There is a lot to sift through so we’ll try to keep it simple and informative.

BSA Kit Axles or Aftermarket Speed Axles

You must decide on which pinewood axles you want to use. You can either use the stock axles that came with your Official BSA kit or you can use a set of pre-treated aftermarket speed axles.

Using the BSA Kit Axles will require a good bit of work and preparation.  The first thing you must do is eliminate the burs, or crimp marks, on the axle shaft.  Those must be removed to have any chance of first place.  You will need a flat edge file and a drill press to pull that off.

Most folks will tell you to polish your pinewood axles with sand paper up to about 2500 grit.  That’s fine for those who want to finish in second place.  The axles need to have a near mirror finish in order to eliminate as much friction as possible.  To achieve this, you must polish your axles with the use of sandpaper all the way up to 12,000 grit and then finish them off with a polishing compound and polishing cloth.

You should consider the following tools and supplies for this process:

File for removing the crimp marks: Needle File
Drill kit for turning the axles: Pinewood Derby Drill Kit
Axle polishing supplies: Axle Polishing Kits

Using Aftermarket Speed Axles will again save you a lot of time and effort.  Plus you will have some wicked fast axles.  There are several levels of prepared pinewood axles.  Most are Official BSA axles that have been machined on a CNC lathe to make them completely round and free of imperfections.  They are then polished to some extent.  Some axles have machined grooves in the shaft in order to reduce wheel to axle contact and to serve as storage wells for graphite.  Some pinewood derby axles are pre-coated with a layer of graphite to further lubricate the contact points. The fastest axles will be completely machine made and have a hard nickel coating.

All aftermarket speed axles have been polished to some extent.  However, for the ultimate axles you will likely need to fine polish them even more with the use of sandpaper all the way up to 12,000 grit and then finish them off with a polishing compound and polishing cloth.

There are many differences of opinions on what type of BSA axles are the fastest.  Many want a smooth surface on their axle shafts while others prefer grooves.  Some folks like the pre graphite coated pinewood axles while others hate them.  Many of these folks can produce statistics to support their point of view.

Regardless of the axle type, the most important this is to have an extremely high polished axle shaft that is well lubricated.  Also, there are many other factors that make for a fast Pinewood Derby car.  The best pinewood derby axles in the world won’t help if those other factors are not addressed.

Make sure that you understand what axle modifications are permitted by your pack rules.

Check out the Derby Monkey line of speed axles. Click Here

Pre-Treated BSA Axles

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Pre-Treated and Grooved BSA Axles

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Nickle Plated Axles

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