What's the Best Wheel and Axle Polish?

[Jewel]

I have used Semichrome and Mother's Metal Polish with pretty good results. I have never used jewelers' rouge and talc but have used these with great results. I looked around on the internet for places to buy these materials and here is a short list. I found 4 grades of jewelers' rouge and some lapidary polishes that looked interesting. It would be interesting to know what everybody has tried and some of their techniques.

Here are a couple of places to look for polishing materials including jewelers’ rouge.

http://www.watchpolishing.com/polish.htm
Metal and Plastic Polish. Might be a good wheel polish.

http://www.gravescompany.com/jewelry.htm
Jewelers Rouge. Look down at the bottom of page to see 4 grades.

http://www.gravescompany.com/polishin.htm
Interesting stuff to possibly experiment with.

[Da Graphite Kid]

Jewel,

I tried the jeweler’s rouge that came in a Dremel kit. It was red so I’m guessing that it must have been the same “Red Rouge” that is on the Graves Company site. This did not produce as smooth (finer scratches) a surface as the Mother’s Chrome Mag Polish or another metal polish called Flitz. After looking on the Graves Company web site, it looks like the “White Rouge” would be the better choice and may produce better results.

“White Rouge - For stainless steel, chromium, and nickel”

I have not used Talc either but would like to hear from others that have compared polishes/rouges.

After straightening and filing the axles, we chuck them up in a Dremel tool and apply Mother’s with strips of old t-shirt until the axle glows brightly and looks scratch free when viewed with a magnifying glass. We pay special attention to the area under the axle head. We than use another strip of t-shirt to make sure any remaining metal polish is removed. After that, it’s straight into a wheel!

I don’t really know how much all this polishing really helps. I say this because I looked at some axles that had been on my (younger) son’s car after our Pack race. He went down the track less than 20 times and the axles were all scarred up! I tested an axle I polished by placing it in a wheel, which I loading up with graphite and finger spun several times. It too showed scratches too. So I ask: does ultra-polishing help at all, just for the first some many runs, or does it really help after multiple runs?

Hmmm… maybe I should try hardening the axles first!


Da Graphite Kid

[DuckBoy]

We people say "Talc", are they referring to Talcum power?

[Jewel]

Yes, talc is talcum Powder. See what Stan said in another discussion thread about the bumps on the axles. Stan has a great deal of experience so please consider that when reading what he has say.

Depending on rules and how high tech you want to get you could try Nickel or Chrome plating the axle. Or you could try a Nitride coating or a Titanium nitride coating if you want a super hard coating, tooling and heat treat shops could do this process for you. Graves also sold a spray on Diamond compound, which seems to be for gem polishing but might be fun to play around with. I would think a very hard finish might be an advantage if you see scratching on the axle from the wheel. I would also want to consult your local rules judges and let them know what your plans are. If you try any of this it would be fun to hear about your results. Consider burnishing the wheel on a spun up bike tire, this should polish the ID of the wheel. Then after burnishing re-polishing the axle and repeat this process until the finish remains consistently good.

Speaking of results a good test for finding out what really works would be nice. Perhaps you could use a cordless drill with a felt wheel on it, and then spun up your wheel in your car and then time how long it takes to slow down and stop. This make give you some rough idea of you are doing in the battle against friction.