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Polishing axles with cape cod

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 11:30 am
by Drknjme
I’m just wondering if anyone has tried polishing their axles with cape cod cloths. I have use these clothes to polish different metals in the past and they are amazing but I didn’t know if the polish has a negative affect on speed or will make it harder to graphite the axles. Thanks in advance

Re: Polishing axles with cape cod

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 1:17 pm
by Vitamin K
Never tried them, but they look like they'd be a decent final polishing step.

Re: Polishing axles with cape cod

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 2:18 pm
by bobcatbrown520
I use lense cloth for my final polishing step

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Re: Polishing axles with cape cod

Posted: Mon Feb 26, 2018 2:30 pm
by whodathunkit
I have tried them in the past!
If your seeing a white haze film on your axles keep polishing them!
The cloth will eventually bring back the shine to the axle.





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Re: Polishing axles with cape cod

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 8:24 am
by Drknjme
whodathunkit wrote: Mon Feb 26, 2018 2:30 pm I have tried them in the past!
If your seeing a white haze film on your axles keep polishing them!
The cloth will eventually bring back the shine to the axle.





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So you didn’t notice any issues that could have a negative impact on speed? They did a great job polishing mine to a mirror shine and they felt slicker than dog 💩 but I couldn’t tell if it might be leaving behind any of the polish residue and I can’t get the axles to hold ANY graphite after theyve been polished

Re: Polishing axles with cape cod

Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2018 11:13 am
by Speedster
Drknjme, you're not alone. Many believe axles don't hold graphite. Think about the nail for a minute. It comes with a nice shiny, zinc coating that is very smooth. There are some, maybe many, who sand away with multiple grits of sandpaper, put it in a drill press, turn on the drill press and grind away at the casting marks under the head and on the shaft. Compare what the nail looks like now compared to what it was coming out of the box. Here is what I have done for many, many years. The tips of your fingers and thumbs are very, very sensitive. That's why you see auto body repairman rub their flat hand over a repair area where Bondo has been applied. The tips of their fingers will reveal an imperfection their eyes cannot see. Rub the tips of your fingers over the nail where the wheel hub will travel and it should feel very smooth. I very gently remove the casting marks under the head with a very small file. I do not allow the file to touch any other part of the underside of the head. I do not put the nail in a drill press, turn it on, and grind away at the casting marks. I do not remove the casting marks on the shaft. I do not apply anything to the nail, not even the good smelling Lemon Pledge. How much of that nail are you going to use in your race? Remember, the nail does not turn.
What are you planning to do with the wheels?

Re: Polishing axles with cape cod

Posted: Fri Mar 02, 2018 6:43 pm
by Drknjme
I’m prepping the bore’s with [no advertising for this vendor] black ice polish kit. The tread I’m sanding incrementally up to 3000 grit and then graphite graphite graphite. Everything is smoothing out really nice I just don’t know if the cape cod will either 1) put a coating on the axle that could actually slow it down or 2) somehow cause it to not take graphite as well

Re: Polishing axles with cape cod

Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2018 9:24 pm
by whodathunkit
With the cape cod polish... I'd say if your axles were made out of pure silver .. that you would want to use a mild detergent to wash them!

Graphite lube's are little more forgiving on polished axles.. then the oil type lubes are for sure.
As far as trying to embed graphite into a polished metal axle it's near impossible to get graphite to stick or leave a coating on the metal.
In-less it is heated to almost a molted stage.
So if the graphite is not sticking into the cape cod polish or on the metal axle it must be slipping over it.
I have no idea on the effects the cape cod polish might or might not have with the oil type lubes.

And when i used it worked well for me with graphite lubes.

Re: Polishing axles with cape cod

Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2018 12:42 am
by AaronS
Im not familiar with cape cod polishing cloths, but they don't sound like they will hurt the surface. Just clean real well after you use them on your axles. I use 50,000 grit diamond polish as a pre-finish, then end with red rouge. The axle will have a very deep shine! I have used many different polishing procedures for various metals. The trick is to remove as little metal as possible from the axle, so you maintain as large of a diameter as physically possible.

Re: Polishing axles with cape cod

Posted: Fri Mar 09, 2018 4:16 am
by Speedster
I have a question.
Can anyone, or has anyone, with any kind of machine, proven they can make the scout axle more slippery then how it comes in the box? Graphite doesn't count because the nail is going to ride on graphite anyway. If your scout rules allow you to remove the casting marks you can now legally create a grooved axle that will take that portion of the nail out of the picture. There's not much left the wheel bore is interested in. OK, maybe I just have too much time on my hands to ask a question like this. That's what retirement will do to you.

Re: Polishing axles with cape cod

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 10:02 pm
by AaronS
Yes, to speedster. Progressive diamond grits from 3000, to 50,000 grit with red rouge as your final finish. Clean well between grits, and spend 15 seconds on each. Axles will shine bright and if you check with 10x magnification after each one, you will see improvements through each one.