axle finishing/tapering questions

[pinewoodchamp]

Hi, this is my first post here.
So I won last years pack derby and got third in the regional race so now I feel a lot of pressure to improve to make sure I win again. I've been reading a lot on this forum and elsewhere and I have gotten into the weeds about a few things.
1. my current models are having between about 12 grams and 14 grams of front wheel weight whereas last years was over 20, am I cutting it too close?
2. I can't seem to find any discussions of tapering the nail heads using the axle straightening/ bending tool to make the nail heads cones. Last year I did this and it was a pain in the [censored] because in the process of hammering the heads into the cone you inevitably put them out of round and require a lot of work to get them round again. Also it seems like the tool is flawed in that it creates some lumps when you use it where the two halves of the tool meet. Is mine flawed perhaps? Am I the only one tapering the heads in this way?
3. wax, I ordered some bore wax, I didn't use wax last year, is it actually worth it? I did use pledge last year, are these things compatible?
4. I am doing axles and wheels right now, any other tips I might not have thought of?

[FatSebastian]

Hi, this is my first post here. So I won last years pack derby...

Champ!

...to make sure I win again ... any other tips I might not have thought of?

If you are a Scout, congratulations on how much you've accomplished!

But if you are Akela... the most important tip I can think of is to involve your Scout more. There are at least thirteen occurrences of the pronoun "I" in your post, but no "we" or "us" and no mention of Scout involvement. (DerbyTalk focuses on racing with kids.)