Description
Say “Goodbye” to burrs, crimp marks, polishing, and bending! These BSA Pinewood Derby Speed Axles are precision-made to replicate the official BSA nail, but without the burrs and crimp marks. They are polished to 3,000 grit(1), and then bent to allow for rail-rider alignment.(2) The three bent axles have a slotted head to enable alignment adjustments with a flat-blade screwdriver. Just lube, align, and race.
Benefits
- Accurate, round shaft to improve performance,
- No burrs and crimp marks, eliminating tedious work
- Axle head is slightly and accurately beveled to minimize contact with the outside wheel hub
- Axle head is round and centered on the axle shaft
- Shaft is polished to 3,000 grit.
- 3 axles are bent to 2.5 deg. Those are to be used, 2 in the rear of the car, and 1 in the front dominate wheel to adjust steer. The forth axle is straight (for raised wheel).
- Three bent axles are slotted to simplify alignment adjustment using a flat-blade screwdriver.
From Randy: These axles are the same as part 4035, but the three bent axles have a slotted head to enable alignment adjustments with a flat-blade screwdriver. To rail-ride with the Polished Rail-Rider Axles you will need to adjust the alignment. We strongly recommend reading this the feature article in Pinewood Derby Times – Volume 16, Issue 10“
Usage
- Gently wipe off the axles with a soft cloth, then lubricate with good quality graphite (we recommend Max-V-Lube) or with Krytox 100.
- Mount the wheels and axles on the car. The front dominant axle should be angled down and the gap set to the normal 30 thousandths. The rear axles should be angled up and gapped twice as wide as the front axles.
- Roll the car gently back and forth on a smooth surface and watch the rear wheels. They should stay on the nail head regardless of the direction of travel. If a rear wheel moves to the car body, slightly rotate that axle (use a flat blade screwdriver with a gap gauge in place) and test again. Repeat until both wheels stay on the axle head.
- To adjust the front steering, an alignment board is required. The car should drift towards the raised wheel about 5 inches over 8 feet.
- For more information on alignment boards and aligning, refer to this article on rail-riding.
Technical Information
Shaft Diameter: 0.087 inch ± 0.0005 (BSA: 0.088 ± 0.002)
Shaft Length: 1 inch (same as BSA)
Material: Zinc-coated steel (same as BSA)
(1) Three-thousand grit polishing produces an axle that is generally shiny to the eye, however, this polishing level does not produce a mirror finish. Fine polish lines will be seen under magnification.
(2)The bending process puts a slight shiny spot on the bottom side of the axle near the axle head. This is normal and does not affect performance. When a wheel is mounted on the car with the axle, the bore of the wheel contacts the axle at too locations, neither of which coincide with the shiny spot.
