21 replies to this topic

[gatormark]

Who sells axle stock so I can cut my own axles?

[chasbeeman]

I know McMaster Carr has stock in various sizes. Not sure if the material needs hardening or additional finishing for axle use.

[Dominator]

If your soldering your front wheels on standard K&S 3/32 piano wire works just fine. If your looking to thread your axles McMaster Carr may be a better choice.

[MSwiss]

If your soldering your front wheels on standard K&S 3/32 piano wire works just fine. If your looking to thread your axles McMaster Carr may be a better choice.

I'm 99% sure he's looking to "make" rear axles.

[MSwiss]

You are wasting your time .

 

Even if you get lucky and find stock with the right temper and exact right diameter where it's fits correctly in tires, gears, bearings or bushings, by the time you pay shipping , start going through Dremel disc's, get steel dust all over, etc. I'm pretty sure you'll regret doing it to save 50 cents or a $1 an axle.

[Hot Slots]

Mark you can only run JK axles in the JK LMP class, no cheating. I'll have to inspect your car, check the thickness of you body and length of the rear bumper, inspect the axle to ensure its not a non jk tampered drill blank axle.

[Dave Crevie]

Rear axles need to be hardened, so you have to use either pre-hardened stock, or harden them yourself. If you harden the axles, they will have to be centerless ground after hardening, so get the next closest size larger to start with. The stock will bend during the hardening process. Use A-2 air hardening rod, which distorts less in hardening than oil hardening alloys. You can harden the blanks to 62 Rockwell "C". Then centerless grind in flood coolant to the finished size. 

 

For ages I have been using M-4 drill blanks for my rear axles. M-4 is a tool steel, hard enough to seemingly last for ever in oilite bushings. It also tends to break rather than bend in a wreck, and it takes a really hard hit to break one. You can get drill blanks in plus and minus sizes, which allows you to get a finished size exactly where you want it.

 

For threaded axles you can used 4140 steel rod, but it has to be threaded in a lathe. I've seen guys thread it with a die, but the results are not great. So, as long as it has to be machine threaded, I usually go with M-2 drill blanks. Very hard, but able to be threaded in a lathe with a grade 6 carbide tool bit. If you are really handy with a torch, you can temper 4140 which brings the hardness up a bit. 

 

Here's a little about what is involved in cutting threads. Keep in mind, you will be working with a much smaller workpiece;

 

https://youtu.be/vS5...e4ZP0bT43LsBNEB

[Bill Seitz]

Unless you're making non-standard axles, which I'm thinking the OP may be interested in doing, I'm with Mike that the effort needed and results obtainable by the average hobbyist is not worth doing it oneself. McMaster-Carr does have hardened alloy steel rod in precision ground sizes that could be used, but my recollection is it won't save any cost over buying slot car axles. However, if you need something custom, then usable stock is available. Cutting stock does heat it up, and if not careful, the hardness can be removed easily enough. Then one gets easily bendable axle ends.

 

I remember carbon fiber wing car axles from around 1990. I tried some, nice and light, but not durable. I still have one left in my parts box. McMaster has carbon fiber rod of the right size which is tempting, but the precision is not really adequate, and I well remember the expense and lack of durability.

[gotboostedvr6]

I can source good axles. Id consider ordering a run.

Whats your maximum investment threshold?

[gatormark]

Hot slots...your a lurker lol

[Wizard Of Iz]

Mark ... if "over the counter" axles are the last weak link in your program, then you've got the world by the tail.

 

Because I can't think of a single time when I said, "dang .... I coulda won if it wasn't for these crappy over-the-counter axles."  My slot car program has far more problems than axles.  And most of those problems start with the guy holding the controller.

 

Like Mike Swiss said .... spend the extra $0.50 and buy an axle that's ready to go.   

[Sloter]

Plenty of quality axles available, not worth the time to make your own.

 

Bob

[Phil Hackett]

I have a source for drill blanks... but you must order in large quantities in order to get "a price". Is it worth the cash outlay for something that is already supplied by many other companies? What would make your axle so unique and better to have buyers for it?

 

This isn't meant to be a "downer" post but is made for reflection....

[Dave Crevie]

I have a source for drill blanks... but you must order in large quantities in order to get "a price". 

 

 

What Phil said is exactly right. Industrial suppliers require large (10,000+ piece) orders to get a price where you could put your axle on the market and be competitive with the other hobby suppliers. When home set racing became popular enough, I supplied axles for those cars made from drill blanks. At the time, I got a very good price because I bought a lot of machine tooling from the industrial supplier I got them from. But when another guy started selling axles made from stainless steel rod, (not much better then the carbon steel axles that came with the cars), and sold them for 50 cents less, the racers started buying those. Even though they still had bending issues. It didn't make sense. I asked some of those racers why they were using axles that could still bend. The answers were direct, and basically the same. "Because everyone else is using them."    

[scooter_trasher]

the cheap ones are sold by the dozen at grainger, the good ones are cost prohibitive.

i try to buy off of my local raceway first and out source second, they don't seem make enough off track time to make it most of the time.

 

https://www.grainger...&searchBar=true

[Bill from NH]

I broke a couple 3/32" axles in GTP flexi racing, but I don't recall breaking or bending them during my open class wing racing in the '70s & '80s.  Better material then?

[gatormark]

Found some at machine shop.,thx

[Hot Slots]

Are they straight?

[Mr. M]

And do they fit in the bearings?

[Bill from NH]

Roll your axles down an inclined sheet of glass or on a mirror for straightness. If they're not, they'll make a louder noise while rolling. Should you need to polish them to fit into bearing, use a 1000-2000 grit sandpaper or crocus cloth. The sandpaper you'll find with the body shop supplies at an auto parts store & some Walmart's. The plumbing dept. of a good hardware store might have crocus cloth.

[scooter_trasher]

They come in every drill bit size made SAE and metric

[Phil Hackett]

My supplier will *make* them whatever size you want to whatever tolerance you specify, but, again, you must buy in large quantities to get the price low enough to make reselling them profitable. I don't see axles selling at a rate high enough to invest the money to inventory them to justify that return. There are many parts like that in the slot car world.

 

After years in the slot car business I have learned that if "everyone else" is selling a part or product that none of those people are making money on *that* item to make it worthwhile (IMO). In many cases *that* item is a catalog filler whose only purpose is to make the catalog, therefore the company, look more impressive. If there was money being made *that* item would be readily available.