Bore wax, burnish, or both?

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gman247
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Bore wax, burnish, or both?

Post by gman247 »

I've read conflicted information about whether to just wax the wheel bores, just burnish, or wax and burnish. I'm using a mol/graphite mix.

Any thoughts?
Thanks!
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Stan Pope
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Re: Bore wax, burnish, or both?

Post by Stan Pope »

MaxV published some bore waxing test results in his November 27, 2013 newsletter, which, I presume, is among the mixed reports that you mention. Friction reduction is shown, but not heat time reduction. Friction reduction for wax + pure graphite appears promising for graphite lubrication since bore wax has proven effective with low viscosity liquid lubricants.

A question to be considered is whether any advantage carries over with the presence of molybdenum, which operates with a slightly different mechanism.
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Ickabod Crane
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Re: Bore wax, burnish, or both?

Post by Ickabod Crane »

I did see a gain using the bore wax and molybdenum. I need to next see if a pure graphite approach will offer an increased gain.
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xanthrum
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Re: Bore wax, burnish, or both?

Post by xanthrum »

We have found that waxing the bores and other areas of the wheel - then burnishing with a combination of different graphite does equate to speed and faster times. I have seen as much as .03 gains as a result of correctly applying wax and then burnishing with graphite.
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Re: Bore wax, burnish, or both?

Post by Topspin.D »

+1
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sporty
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Re: Bore wax, burnish, or both?

Post by sporty »

it is a process. You have to know which steps to follow what equipment to use and how to use it and be able to observe when you've achieved the proper application or prep work. Space
Wax works. Burnishing is a must.
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Re: Bore wax, burnish, or both?

Post by gman247 »

Thanks guys for the info! We didn't really burnish it in a whole lot, but we did graphite up pretty good and free spin the wheels on the axles.

We had our pack race since my original post. I'm happy to say that one of my boys (I have twin 7yr olds) won Grand Champion of his pack with 16 straight wins.

My other boy didn't do so hot, he wont be racing at districts this year. He did the same thing last year though to win Grand Champion by winning 12 straight races.

Last year they both raced at districts and the one that wont be racing this year took 10th overall at the Wotamalo Tiger finals. He was pretty upset that he wont be racing with his brother this year, but I did remind him that he'll still be able to cheer his brother on :) I also reminded him how special last years racing was for him by just making it to the final track and there were so many kids who didn't get that far.

The one that didn't make the final track at districts last year dropped his car on the 2nd race and broke part of it. He was still able to race, but it didn't do very well afterwards. So he'll at least be able to get another shot at the final track this year!

It's through the information I've found here and have been passing down to my kids that's made their pinewood careers successful.

Our pack plans on getting a new track before next year. The one we currently have is about 30 years old, wood, handmade, and runs a pretty bumpy race. It's certainly beautiful to look at though. I'm also really thinking about seeing if the pack would like me to donate my time for next year's derby workshop where people can come and learn the tricks of building cars and have access to wood working tools and drills and whatnot. My boys have had their time in the spotlight, they both won pack champion. And while we haven't kept secrets from anyone about how we build cars, if anyone asks anything we've told them the truth, but we really haven't been asked much either. I'd love to get parents and scouts talking to each other about science!
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Re: Bore wax, burnish, or both?

Post by FatSebastian »

gman247 wrote:I'm happy to say that one of my boys (I have twin 7yr olds) won Grand Champion of his pack with 16 straight wins. My other boy didn't do so hot...
Congratulations to your one son, and condolences to the other. What is the difference in their cars this year that might have caused their performances to be so different?
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Re: Bore wax, burnish, or both?

Post by gman247 »

(This thread should probably be in the construction forum instead, sorry!)

Actually nothing that was very far off from each other. They're both built the same. They wanted to have the same cars this year (FAST! dad!), so prep and build all had the same steps. The only real difference is that one wedge might be slightly thicker than the other, their weight is different. I didn't have a very good scale (I've corrected that btw) so the one that won was at about 4.80 and the one that didnt was right at 4.98. I've got a bunch of tungsten putty so I'll be upping his weight before districts.

I did get matched mold stock BSA wheels, the 2 cars wheel sets are from different molds. One's a 2 I think the other is a 15. Both sets were shaved, trued, outer step removed, and balanced. Axles could be a problem I suppose. We have to use the nails from the kit, and each one is different so grinding and polishing those isn't an exact science.

I also don't have a lot of faith in the axle press/rail rider blocks to bend the axles. Seems that there's some room for error when using it. Next year we might try drilling angled axle holes instead of bending the axles. Both cars were aligned for rail riding best I could do without a track. Is there a good tool for drilling angled holes? I used the C shaped machined metal block with the holes in it this year to drill them.
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FatSebastian
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Re: Bore wax, burnish, or both?

Post by FatSebastian »

gman247 wrote:Is there a good tool for drilling angled holes?
There are tools that can assist if you have a drill press. However, you don't need one; see this topic.
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Re: Bore wax, burnish, or both?

Post by tmack »

xanthrum wrote: I have seen as much as .03 gains as a result of correctly applying wax and then burnishing with graphite.
We only polished and burnished and took third at districts. The difference between 3rd and 1st place was 0.024sec.
NOW YOU GUYS TELL ME ABOUT WAXING!!! :lol:

What is the process order?
1 polish
2 wax ( what kind of wax?)
3 burnish

ARGH!!!! :D
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Vitamin K
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Re: Bore wax, burnish, or both?

Post by Vitamin K »

A lot of builders swear by the Silver Bullet or the Jewkes Block (same tool, different colors/names).

I'm doing this years' builds with the fence/spacer method. (I have nice square block of basswood with 5/64" drill bits taped to the bottom of one side that I sit on my drill press table). I basically cut a lot of 1/4" thick potential car chassis and test the rear alignment immediately after drilling the rear axles. If it's off, I flip it over, try again and re-test. If I can't get it straight after that, I toss the wood and grab another. Perhaps I'll improve on this next year.
FatSebastian wrote:
gman247 wrote:Is there a good tool for drilling angled holes?
There are tools that can assist if you have a drill press. However, you don't need one; see this topic.
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