Why you have to seal polished axles

rust on pinewood derby axle

I thought DuPont™ Krytox® was oil!

rust on axle

DuPont™ Krytox®

If you choose, we can seal the prepped axle with a Krytox sealing agent. Through our professional, industry leading, lubrication resources, we have found a substance that binds Krytox to metal. That’s right a metal sealing agent that has one of the most frictionless substances known to pinewood derby racing. This is NOT putting a drop krytox oil on it. This is binding Krytox to the surface of the metal. It’s like Teflon coating, but a different type of flurocarbon. It is NOT wet or appears to be dry! It is DRY and will not interfere with dry lubes as it is bonded to the surface of the metal. Dries as a white haze that can be wiped off with a tissue.

Why do you need to seal your axles? Krytox sealant is to protect the raw metal so that it does not oxidize (rust) because after all the axles are made of iron (magnetic). If you strip the zinc coating, you need to protect your axles so they will not rust. If your derby car is out in the shop, you have the potential to expose the highly polished surface to the moisture as quickly as over night. Pictured above is rust that formed within 34 hours without sealant. That axle was wiped clean with alcohol prior to testing. This moisture will rust the surface of the axle and you will no longer have that high polished axle meaning you will have an increase in friction. After you did all that work, ever wonder why your car still runs slow?. Don’t chance ruining your axle. Seal it! Believe it or not, just think about it.

rust on pinewood derby axle

Yes you will still need lube. This coating will not effect the performance of graphite-meaning it will not gum up graphite. We know the physical properties of our products.

Sorry, we can’t share our trade secret. It is not something that can be sold for the DIY. IF you would like to have your axles sealed or would rather purchase a set of our sealed axles visit our store.