Rounding and Painting Axel Ends For Handmade Toy Cars and Trucke
My axel drying rack. These are not dipped they are brush painted. Each color pair fits the truck they are aligned with. I paint the axles before mounting the wheels. I painted them with a brush for a long time. Brushing almost always needed at least to coats. Metallic paints were the worst. When applying the first coat of metallic paint, the color would soak in rapidly, leaving the metallics on the surface. Nowadays, I dip the ends of the axels in a couple of drops of paint. I touch the end of the axel to the paint and holds it there for a couple of seconds. Holding the axel in the paint for a short time lets the end grain soak up as much paint as it can. So far, this has been very successful and never requires a second coat of paint. You need to dip the axel just enough to cover the entire end with a tiny bit of overlap. It the wheels fit snug, this extra paint will get scraped off by the wheels. I usually let the paint dry overnight. I hand fit each axel to the car body. Roundin