First of all, let's discuss what we are trying to do, and what, in general, is allowed. Most rules allow polishing of the axles and cleanup of the underside of the head of the nail, which runs against the wheels. Most do not allow any appreciable reduction in the outside diameter of the axle or of the head of the nail.

Pick up one of the nails and look at the underside of the head. You will see two large ridges which are marks left by the die used for "upsetting" the head onto the shaft. These must be completely removed or your car will have real problems even making it to the finish line. Then look at the shaft of the nail (a good magnifying glass is helpful here). Notice that the shafts are still pitted and scratched from the forming process. We want the whole active area to have a mirror finish.

Steps in the process:

• Chuck an axle nail into the drill. Make sure that enough of the axle shows that you will polish the entire section where the wheel will run once mounted on the car.
• At a relatively low speed, file the underside of the head of the nail to remove those die marks. A triangular file allows you to get all the way down to the head/shaft junction without scarring the shaft of the nail. You should end up with a slight notch at the base of the head of the nail and it is desireable to make the underside of the head slightly convex to minimize the area which will actually contact the wheel. Be careful not to file the edge of the head enough to change its diameter!
• Fold a piece of fine emery paper in half and carefully clean up the file marks from the underside of the head. Again, be careful not to scratch the shaft of the nail.
  Caution! By this time, the edge of the head of the nail will be sharp! Be careful, or be prepared to use some of the Band-Aids from your first-aid kit!
• Move to the 400-grit wet/dry sandpaper and repeat until all of the scratches from the previous steps are removed from both head and shaft of the nail. Cutting the sandpaper into 1/2" strips and folding it in half makes it easy to wrap it around the axle and apply a little water, and hold just the ends of the strip as you move it back and forth against the shaft of the nail. Sanding the head requires the edge of a fold and some careful positioning of your hand to get the sandpaper against the underside of the head and the head/shaft junction without chewing up your knuckles on the chuck of the drill.
• Continue with the 1500-grit wet/dry sandpaper and a higher speed on the drill. Again, you should remove the scratches from both the shaft and head of the nail.
• Now wet a small scrap of cloth and apply some pumice to it to make a slurry. Polish the shaft and head of the nail at a higher speed. It should now begin to shine. Use some caution when polishing the nail so you do not allow the cloth to snag and pull your fingers into the drill!
• Finally, take a clean cloth and the polishing compound and buff the nail to an absolute mirror finish at high speed on the drill. Finish off with a clean cloth (no polishing compound) to remove any last remnants of the abrasives. If you inspect the nail with a magnifier, you should see clear reflections in the surface and no visible scratches at least to 10x magnification.
• Store the nails stuck in a block of Styrofoam so they don't clatter around and chew up the nice surface you've worked so hard to create. Also, store them in a dry location or they will start to rust incredibly quickly and you'll have to repolish them before assembling the car.