Answers.Body: <p>I believe it's mostly so that you have something additional to grip on to when removing it from other elements.</p>
  
  <p>With the 3M+ axles, there is more axle available to hold on to so that you pull off a sleeve or joint nicely, but for some, the 2M is too short.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-08-07T08:58:25.903Z
Answers.Text: Older 2M axles didn't have these grooves, and sometimes they can be a real pain to remove from parts which don't allow them to be pushed from the other side, so I'm fairly confident too that's the reason, similar to how grooves have been added to tiles. Considering it's alse less plastic, I wouldn't be too surprised if LEGO chooses at some point to modify the other axles the same way.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Joubarc
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2013-08-07T08:45:56.850Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2013-08-07T08:45:56.850Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Zhaph - Ben Duguid
Body: <p>I was sorting axles noticed only 2M has grooves. Why 2M Cross Axle has grooves? Is it for alignment?</p>
  
  <p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vapVU.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></p>
  
Tags: <piece-information>
Title: Why 2M Cross Axle has Groove?
UserDisplayName: auselen
ThreadText: # Why 2M Cross Axle has Groove?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2013-08-07)
  
  I was sorting axles noticed only 2M has grooves. Why 2M Cross Axle has grooves? Is it for alignment?
  
  ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/vapVU.jpg)
  
  **Tags:** piece-information
  
  ---
  
  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2013-08-07. Score: 7 | Accepted answer
  
  I believe it's mostly so that you have something additional to grip on to when removing it from other elements.
  
  With the 3M+ axles, there is more axle available to hold on to so that you pull off a sleeve or joint nicely, but for some, the 2M is too short.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_2**: Older 2M axles didn't have these grooves, and sometimes they can be a real pain to remove from parts which don't allow them to be pushed from the other side, so I'm fairly confident too that's the reason, similar to how grooves have been added to tiles. Considering it's alse less plastic, I wouldn't be too surprised if LEGO chooses at some point to modify the other axles the same way.  
  
  ---
  
  