Very good point bill. Yes, it may not be visible in that picture but I removed the nut, turned it around and put it back on backwards so the castlated end is to the inside. It is about 1/2 turn out from being flush with the axle. I also have a piece of L shaped buffer stock (a thin soft piece of iron) between the puller spindle and the axle - not easy to see this in the picture but yes, it's a good idea to do so because if you mushroom the end of the axle... that's not good. In using this method, which I've done numerous times, I've never ruined the end of an axle.