Do I need a dremel? Axle > Dropouts

So my shitty chinese front wheel has an axle that's ever so slightly too fat to fit in the dropouts of my forks. I tried pushing hard technique but that didn't work... googling suggests I can remove material from the fork or from the axle.

Which is better? I'm presuming file down the axle as the forks are carbon.. and worth a lot more.

Using what tool?

a big file to file the axle. Just file the thread off oppossing sides to create two flat areas.

It won't take too long.

Is the fork painted? If not, I'd just take a file to the axle as BQ said. Whether that's a good idea or not I'm not qualified to say, but I guess you're not getting any deeper than the depth of the threads, so I expect it will have dick all effect on the strength.

I'm lazy so I'd use a diamond file and finish in a quarter of the time (compared to a normal file), but anything will do the trick. Dremels are a great investment though.

goes to more equipped housemate's room to see if a diamond file or indeed any file is knocking about

The fork is painted, but some bits have chipped off and it looks like it would have a pretty negligible effect... I'll try the axle approach methinks