Bicycle Mechanics - axel to my wheel hub

I recently bought a 1970s/80s Nishiki International. Today I cleaned the crap out of it getting the rust off and what not with wd40 and a soft steel wool. In the process of cleaning the wheels I'm pretty sure I stripped the rear axle of my hub so that the nut will not go back on. It is an old 10 speed bike, 5 cogs in back, with a shimano 333 hub. Any ideas how I can replace the axle, when I go to my lbs will they have a replacement for me or am I going to have to buy a new hub or maybe just a new wheel.. The wheels are 27", with tires that are 27 x 1.25. Any help is appreciated if I left something out let me know, I'm not to bike savvy so what ever you say I'm most likely going to have to look up. Thanks for your time.

JonFREY

How did you strip the axle? Did you try looking at the threads on the nut for debris? At any rate, a replacement axle should be available at the LBS. Make sure you buy new bearings. They are pennies each and the old ones are not worth putting back in after the effort you will have put in to get this wheel right.

Originally my plan was to take the spoke guard off so I can scrub it really well but to get to it i have to take the cogs off and since I don't know what I am doing I managed to f something up. The axle's threading looks different compared to the other side and when I try to put the nut on it either doesn't want to thread on or threads on crooked. I'm not sure what happened. Where in Western Michigan are you, I'm in Kalamazoo. I'll probably have to have the lbs just pack the bearings and what not for me, my other thought was checking out the library and seeing if they have anything on 70/80's bikes.

p.s Nothing so far worked out, I couldn't get the cogs off, I just unscrewed a nut and the thing next to the nut and everything else wasn't budging, I don't know the trick.

p.s.s I found a great site explaining every thing I should have done, only problem is I need the tools.