Pro Axle Press Il and Pro Rail Rider Tools for Pinewood Derby Cars
This product is for Pinewood Derby, Awana, Royal Rangers and other organizations that have races similar to the Pinewood Derby.

This listing is for both the Pro Axle Press II and Pro Rail Rider Tool in the same kit as a discounted price.

Pro Axle Press II

Axle Press

pinewood derby car pro axle press

pinewood derby car pro axle press before
Before After

Is this what your axles look like?
I hope not! But, your axles do have a lot
in common with the above picture.

Most axles are NAILS!!! They are not straight and they are not round and the axle head is not at right angles to the axle shaft. The result is FRICTION and a slow car.

All you need is the Pro Axle Press and a hammer to straighten the shaft of the axle, make the axle round and square the head of the axle to the centerline of the shaft.

The Pro Axle Press can make your car faster by:

Taper the head to reduce friction between the outer hub of the wheel and the axle head.
Reduces wheel vibrations by making axle shaft round.
Makes correct axle alignment easy so your car will run straight down the track.
Can also be used to make a 3-wheel car by slightly bending an axle to raise a front wheel off of the track.

The Pro-Axle Press Pinewood Derby Tool is designed to straighten and round the nail axles used in many pinewood derby car kits. It also can be used to taper the axle head to reduce friction. Accurate axles lead to faster racing!

The Pro-Axle Press will improve the speed of your pinewood derby car by performing three critical procedures on nail type axles:

Axle Straightening - Ensures accurate wheel tracking by creating absolutely straight axles. Improved wheel tracking equals greater speed!

Axle Rounding - Ensures accurate wheel rotation by creating absolutely round axle shafts. Improved wheel rotation equals greater speed!

Head Squaring - Reduces friction by accurately squaring the axle head to the axle shaft.
An added bonus:

When it is necessary to purposely bend an axle (to raise a front wheel or make an alignment adjustment), the Pro-Axle Press serves as a handy clamping device for holding the axle while making the bend.

The Pro Axle Press has different opposing sides. One side is smooth for squaring the axle head. The other has a recess made into it to form the head into a taper.

Insert an axle into the chuck of a drill. Use a file to remove the burr under the nail head and any crimp marks on the axle shaft.

Pinewood Derby

With a marking pen, make a mark on the edge of the axle head.

Fully insert the axle - point first - into the Axle Press. Rotate the axle head such that the mark is located at the top (12 o'clock). Close the press. Place the Axle Press on a solid surface. Hold it in place and strike the top of the press 4 to 6 times with a hammer. Don't strike too hard - medium strikes are fine.

Open the press and rotate the mark to the 4 o'clock position. Repeat the above step. Rotate the mark to the 8 o'clock position and repeat.

Lay the press on its back (axle head upward) and strike the axle head 2 to 4 times. This ensures that the axle head is square to the axle shaft.

Insert the axle in the other side of the tool. The head should now be on the side with the recessed hole. Lay the press on its back (axle head upward) and strike the axle with light to moderate force 2 to 4 times. This will taper the axle head.

Polish the axle to the desired finish.

Pinewood Derby Racer's tip: To accurately bend an axle for alignment or for a raised wheel, insert the axle into the Axle Press with the head extended 3/8 inch from the tool. Place the Axle Press in a clamp or vise. Gently tap the axle with a hammer until the desired bend is achieved.

The Pro Axle Press reduces friction! By creating a straight axle in an accurate hole on the body, the wheel will work in the most efficient manner.

Pinewood Derby Car Pro Rail Rider Tool

Rail Rider Tool
Pro Rail Rider Tool

The Pro Rail Rider is used with the Pro Axle Press to align your car to run straight or to tune it to use the new "Rail Riding" technique for even faster speed. Full instructions included.

Pro Rail Rider / Wheel Alignment Tool

The Pro Rail Rider is designed to help the builder in building a straight, fast, easy to align a Pinewood Derby car even without a test track. This tool was also designed to accurately set up the alignment to gently ride the center guide rail with a result of increased speed. Watch the video

The Pro Rail Rider is used with a Pro Axle Press. For best results, prepare the axle slots (or drill axle holes) with a Pro Body Tool. Then straighten the axles with the Pro Axle Press and polish them as desired. Then perform the following steps:

Aligning the axles on your Pinewood Derby Car

1. Use a marker pen to place a location dot on one side of each axle head.

Pinewood Derby Car Pro Rail Rider Tool

2. Install a axle into the Axle Press, with the axle head extended out about 1/2 inch. Rotate the axle so that the dot on the head is located at 6:00 (down) position.

Pinewood Derby Car Pro Rail Rider

3. Slide the Pro Rail Rider Tool over the top of the axle press. Locate the axle shaft in the groove of the Rail Rider. Use the 2.5 side of the tool for rear axles, and the 1.5 side for front axles. Press the axle head against the tool. Make sure the dot is still at the 6:00 position.

Pinewood Derby Pro Rail Rider Tool

4. With the assembly on a solid surface (concrete floor is best), hold the axle head against the tool with your thumb and place your index finger on the opposite end of the tool. Squeeze firmly and tap the top of the tool with a hammer lightly three times. This will accurately bend the axle the indicated 1.5 deg or 2.5 deg.

Tuning the Alignment of Your Pinewood Derby Car

Assemble the car with the axle head location dots at 12:00.
Check Rear Wheels - On a clean, level surface that is at least 6 feet long, roll the car forward and backwards one to two feet. and make sure that the rear wheels stay against the axle heads. This is an indicator of correct rear alignment. If a wheel moves towards the body, rotate the axle head slightly and retest until the wheel stays against the axle head.
Determine the front dominant wheel - If one front wheel is off the ground, the wheel on the ground is the dominant wheel. If both wheels ar on the ground, then press gently on each of the front wheels. If the car rocks slightly when pressing on one of the wheels, the other wheel is the dominant wheel. If the car does not rock, rotate on of the axles just enough so that the other wheel is dominate.
Aligning the car - The goal of Rail Riding is to gently steer the car into the center guide rail with the front dominant wheel. Gently roll the car across the test area and notice which way the car drifts. Rotate the front dominant axle slightly, then retest until the car rolls 5 to 6 feet with approximately 1 inch of drift away from the dominant wheel (if the front-right wheel is dominant, the car should drift to the left; if the front left wheel is dominant, the car should drift to the right). Builder' note: Narrowing the body 1/16" around the area of the the dominant wheel will keep the rear wheel from touching he guide strip and help reduce friction.
Once the correct drift is established, glue the axles in place if using axle slots.

We offer hundreds of items to help you build fast Pinewood Derby cars.
Browse through our eBay store to see how we can help you.

WE DO COMBINE SHIPPING ON MULTIPLE ITEMS:

Use the shopping cart feature above to add items to your cart to calculate shipping costs.

RETURNS:

Full refund on any returned unused item within 60 days of purchase.