Pro Axle Guide DWXPAG01

The best part of this tool is being able to get a consistent gap the wheels.

From not placing to 2nd in his rank, and 5th in the pack in one year. This tool is what I wish we would have known about when he was a Tiger. Of course there’s other factors that attributed to the better performance, but getting the wheel and axles properly aligned is important. Best part was, my Wolf scout was able to use this tool and add the wheels himself. Matter of fact, I am proud to say he did 80% of the work himself. It wasn’t pretty, but it moved fast. The Physics teacher in me was proud, and having to stop from teaching him how to calculate the gravitational potential energy built up and the momentum generated. Maybe we can add that next year.

One of the challenging parts of the pinewood derby is getting the nail/axle to go straight into the slot on the wooden block. I remember that problem from my childhood. This durable tool streamlined that process. As the instructions suggest, use this on the blank block before you cut and paint, to create a socket for the axle, then remove the axles until after finishing the car. Your pre-placed axle holes will simplify getting the axles in later on the car that's no longer a simple shape. Even with this device the nail will try to deviate going into the slot, and I found this device worked better if I clamped it to the block. Be careful about clamping this on after you've painted the car--the clamp left marks on the top of my son's car. The spacer device helps to standardize your wheel/axle spacing. I placed a dot of super glue into the slot to make sure the axle didn't move after that, although it seemed plenty secure without the glue. We did a lot of other stuff like polishing axles with the drill and with fine sandpaper, using XLR8 graphite, and using the Derby Worx Wheel Shaver. My son was thrilled to place 3rd in his pack. Off to regionals next month.

Works as expected. I had to clamp it down and drive the wheel in with a hammer to ensure they were straight. This may be because it corrected previous attempt without the tool. My son's car won second at the Pack derby (probably should have won but the computer timing system wasn't configured correctly so we ended up doing a race-off between the top two cars). He won 4th at district narrowly missing out on 3rd place by a 100th of a second.

This is a decent guide. You do need to be careful when inserting the axle that the guide stays in place. I use a c-clamp to hold the guide in place when I'm installing the axles. The spacer included on the guide is exactly right.It's basically an aluminum block, and there's no reason this thing won't last forever. Really, if you want to build a competitive car, something like this guide is pretty much required.

As advertised that you can place the tool into the grove of the Pinewood Derby where the axles are to be inserted. When I did this, there was no room for the nail to go into the grove as the slotting side is too long (basically the entire width of wood). The slotting side of the tool should be really short...just enough to fit into the grove to hold it in place while the nail is inserted. The slotting side is useless. I had to use the flat side of the tool against the wood to get the nail in. So, in my opinion, the tool is somewhat of a waste of money.

Worked well for us. Last year the wood split on us when we inserted the axles and it was hard to get them straight. This year we got the Pro Axle Guide and it was sooooo much easier. I would recommend this to anyone to make the axle insertion easier.My only complaint was that mine did not include the hex (allen) wrench. At first it seemed like none of the ones I had would fit (standard or metric) which was frustrating, but then after I applied a little more pressure, I was able to get the 5/64" hex wrench to work.

So, this is a difficult review to write. It resolved my situation, it worked just fine.However, the axle guide does not prevent you from going up into the body of the car with the axle. You have to have a certain amount of dexterity to apply the pressure in the right direction to use the axle guide effectively. Even the video shows you pushing the axle in using the guide with your hands against a table or piece of wood (in other words, would a more expensive product, push the axle in for you?)Nice extra touch with the additional Derby Dust provided which makes the purchase even more worthwhile.