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Micro-Mark HO scale Wheel Tuner
I have been thinking of getting one, now for sure I will. Great review.
I have used one for several years now. Great product that realy works.
It is one of the best tools to use on all of your rolling stock to help make them run easier. It is well worth the investment.
I bought one of these a few years ago when Micro Mark had a sale. It was a great investment. One thing to point out is that the rubber center (handle) tends to slip a little in use, but that does not keep it from functioning. Also be sure to flip the cutter as it only cuts on one side. So that means you make four cuts per truck.
I haven’t got one yet but will soon!
I have used this tool on most of the freight cars in my grandpa’s and mine fleet and have noted better rolling performance on all cars (in addition to metal wheels). I think this is a great tool.
I purchased the wheel tuner last year and have used it on all of my rolling stock with varying degrees of success. I was initially sceptical, but my results demonstrate that, on average, my rolling stock travels about 30% further on my test bed. I have a 6 foot long length of track that is perfectly level except for one end which is raised about 1 1/2 inches and a measuring tape is mounted beside the track to keep track of how far each car rolls. I usually do three runs and take the average distance, then I remove the wheels, tune the truck bearings, reassemble the trucks and do another three tests. I was amazed at the difference it made, but even more so at the difference in the rolling characteristics between the various manufacturers! No matter how you slice it, the Micro Mark Wheel Tuner is something every serious Model Railroader should not be without.
Well worth it! With Walthers first released of its Minnesota ore cars (Missabe, GN etc.) the wheel sets did not roll very well due to the excessive material inside the truck bearing area. I went through all the truck sets and cleaned them out with the M.M. wheel tuner, reinstalled Kadee wheel sets and now they roll great! Since then I have made it a point to use the wheel tuner on every new car purchase to assure the bearing areas are clean.
Using one for a few months now I concur with Simon. The most usefull tool for smooth modelrailroading. Enjoy.
I’ve been using this wheel tuner for a number of years. It’s one of the best tools on my bench. I didn’t know that my workbench wasn’t level until the tuned trucks kept rolling off of it. It does a remarkable job and its worth the money.
Great idea! When will they produce one for us n-scalers?
I’ve got one of these original tools from Reboxx. It is indispensable for free running rollingstock. One of the best modeling $10.00 you will ever spend.
I’ve used one for several years now. I highly recommend this little tool. It does everything as described. All new rolling stock I get gets the “treatment” before it goes on the layout. I consider this a “must have” in every modeler’s tool box. Highly recommended. Hopefully someone will make a similar tool for all the other scales.
I have been using this tool for several years and find it to be indispensable, this tool trues up the axles so well that even the worst performing pieces of roling stock become serviceable.
This tool is simplistic, durable, accurate, and delivers maximumum bang for your buck.
No tool bench should be without this tool, I have about 300 cars on the layout and in performing my regular maintance program I can see where I have used this tool more than a few times over the years for many of my cars. A bargain for $10.00.
Great review which convinced me to find it. Where would I find such an item?
Does this great tool come in N-Scale?
I have plenty of older rolling stock I still like to put out on the road,but age will sooner or later cause issues, I can see that the wheel tuner will help keep them in service longer saving time and money. thanks Simon
I love my truck tuner and recently bought my second one, after I blunted the cutting edge of my first one. There were some very hard inclusions in some ancient metal sideframes I had lying about!
I agree with Simon that “tuned” trucks will quickly tell if your “level” track really is…
I religiously use my truck tuner, whether on a just-finished kit or that new RTR caboose I just bought. Also, unless the truck is already so-equipped, I religiously replace the wheelsets with metal axle / machined wheel ones.
I can’t dispute or agree with Micro-Mark’s assertion that 20% longer trains can be pulled, but my ABBA set of F3s will pull 50-plus “tuned” cars around our club layout (which features a train-length 2% grade with a short stretch of 3% in the middle!)
Micro Mark’s wheel turner sounds likejust the thing to bring all of my rolling stock up to NMRA standards even older train show 'bargains can now run with the new stuff Thank you Micro Mark