<p>A method and apparatus for practicing the method of making toric contact lenses having a toric axis and ballast axis located on the anterior and posterior surfaces of a lens. Detectable features are formed on the anterior and posterior mold sections corresponding to the location of the toric axis and ballast axis, respectively. An axis alignment tool having detecting means thereon is used to set the mold sections to a known angular position. The desired axial offset is input into a computer which establishes the axial offset between the mold sections.</p>