bearing wheels by freaky

derby freak

derby freak

0
Pro Racer
Nov 23, 2011
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Well i fired my lathe back up today and made a fairly successful bearing wheel. I have no problems with the run-out it is virtually perfect as far as I can tell by watching it spin. where i have my problem is when i look straight down at the tread surface of the wheel I have a moderate wobble which i know would be a major speed killer if it was used, so it is a cull. My best guess is to why I have the wobble is due to heat caused by friction caused the wheel to warp slightly. so on my next attempt i am going to try to lubricate the wheel and cutting surface of the tool. so i want to ask you all if you think it would be best to use a type of oil i could clean off after the wheel is compete or if i should just use water. if you think oil, then what type would you recommend? I dig around and find my camera to take a picture tomorrow
 
269.jpg
 
Freak,

Nice job on the wheels! I have found that just using water in a spray bottle works best for me. The problem with water is, you must do a thorough cleaning of the lathe when done or you will have a rusty beast! The key with turning acrylic is definitely your speeds and feeds. Get those correct and a nice sharp tool and you will see good results. Hope this helps?

Ian
 
i turned them just a little more than the lowest speed setting of the lathe due to the fact when i had attempted a set before i turned them a lot faster and they warped bad so i slowed it way down on this wheel. i used a 90 degree tool with 1/8" hss, should i use a 45 degree and cut with the corner instead of the flat of the bit then clean the hub up with a straight tool dripping water on the hub as i cut. or should i grind the bit of the of the 90 degree tool to a point almost or would this help at all? thanks guys for your input you will save me a lot of wasted acrylic.
 
I tell ya guys I'm glad i bought my own lathe just because i wanted to build my own wheels and not because i thought i was going to save money by making my own wheels. a lathe is very expensive when you start adding up the tooling not to mention the price of acrylic is not cheap. not to mention it takes a long time to turn out a wheel, for me anyway, I'm close to being successful but building your own wheels is not for the faint of heart if your not a machinist already. you don't just grab a piece of acrylic and simply turn out a wheel because you got to make your own specialty tools such as mandrels and things as well. I could have bought quite a few goat boy bearing systems. so if you plan to buy a lathe to save money you might want to just stick to buying wheels from dd4h or plan to wait a very log time to start coming out ahead. so my hat is off to people like goat boy, bsb and 5kids that make their own quality wheels cause being a greenhorn machinist is like a monkey riding a football if you know what i mean.
dazed
hmmm
 
Freak-

By looking at your progress and what the guys are saying it wont be long before your in the wheel making mode non stop... I only have minimum time on a lathe way back in the day and I admire your spirit trying this... I think it is cool and they look good...

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Papa V
 
thanks papa for your word of encouragement.

well finally i made some decent wheels that i wouldnt care to run on the track. It boiled down to this.....i took the advise i had received and even though my tools i was using were practically new i sharpened the bits i was using. I also refaced my mandrel and strated taking .003 instead of .005 cut at a time and this really helped i made a decent set of wheels out of clear acrylic. here is a pic. i started polishing a couple of them one of them i havent. not too bad for a days work i guess. that seems to be a problem with the clear acrylic, if you don't polish it it looks a little cruddy.

271.jpg
 
Those look great! I need to cut a few! Destroyed acrylic here I come!

derby freak said:
thanks papa for your word of encouragement.

well finally i made some decent wheels that i wouldnt care to run on the track. It boiled down to this.....i took the advise i had received and even though my tools i was using were practically new i sharpened the bits i was using. I also refaced my mandrel and strated taking .003 instead of .005 cut at a time and this really helped i made a decent set of wheels out of clear acrylic. here is a pic. i started polishing a couple of them one of them i havent. not too bad for a days work i guess. that seems to be a problem with the clear acrylic, if you don't polish it it looks a little cruddy.

271.jpg
Click to expand...
 
thanks QT, i believe you would do ok just take your time and cut slow with a sharp tool. oh and make sure the face of your mandrel is good and straight.
 
Nice looking set of wheels you cut there DF. One of these days I will get the gumption to buy a lathe and play around with cutting my own wheels. Until then I will continue to purchase them from DD4H. Still saving up for a track first.
 
thanx guys for the compliments.

gravity,

you are right a track is definitely more important. one of the most important specialty tools i guess only other special tool i can think of more important would be the silver bullet.
 
Warms the Ole' Ticker to see you messing around with Derby Stuff again. I know it has been a long road to get back to this point. Oh and by the way your wheels look fantastic.

clap
 
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