Lathe question

[Fumbles]

Something to think about is, whenever someone gets a new lathe, the first thing they want to do is turn a brass cannon. Don't be a brass cannon guy.

LOL!!!
That's it... I'm going for a brass cannon. Seeing how I destroyed 3 wheels very quickly on my newly acquired Unimat the other day...

 

[GravityX]

OK lathe owners, what constitutes destroyed wheels? Melted? Came apart? Spun on mandrel? ...and why are wheels being destroyed so quickly? At what point in the machining process is the wheel being destroyed? I've turned the OD on several wheels and have yet to experience the "destroyed" wheel syndrome. Is too much material being hogged out? Spindle speed to fast? Tooling? I'd like to know to help avoid this destructive process. /images/boards/smilies/smile.gif

 

[pony express]

I wish I knew how I ruined so many wheels.

 

[Mr Chips Racing]

Ok boys. Mr. Chips has acquired a lathe this past weekend. Can't wait to do some wheel lathing and spinning... HA HA

Correct terms are: Machined, Turned, Resurfaced, FM (Freekin' Magic)

I am a total noob to this. Looks like its time to start with fixing my old derbyworx wheels before I ruin good quality un-cut ones.

So, who wants to tell me what that round crank thing does and how it makes my wheels purdy?

I won't bore you further. Cherrio Chaps.

Chips

 

[Vitamin K]

Ok boys. Mr. Chips has acquired a lathe this past weekend.

What model?

 

[derby freak]

My lathe is made by grizzly ....has varible speed control...I did away with the four jaw chuck and replaced it with a collet/spindel type chuck....Practice seems to be the best way to learn...Im by no means an experienced machinist and stretching it by saying im a hobbiest but i have turned out some fairly nice wheels by a beginer with no experience standards ... Best advice i can give is do some research pick out a decent quality lathe...Craft some mandrels an go to town making some wheels... Old wheels for wide wheel Practice and Plexiglass works well for thin wheel practice...Good measuring tools is a must....It takes a lot of patients and by this i mean...Do your research, get the right tools for the job, understand that you're not goint to buy a lathe and automatically start turning out quality wheels from the start...It will take a lot of time on the lathe and the time it takes will determine how much experience and knowledge you have with work that is similar such as using the measuring tools, understanding machining terms like run-out and thousandths of an inch... TURN THE STOCK YOU USING TO MAKE THE WHEEL SLOW AND TAKE SMALL CUTS... especially on thin wheels they are very easy to overheat and destort the wheel causing them to wobble....Bottom line is ...it's not for everyone dont start thinking you're going to save money...You will probably be out a couple thousand dollars getting a decent lathe and extra tools needed just to start

 

[derby freak]

The problem with trying to explain on here how to use a lathe to turn out a wheel is that there is so much to it that you cant explain it in just a few paragraphs and is why BSB suggested to take night classes an it would be the most logical way to learn. Thought about doing that myself i have some what of a grasp and can make bearing wheels that can be used on a competitive level but thats not good enough for me i would really like to learn much more.

 

[Vitamin K]

The problem with trying to explain on here how to use a lathe to turn out a wheel is that there is so much to it that you cant explain it in just a few paragraphs and is why BSB suggested to take night classes an it would be the most logical way to learn. Thought about doing that myself i have some what of a grasp and can make bearing wheels that can be used on a competitive level but thats not good enough for me i would really like to learn much more.

Personally, I think I could have a lot of my questions answered if one of the experienced wheel-turners would just take a video of their process for a basic true-ing of a wheel.

 

[Guest]

The problem with trying to explain on here how to use a lathe to turn out a wheel is that there is so much to it that you cant explain it in just a few paragraphs and is why BSB suggested to take night classes an it would be the most logical way to learn. Thought about doing that myself i have some what of a grasp and can make bearing wheels that can be used on a competitive level but thats not good enough for me i would really like to learn much more.

Personally, I think I could have a lot of my questions answered if one of the experienced wheel-turners would just take a video of their process for a basic true-ing of a wheel.

Do you mean like Dd4h, Jewkes, Spacewalker, or Evo? Those guys have the most experience.

 

[5KidsRacing]

The problem with trying to explain on here how to use a lathe to turn out a wheel is that there is so much to it that you cant explain it in just a few paragraphs and is why BSB suggested to take night classes an it would be the most logical way to learn. Thought about doing that myself i have some what of a grasp and can make bearing wheels that can be used on a competitive level but thats not good enough for me i would really like to learn much more.

Personally, I think I could have a lot of my questions answered if one of the experienced wheel-turners would just take a video of their process for a basic true-ing of a wheel.

Do you mean like Dd4h, Jewkes, Spacewalker, or Evo? Those guys have the most experience.

LOL.... one is not like the others....

 

[5KidsRacing]

The problem with trying to explain on here how to use a lathe to turn out a wheel is that there is so much to it that you cant explain it in just a few paragraphs and is why BSB suggested to take night classes an it would be the most logical way to learn. Thought about doing that myself i have some what of a grasp and can make bearing wheels that can be used on a competitive level but thats not good enough for me i would really like to learn much more.

Personally, I think I could have a lot of my questions answered if one of the experienced wheel-turners would just take a video of their process for a basic true-ing of a wheel.

Do you mean like Dd4h, Jewkes, Spacewalker, or Evo? Those guys have the most experience.

LOL.... one is not like the others....

or maybe two...

 

[5KidsRacing]

The problem with trying to explain on here how to use a lathe to turn out a wheel is that there is so much to it that you cant explain it in just a few paragraphs and is why BSB suggested to take night classes an it would be the most logical way to learn. Thought about doing that myself i have some what of a grasp and can make bearing wheels that can be used on a competitive level but thats not good enough for me i would really like to learn much more.

Personally, I think I could have a lot of my questions answered if one of the experienced wheel-turners would just take a video of their process for a basic true-ing of a wheel.

Do you mean like Dd4h, Jewkes, Spacewalker, or Evo? Those guys have the most experience.

LOL.... one is not like the others....

or maybe two...

definitely two

 

[Vitamin K]

The problem with trying to explain on here how to use a lathe to turn out a wheel is that there is so much to it that you cant explain it in just a few paragraphs and is why BSB suggested to take night classes an it would be the most logical way to learn. Thought about doing that myself i have some what of a grasp and can make bearing wheels that can be used on a competitive level but thats not good enough for me i would really like to learn much more.

Personally, I think I could have a lot of my questions answered if one of the experienced wheel-turners would just take a video of their process for a basic true-ing of a wheel.

Do you mean like Dd4h, Jewkes, Spacewalker, or Evo? Those guys have the most experience.

If you made a video, BSB, I would pay very close attention.

 

[HurriCrane Racing]

I'd like to see that kind of video too.

 

[bracketracer]

The problem with trying to explain on here how to use a lathe to turn out a wheel is that there is so much to it that you cant explain it in just a few paragraphs and is why BSB suggested to take night classes an it would be the most logical way to learn. Thought about doing that myself i have some what of a grasp and can make bearing wheels that can be used on a competitive level but thats not good enough for me i would really like to learn much more.

Personally, I think I could have a lot of my questions answered if one of the experienced wheel-turners would just take a video of their process for a basic true-ing of a wheel.

The guys that have invested in time and tooling to do it right are understandably unwilling to just give it away. It's a "bread and butter" product for a PWD vendor. So why give it away?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZrN8Ig7OSo

It took me four attempts at building a fixture for my lathe and dozens of hours to finally get to this point. I may be a slow learner though! And do you know what I found out? I still can't prep a wheel worth a darn! Lol. So now I need to work on that!

 

[Vitamin K]

Personally, I think I could have a lot of my questions answered if one of the experienced wheel-turners would just take a video of their process for a basic true-ing of a wheel.

The guys that have invested in time and tooling to do it right are understandably unwilling to just give it away. It's a "bread and butter" product for a PWD vendor. So why give it away?

I don't know that anybody has come right out and said that they aren't willing to share this. The argument seems more to be, "I can't explain it so that you'll understand." If somebody is, of course, then that's the end of the matter. I won't ask for any information that somebody doesn't wish to share.

If I ever get enough scratch to buy a lathe, and I manage to turn a low-runout wheel, I'll be happy to film my process, so that folks can shake their head and say I'm doing it wrong. /images/boards/smilies/smile.gif

 

[Guest]

The problem with trying to explain on here how to use a lathe to turn out a wheel is that there is so much to it that you cant explain it in just a few paragraphs and is why BSB suggested to take night classes an it would be the most logical way to learn. Thought about doing that myself i have some what of a grasp and can make bearing wheels that can be used on a competitive level but thats not good enough for me i would really like to learn much more.

Personally, I think I could have a lot of my questions answered if one of the experienced wheel-turners would just take a video of their process for a basic true-ing of a wheel.

The guys that have invested in time and tooling to do it right are understandably unwilling to just give it away. It's a "bread and butter" product for a PWD vendor. So why give it away?

You hit the nail on the head BR. How popular would I be with the 4 vendors I mentioned if I made a video and posted it? Not so popular I'm afraid. I have helped a few guys out over the years when they had questions. But these were pretty exceptional guys, that I felt were sincere, and could handle what I told them. I will tell you this......it is quite a liberating, rewarding feeling to be able to cut your own wheels and not have to sweat it out whether or not your order will get there in time for the next race.

 

[B_Regal Racing]

I would always be willing to assist someone financially if thought they would be able to assist me and keep me moving in the right direction (and assist in what I perceive to be my own shortfalls). I could have purchased a lathe for what I spent on wheels this year trying different things. Apparently I have more money than the ability to innovate.

 

[HurriCrane Racing]

The guys that have invested in time and tooling to do it right are understandably unwilling to just give it away. It's a "bread and butter" product for a PWD vendor. So why give it away?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZrN8Ig7OSo

It took me four attempts at building a fixture for my lathe and dozens of hours to finally get to this point. I may be a slow learner though! And do you know what I found out? I still can't prep a wheel worth a darn! Lol. So now I need to work on that![/QUOTE

Great job BR! Those wheels have to be fast!
I can understand why anyone that knows how to machine a fast wheel, would never post a video.
Especially if it is a means of income.

 

[derby freak]

I just dont really know how the owners of the machine shop where BSB works would feel about him coming to work with a film crew and start turning some BSB Racing Razors out instead of working on what they want him to do....LOL.....I didnt get into trying to produce wheels to turn a profit or even sell them ....I think that would be more on my plate than iI would want ...If people only knew how long it takes me to turn a set out and how many I have to throw away because they wobble more than I can live with...A very very slight wobble i dont mind that much but if the wobble is fairly noticible it goes in the trash....I would have to sell a set for more than most people would be willing to pay if I didnt sell you the wobbling ones....If somebody wants to buy the wobbly ones ...Let me know ..Cause the ones i turn that you have to look really hard to see them spin...Goes in my stash nobody going to get those thats why a lot of times on my unlimited you will see different color wheels on my car...Its because finding a wheel of the quality im looking for is fairly rare so im going to buy just one color acrylic from now on so I can do away with the mismatch colors of my wheels....But on the car i sent in for the September race coming up has two old xs2 razors on the back and the front wheel I made myself but they spin as close to perfect as you can get....I swear though im scared to death that my car will come of the track and destory my wheels because I was serious when I posted that i only guessed at the steer on the car ...I gotta get my track set back up