Making my own wheel weights

  • Thread starter Thread starter microbrush
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I've sand casted lead parts before, it works but it leaves a textured surface that needs to be sanded. It's not good for wheel weights however it works for other things.
 
down4derby said:
I've sand casted lead parts before, it works but it leaves a textured surface that needs to be sanded. It's not good for wheel weights however it works for other things.

In this case, I'm looking to cast the ingots that will be epoxied into the body, and possibly a small 'micro canopy' that I'll use for trim adjustment. I'm not really concerned about a textured surface.
 
VK,

Just use wood. It will initially burn a little, but once you have the burnt coating on there it should last for a little while. Unless your planning to do hundreds of them, otherwise think Aluminum mold.
 
Vitamin K said:
Banning lead is kind of a bummer move, IMO (or, shall I say, strongly discouraging it).

Course, we don't set the rules, so they are what they are, right?

I am very pleased with the NSC rules. As has been said on here before they are one of the best rules in the country!

Crash Enburn said:
Before this thread digresses any further (that was rather funny, btw Corvid)Yes it was...

Micro, can you clarify things a little? If I'm reading/seeing this correctly, you used wax to make a form to make wheel weights. You then showed a pic of the cast forms before, and then after cleanup. And then finally, a pic of a wheel weight made of putty. The one made of putty I made in about 2 minutes, it would not work as is. Is that right? I would have liked to try the same technique but in putty.

I ask because the cast pieces are hollow, and so wouldn't weigh as much as they could.This is not true. It is a solid cast piece. You invest the wax and then burn out the wax and cast the metal. Very few would have the tools/equipment needed to do this.

Also, I doubt that a putty weight could be attached to the car reliably.

Thanks!
 
I showed the pictures and process; first, I am proud of my accomplishment. Second, I think that there is a way to use the putty to make wheel weights. My method is rather expensive and yields a less dense weight then tungsten and requires equipment that basically no one has. Putty is about 5 dollars. 5 dollar wheel weights would be great. The putty one that I made, I made in about 2 minutes. It would need to be made smaller as it is the exact size of the inside of the wheel. In order for the putty to be a viable option you would need to harden it somehow so you could manipulate/shave it. If you coat it in CA and then you could use the hub shaver? I am just glad I found a use for some of these tools I bought at the start on my pinewood journey. This was the second set of weights I made. The second time I thought of using the wheel shaver to make a more round smooth surface. For the first ones I just shaved with the exacto knife. That is why this is a fun process. You do something learn from it and the next time is better.

Anyone could squish putty into the inside of the wheel and get a mold. Could it become a viable process? I don't know. I am just providing an idea to get other people's imagination going.

Sorry, I didn't mean to have this turn into an environmental debate.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by TRE
just use fender washers..lot easier

This is what I do!! I ruff them up with sandpaper, super glue them together and sand the edges. They are REAL cheap.

We need to have the inside of the wheel visible without the removal of the wheel. You would need to cut the washers in half somehow. How much do your fender washers weigh? What kind of metal and size do you prefer?
 
microbrush said:
Sorry, I didn't mean to have this turn into an environmental debate.

Its no problem, yet. I did not hear anyone mention that Jersey had the most superfund sites per square mile, so you're good.

No matter what you do, what you create, there will always be a debate. Its entertaining, educational, and healthy, as long as you're not eating lead. /images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif
 
microbrush said:
Sorry, I didn't mean to have this turn into an environmental debate.

No worries. Glad you showed us. I always like seeing new ideas that folks are up to.
 
microbrush said:
0505151010_zpsznfgiqaa.jpg
0506151752a_zpsoq026edx.jpg

Crash & Micro said:
I ask because the cast pieces are hollow, and so wouldn't weigh as much as they could.This is not true. It is a solid cast piece.

While the castings in the pics above are indeed solid, they have empty volume. What is their point? Are they the weights? Are they the reusable molds? Your putty weight appears to have been made by pressing into these...
 
Crash Enburn said:
microbrush said:
Crash & Micro said:
I ask because the cast pieces are hollow, and so wouldn't weigh as much as they could.This is not true. It is a solid cast piece.

While the castings in the pics above are indeed solid, they have empty volume. What is their point? Are they the weights? Are they the reusable molds? Your putty weight appears to have been made by pressing into these...

They are weights. They would be reusable. They do not have empty volume. The putty was made by pressing into a wheel, not by pressing into these weights. I was under the impression that one wants to get the weight as low and towards the back of the car as possible. These would be as low as one can go and as far back as one can go. They are just not as dense as tungsten. They eliminate one row of 6 1/4 tungsten cubes as they weigh about one ounce. It helps to get a shorter COM. The cars are stable with these- no wiggles, just not fast enough. I hope that these pictures of them in the final use help to clarify. Please excuse the post-it note. I didn't care to post my name and address.

DSC_0046_zps6qoxnxfz.jpg
DSC_0044_zpsvepfz9xd.jpg
 
microbrush said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by TRE
just use fender washers..lot easier

This is what I do!! I ruff them up with sandpaper, super glue them together and sand the edges. They are REAL cheap.

We need to have the inside of the wheel visible without the removal of the wheel. You would need to cut the washers in half somehow. How much do your fender washers weigh? What kind of metal and size do you prefer?

If you need to see the inside of the wheels, I would recommend something like this;

http://www.pinewoodderbyonline.com/post/new-e3-pwd-wind-jammers-wheel-air-deflectors-7397690?&trail=15
 
Micro - Your other pics did help to clarify things. They are much thicker than they appear from the front/back view.

However, there does definitely appear to be a ridge in the weights.
wheelweights_zpsjxpcclpw.jpg


That depth could be filled with material for more weight. Unless, of course, that ridge fits into that little hollow inside the wheels (but it looks deeper than necessarily). That's all.
 
Crash Enburn said:
Micro - Your other pics did help to clarify things. They are much thicker than they appear from the front/back view.

However, there does definitely appear to be a ridge in the weights.
wheelweights_zpsjxpcclpw.jpg


That depth could be filled with material for more weight. Unless, of course, that ridge fits into that little hollow inside the wheels (but it looks deeper than necessarily). That's all.

What you are noticing is the natural ridge in the wheel. No other type of weight seems to have them. This is because the wax pattern picked up every detail, which is why you can see the writing on the weight. The writing is in reverse (mirror image). As you can probably tell the wheel type that I made it from. . . . . Yep, the china made wheel. I did not remove the ridge as it was not necessary, I thought it may also help with less air resistance as it takes up more space in the wheel. I just needed to shave the outer edge, which I think is why you think the ridge looks deeper, because you only see half of the ridge. You chose to blow up my bad weight. It broke in wax while I was working with it and so had to put the pieces back together (on the bottom right side).
 
microbrush said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by TRE
just use fender washers..lot easier

This is what I do!! I ruff them up with sandpaper, super glue them together and sand the edges. They are REAL cheap.

We need to have the inside of the wheel visible without the removal of the wheel. You would need to cut the washers in half somehow. How much do your fender washers weigh? What kind of metal and size do you prefer?

38 grams or 1.3 ounces. Just the cheap ones.
smile