Mini-Lathe?

[GravityX]

Have you guys seen this?

"Lathe" your wheels and file your axles, all-in-one tool. Interesting. At least you don't have to wear out your thumbs and fingers anymore. /images/boards/smilies/smile.gif

I'll stick with the true lathe cut wheels myself.

[video]http://youtu.be/D0M8aVTogmM[/video]

 

[bracketracer]

He says on his website that you can hook it up to a Dremel. Oh yeah, I want to turn a cub scout loose on a plastic wheel at a Dremel's speed! lol!

I couldn't find a price on his website./images/boards/smilies/frown.gif

He says it's patented. Anybody want to take the over/under on how long before DW copies it?

 

[Rocket car]

Is this Goat boy's daddy ? DW is already on it.

 

[coony278]

I dont know much, but iam not impressed /images/boards/smilies/frown.gif

 

[DerbyDad4Hire]

I will have to call Obamalution to get it out before DW. He can even copy and paste the website.

I would use this a million times over the wheel shaver. The main problem with this is the ever changing size of the raw wheels.

 

[5KidsRacing]

I applaud the effort, but sticking an undersized straight pin through four different sized, tapered wheel bores won't get the job done.... probably better than nothing at all I suppose. Doesn't look cheap either... For any of you guys here this definately isn't a alternative to lathed wheels. I would use a standard wheel mandrel in my drill press with a block/sandpaper and get better results. At least the wheel mandrel is tapered and centers the bore.

 

[Obsessedderbydad]

So what kind of lathe are ppl using? And how in the he'll do you get rid of that step on the wheel?

 

[Guest]

I don't know much either but I like talking about stuff like this so:

This system is a valiant effort but I don't see a lathe being phased out for this anytime soon.

As John stated I bet it is better than the wheel shaver.

First of all the pin is supported on both sides.

Secondly it appears as if the whole pin and collars rotate like a Stan Pope type set up on a real lathe.

The DW shaver spins the wheel on the pin (most likely doing a good amount of damage to the wheel bore. Without a collar on the end of the pin the DW shaver cannot keep the wheel perpendicular to the blade. There will always be some slop else you are opening up the bore and destroying it.

This new set up does look like it would be quite costly to produce. It is hard to imagine it being made for under $100 and still make a profit.

The pin looks like it it will only accept one size pin gage so you need to find wheels with the same bore size as John also stated.

I don't see drill bushings on it so the aluminum against the steel will start to wear before many uses. (more slop)

The fact that the pin will spin at all indicates that there will already be a hairs breath of runout from the start. If it had precision bearings and a collet to hold both ends of the pin it could make a difference. Again this would bring the price up. Not exactly sure how the sandpaper is brought into contact with the wheels but there will certainly be error there as well.

Even if it is able to produce a trued OD with less runout than a stock wheel (about .001"), then that still leaves under the tread and the inner and outer bores left to take care of.

My latest theory is that these last three operations are probably much more important than "truing" up the OD, unless one is running a car without canted wheels.

I am far from an expert on this stuff, but I like to hear myself talk.

Oops. Just re-read 5 Kids post and now I see that this can't work at all due to the tapered bores and stacking them up. It is not like a Stan Pope clamp at all with 4 of them on there and no way of pressing the outer spokes area firmly to the collar from behind the spokes. Additionally the collars cannot be truly perpendicular to the pin and still slide.

Ok. I just went to the website to see a couple of demos and I think it can probably be made for less than I originally thought, but it is total garbage. It has "future DW product" written all over it. He will probably make millions off of it.

I was so dumb that last year at this time (before stumbling across this forum) I would think that this guy was onto something here.

 

[Guest]

Ok. I can't stop thinking about this stupid little tool.

This thing is exactly the type of pseudo science, which upon first blush looks somewhat convincing,
that the folks over at Derby Worx employ.

Only upon studying the subject of derby wheels for a bit would someone be able to know that it is merely visual slight of hand.

At first I kinda felt bad for the inventor going thru the long and expensive process to patent this
dead end. He will probably spend the rest of his life defending his "earth is flat" type of idea.

Upon thinking further on the guy I realized that he obviously has some skill as a machinist, or consulted with one, in order to make these prototypes. Therefore he must know that this thing is BS, just like the guys over at DW must know their tools are garbage. Then I started getting mad at him for being a snake oil salesman to the unsuspecting consumer.

I suppose his rationale would be that it will teach the scout the theory of what makes a wheel fast, such as concentricity and a nice inner edge, even if in practice it will do no such thing.

If he were ignorant to the latter then I would give him some leeway, but I can't help but see him as a charlatan. He put the DW tools into perspective for me and the motivations the folks there have.

 

[resullivan]

So the concept is to true the tread. Is this even relevant? I guess I just don't understand what the purpose of a perfectly flat tread would be in context of running canted rears and an extreme cant on the DFW?

 

[5KidsRacing]

Ideally you want the part of the wheel that touches the track to be round and concentric to the wheel bore. Most accomplish that by machining the entire tread surface, but you really only need to machine the inner edge of rears and outer edge of the DFW. Most scout pwd'ies make you have to have the tread flat so you have to go across the entire tread width, and also this removes weight which makes for a faster wheel..... but you are right you don't need the entire tread done perfectly right, you just need the right places done right.

 

[Guest]

Thanks Scott,

I forgot to mention that the inner tread was vital.

Beyond that the outer/ middle tread is of less concern.

True. Balance of the rears will be off a bit, and the DFW will want a different treatment, but the main factors of speed would be:

Trueness of the inner edge, to the bore, and

Lightness of the wheel without decreasing the OD by much.

Those fellas that play basketball in wheelchairs have the stable platform to emulate.

 

[IAE Racing]

You know Joe, as much time as you have spent studying this, and with your skills, maybe you should take a crack at building one.

 

[Guest]

Lol. I spend more time typing than thinking.

 

[IAE Racing]

Lol. I spend more time typing than thinking.

Been there.

 

[Guest]

You know Joe, as much time as you have spent studying this, and with your skills, maybe you should take a crack at building one.

It just occurred to me that you were calling me out IAE.

Everyone is so friendly on this forum that I did not recognize it when it happened!

To this friendly call out I must respond in the way that is most natural to anyone put in this position. This clip says it all.

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

 

[IAE Racing]

Actually Joe, I was being serious. I know, it happens so seldom, no one can tell.

 

[IAE Racing]

Was this at the Sigma Sorority?

 

[Guest]

Oops! Wrong link!

Thanks for your thoughts IAE.

I will do my best.

Best of luck this weekend,
Joe

 

[Guest]

While we are giving each other advice IAE I have some for you.

Please PM me your email so that I may express myself fully.

Two doors down there is a great forum on knitting and discussing time management,
but in this forum here we like to talk about PWD stuff.