WKC MOD BOUNTY: Steel wheel re-tread

[Troy]

It's been theorized for years but never really solidified.

Let's make it happen.
I've got a bunch of kickass 5th anniversary WKC handles in tiger maple just begging to get mailed.
(for those of you who are waiting, they went out today)

Here's the deal.
Figure out a kickass and accessible to all way to retread vintage steel wheels.
Document it up for the WKC blog, take good pics, etc.
You'll be rewarded with internet fame, and a cool new zavod handle that only special people can get.

If you need a partner, your partner will get a handle too.

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[iCARRY]

If only I had a 3D printer.

Any members have a 3D printer or access to one?


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[pbe gummi bear]

I own a bunch of 3d printers. @iCARRY

@Troy @zavod44 the cross sections of rubber tread is purely concentric circles. You can lasercut the profile stack with registration points, clamp them, them use it to mold urethane. Or just have black urethane machined to match.

[pbe gummi bear]

I guess I'll work on this now

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[pbe gummi bear]

@Troy

Here are the measurements. It's all approximate because of the wear and tear over time. The tread actually flares out a bit. Who knows about urethane molding?

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[Troy]

wooooo its coming along @pbe gummi bear

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[iCARRY]

Hmm, I know nothing about this stuff, but what if we 3D printed a tire, made a mold of it, and did some sort of injection mold.
Going to be honest, I have never even seen one of these wheels in person. Just hoping I can help (and maybe earn a handle)


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[LightningBoldtz]

@SixZeroFour is also doing this

[mhiszem]

We pour urethane at my work. Only issue is it would be orange. We don't color it usually. I will talk with our chemical engineer to see what he thinks about the durometer needed. We make our own molds and just used a 3D printed mold successfully.


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[iCARRY]

Oh this sounds like it might workout. I might need to find a steel wheeled kettle


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[Dsorgnzd]

Just out of curiosity, are the original treads made like a tire, then mounted onto the wheel? Or are they made as a strip of tread that is wrapped around the wheel and glued to form a circle? If the latter, such a strip could be extruded with what would seem (to my inexperienced eye) to be a fairly simple die. But that wouldn't meet the "accessible to all" requirement, unless somebody came up with a really radical mod for the Play Doh Fun Factory.

[Rub]

Man this went over my head and skill set very quickly.

[LiquidOcelot]

ok, hear me out. sacrifice of a good tire will be involved in my plan, dismount good tread from wheel. use plastic or some material to close off the center section of the wheel. cast it in a plaster of Paris. when dry separate into 2 halves. remove original wheel. gently  clamp halves back together and fill with a harder silicone let dry in clamp and boom should have a pliable wheel to mount back onto the stealies. I took a 3d art class where we made jewelry and that's sort of the process I was getting at sorta but they makes pendants and rings out of wax and melt it out to create the mold

[LiquidOcelot]

or Brian could scan a wheel with his cnc and make wood wheels that screw together 😁

[Erich]

I have done a bit of urethane casting.

I used Silicone casting compound as the material for a mold.  A hardness of around Shore A 60 will be firm enough to mold and hold detail and be flexible enough to demold undercuts.(In this case the tread)

A 3d printed tire could be used as the pattern.

Mix a batch of Silicone rubber and place the pattern half way into the rubber.
Let cure.
Mix second batch and cover pattern completely. Use two rods to form a sprue and riser for filling and venting.
Let cure.

Separate the two halves and remove the pattern.

Mix up a batch of urethane.  Probably Shore A 80- or 90. to be harder.

Fill a big syringe and inject it into the mold until it comes out the riser.
Let cure and demold.

One key to all this is to have a vacuum pump and bell jar setup to degas the silicone and urethane before you mold.  Otherwise the part will be full of bubbles and pin holes.