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Post by lostaussie on Apr 13, 2017 22:30:12 GMT -5
You need relatively low speed for this right? no chance that drill press could run it slowly enough. If it could in theory you could use the press mechanism to lower onto the shaving tool. Obviously you would need low run out press like a proxxon. Any way of easily slowing one down?
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Post by Vitamin K on Apr 13, 2017 22:53:55 GMT -5
You need relatively low speed for this right? no chance that drill press could run it slowly enough. If it could in theory you could use the press mechanism to lower onto the shaving tool. Obviously you would need low run out press like a proxxon. Any way of easily slowing one down? A drill press probably spins slowly enough on low speed. That said, the radial runout of a drill press is usually a lot more than the sort of tolerances you'd want for making a worthwhile wheel. I don't know how much better a Proxxon is, but chuck of a drill press isn't designed for the sort of things an ER11 collet would be. Wayne (of Wayne's this and that) built a wheel truing setup with his drill press and a mounted cutting tool, but I was never able to get him to try some runout measurements of the finished product. |
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Post by Professor Moriarty on Apr 13, 2017 23:00:44 GMT -5
Holy Fischer Price tools Batman!
That thing looks like a wheel shaver for twice the price!
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Post by Vitamin K on Apr 13, 2017 23:18:44 GMT -5
Holy Fischer Price tools Batman! That thing looks like a wheel shaver for twice the price! You referring to the Pitsco lathe? I'd say it improves on the Wheel Shaver in a lot of ways. Anyhow, if you Google 'slot car wheel lathe' a whole bunch of stuff comes up. |
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Post by lostaussie on Apr 13, 2017 23:59:22 GMT -5
Also is there a reason the Pitsco one you linked to could not be slightly modified so that it could accommodate a BSA wheel. Guess the shaving bit would just need to be move in more than it comes by default.
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Post by lostaussie on Apr 14, 2017 0:07:08 GMT -5
A drill press probably spins slowly enough on low speed. That said, the radial runout of a drill press is usually a lot more than the sort of tolerances you'd want for making a worthwhile wheel. I don't know how much better a Proxxon is, but chuck of a drill press isn't designed for the sort of things an ER11 collet would be. Wayne (of Wayne's this and that) built a wheel truing setup with his drill press and a mounted cutting tool, but I was never able to get him to try some runout measurements of the finished product. The proxxon actually uses MICROMOT steel collects. I know a lot of builders were using them for drilling axle holes with the block/silver bullet. The slowest speed however is 1800 RPM which I would think would be too fast but not sure how fast you should turn wheels. |
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Post by Vitamin K on Apr 14, 2017 0:24:45 GMT -5
Also is there a reason the Pitsco one you linked to could not be slightly modified so that it could accommodate a BSA wheel. Guess the shaving bit would just need to be move in more than it comes by default. Guess it would depend on if you could change out the mounting pin and keep it centered when you did so. |
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Post by Professor Moriarty on Apr 14, 2017 0:55:52 GMT -5
Holy Fischer Price tools Batman! That thing looks like a wheel shaver for twice the price! You referring to the Pitsco lathe? I'd say it improves on the Wheel Shaver in a lot of ways. Anyhow, if you Google 'slot car wheel lathe' a whole bunch of stuff comes up. It may VK... but considering that the diameter of those wheels look quite a bit larger than a BSA wheel... I am thinking that the tolerances on an RC wheel are much greater than that of a PWD wheel... I know this isn't scientific... but... the Pitsco looks like a toy... I have just never seen a lathe like this before, and so I am instinctually skeptical... |
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Post by Vitamin K on Apr 14, 2017 8:09:22 GMT -5
You referring to the Pitsco lathe? I'd say it improves on the Wheel Shaver in a lot of ways. Anyhow, if you Google 'slot car wheel lathe' a whole bunch of stuff comes up. It may VK... but considering that the diameter of those wheels look quite a bit larger than a BSA wheel... I am thinking that the tolerances on an RC wheel are much greater than that of a PWD wheel... I know this isn't scientific... but... the Pitsco looks like a toy... I have just never seen a lathe like this before, and so I am instinctually skeptical... I dunno. I mean, it looks simplistic to me, but, just from the looks, the construction looks rugged. I have no idea regarding the precision it gives, but again, it's worth remembering that turning the outside of a wheel is a pretty basic process. You need: - Something to rotate the wheel in such a way that it moves precisely around the bore. - Something to take off material at a fixed point. An actual lathe is a wonderful tool, but my hope is that for doing basic improvements to a little plastic wheel, a simpler (and cheaper) tool can be devised. I mean, for all of its flaws, the Derbyworx wheel shaver can actually yield a low-runout wheel. It's just that it is slow, extremely error prone, and risks damage to the bores. So I'm looking to take it up a notch. |
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Post by The Zeebzob on Apr 14, 2017 8:25:37 GMT -5
I'm all for going the cheap route at times, but why screw around with crap? A harbor freight lathe is around 400 bucks and they have super coupons all the time that can save you 20%. It's not a bad little lathe.
I have so many parts and tools just laying around unused that I bought because they were cheap and I thought I could get away using them instead of buying something a little more expensive. There comes a time when you need to just crack open the wallet, what the hell are you saving it for? It's not like you're pissing $80k away on a sports car because you're life has reached the midway point.
Truth be told, my lathe has paid for itself many times over. There are plenty of people out there willing to pay 60 bucks for a set of Unlimited wheels. And honestly, I have given away way more wheels than I have sold. If I really wanted to put this thing to use, I could churn out wheels all day long and undercut any vendor out there and STILL feel like I'm ripping people off.
Here's a little story for you too. When I got really interested in this hobby, I wanted a track. I was mulling over many options. Buy or build? New or used? Aluminum or wood? How could I get away cheap cheap cheap?? In the end after much though, I realized that in the grand scheme of things, the $1200 for a track and timer was not a whole lot of money. In reality, go out to eat less often. Stick to the shopping list and don't just fill the cart. Stay home one extra night per week instead of going out. Take the change you get back and put it in a jar to save up. Little things you piss you money away on every week...cut that out for a month or two and the track is paid for and you don't even notice it. I have not regretted for a second buying the track.
So just buy a lathe if you really want one. Don't even tell me that it's not in the budget, you put it in the budget. Don't tell me that the Mrs. won't let you. You TELL her you're getting it. (HAHAHAHA. I could hardly even type that one. Mrs. Zeebzob would not be someone you TELL anything).
So save up, there's no rush. You'll be glad you did.
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Post by Vitamin K on Apr 14, 2017 8:38:54 GMT -5
I'm all for going the cheap route at times, but why screw around with crap? A harbor freight lathe is around 400 bucks and they have super coupons all the time that can save you 20%. It's not a bad little lathe. Maybe 400 bucks when you bought one. Closer to 600 now (pre-coupon). But of course there's the tooling and other stuff you need. I still would like a lathe someday, but I'd probably go for one of the Taigs instead. I have so many parts and tools just laying around unused that I bought because they were cheap and I thought I could get away using them instead of buying something a little more expensive. There comes a time when you need to just crack open the wallet, what the hell are you saving it for? It's not like you're pissing $80k away on a sports car because you're life has reached the midway point. Truth be told, my lathe has paid for itself many times over. There are plenty of people out there willing to pay 60 bucks for a set of Unlimited wheels. And honestly, I have given away way more wheels than I have sold. If I really wanted to put this thing to use, I could churn out wheels all day long and undercut any vendor out there and STILL feel like I'm ripping people off. Here's a little story for you too. When I got really interested in this hobby, I wanted a track. I was mulling over many options. Buy or build? New or used? Aluminum or wood? How could I get away cheap cheap cheap?? In the end after much though, I realized that in the grand scheme of things, the $1200 for a track and timer was not a whole lot of money. In reality, go out to eat less often. Stick to the shopping list and don't just fill the cart. Stay home one extra night per week instead of going out. Take the change you get back and put it in a jar to save up. Little things you piss you money away on every week...cut that out for a month or two and the track is paid for and you don't even notice it. I have not regretted for a second buying the track. I think maybe you're missing the point of what I'm hoping to do. This goes beyond "Kurt wants a cheap way to improve wheels for himself." I'm looking for a recipe that's repeatable that I can give to the community. It would be great to be able to say "Hey, for 100 bucks, you can build this wheel turner that you can let all the Scouts use at your workshops to true up wheels." So just buy a lathe if you really want one. Don't even tell me that it's not in the budget, you put it in the budget. Don't tell me that the Mrs. won't let you. You TELL her you're getting it. (HAHAHAHA. I could hardly even type that one. Mrs. Zeebzob would not be someone you TELL anything). So save up, there's no rush. You'll be glad you did. Eventually I'll own a lathe. And a track. But that's not today, and that's not really the goal I'm after here. |
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Post by The Zeebzob on Apr 14, 2017 8:44:42 GMT -5
Well, if you want something cheap and repeatable, chuck up a pin gauge in a drill press and clamp a cutting bit to the table. Then just plunge.
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Post by Vitamin K on Apr 14, 2017 8:49:25 GMT -5
Well, if you want something cheap and repeatable, chuck up a pin gauge in a drill press and clamp a cutting bit to the table. Then just plunge. Been there, tried that. The runout on my drill press is something like 5-9 thousandths of an inch, which is just as bad as the worst wheels you might find in a tube. Getting the wheel to rotate in a manner that has low radial runout, while keeping the bore intact, is most of the problem. |
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Post by micro on Apr 14, 2017 9:00:52 GMT -5
Been there, tried that. The runout on my drill press is something like 5-9 thousandths of an inch, which is just as bad as the worst wheels you might find in a tube. Getting the wheel to rotate in a manner that has low radial runout, while keeping the bore intact, is most of the problem. Indeed! That is why you need a lathe. LOL |
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Post by Vitamin K on Apr 14, 2017 9:03:47 GMT -5
Been there, tried that. The runout on my drill press is something like 5-9 thousandths of an inch, which is just as bad as the worst wheels you might find in a tube. Getting the wheel to rotate in a manner that has low radial runout, while keeping the bore intact, is most of the problem. Indeed! That is why you need a lathe. LOL  |
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