Axle Hubs?

[ksafin]

Hi everyone,

We don't have extra wheel bearings so we want to attach a wheel directly to the axle.

For FTC there were kind of like axle hubs we could screw into the wheel and onto the axle, and we were thinking of a similar approach where we'd put a bolt through some hub and through the lag bolt we're using for the axle.

Is there something like this axle hub?

[O'Sancheski]

What type of wheels are you using?

If they are the kit wheels, you can use this hub made by Andymark. (http://www.andymark.com/product-p/am-0976.htm) But you can only use this application if you have a keyed shaft. (i.e. direct drive)

[Sh1ine]

Well the question is, what do you plan to do with a wheel that does not have bearings? Unless you don't plan on it turning often, and you are not concerned with efficiency, I suggest getting more bearings. Andy Mark has quite a few hubs (http://www.andymark.com/Hubs-s/215.htm) that will interface directly with their wheels.

In my humble opinion you really should buy more bearings, at the very least you should machine Delrin. (http://www.mcmaster.com/#delrin-stock-%28made-with-acetal-resin%29/=fvfk9a) Press fit it into where the bearing would fit in the wheel, with a .375 id.

[ToddF]

Well the question is, what do you plan to do with a wheel that does not have bearings?

Use a hub to connect it to a keyed shaft. Drive the shaft with a sprocket. Mount the shaft so it spins in bearings.

One way is called a live shaft. The other is a dead shaft. Both are perfectly viable options depending on the specific application.

Our team tends to use dead shafts for our wheels, visible in this photo:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-GAyq8CAa5QU/TksPlKisv5I/AAAAAAAAAG0/fnsfWg6BPZs/s800/100_2947.JPG
But our shooter prototypes use live shafts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neqyzZ1SM2w

Here is an evaluation of the pluses and minuses in one specific application:
http://www.epochind.com/live-vs-dead.htm