Removing tread from colson wheels

[BetaHelix]

Does anyone know how to separate the hubs from the tread in colson wheels?

I'm looking at a project where I need a 3in minimum bore in the wheel, and would like to use colson tread with a custom hub.

Could I alternatively find just the tread some where, or could I just drill out the wheel?

[GeeTwo]

The Vex Colson page says they have "integrated hubs". I think your best bet would be to bore out the hub rather than to try to separate them. Though if you need a 3" bore, you may be boring out part of the rubber material even on most of the 4" wheels. That could get tricky.

[Scott Kozutsky]

You aren't going to be able to effectively remove the hub, boring it out is the only option if you really need the colson tread.

As an alternative to the colson tread, vexpro sells "traction tires" for their traction wheels. These offer similartraction and non marking characteristics and allow you to relatively easily design and make your own hubs (assuming you have a CNC or the wheels are loaded low enough to 3d print).

http://www.vexrobotics.com/vexpro/motion/wheels-and-hubs/traction-wheels.html

[Chris is me]

The Colson rubber is molded onto the wheel hub at manufacturing time. It doesn't really detach and it would be difficult to attach it to a different core without the tread slipping on the core.

For a wheel you need such a large bore for, your best best is to use fabric backed tread material like roughtop or wedgetop. If you want to use smooth rubber that is vaguely Colson like, I recall somewhere on McMaster you can find fabric backed polyurethane ideal for attaching to wheels.

You could try drilling out a larger Colson wheel, but 3" is a bit extreme.

[krakow1444]

On my team we have lathed down the the wheels, it is very tedious work. But another option is if you gently vise up the wheel, you would be able to take a 3 inch hole saw and saw it out. In opinion the hole saw would be a lot sloppier than the lathing.

[jwfoss]

Putting a big hole in a Colson has been done by at least 2 teams that I know of, the first example being the CIM in wheel swerve module (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/37675). My understanding is that this was done on the lathe with a large drill bit, and then a boring bar.

[JesseK]

On my team we have lathed down the the wheels, it is very tedious work. But another option is if you gently vise up the wheel, you would be able to take a 3 inch hole saw and saw it out. In opinion the hole saw would be a lot sloppier than the lathing.

Hmm, what about a hole saw in the drill bit chuck of the lathe?

[Jared]

You can bore out the large colson wheels, but they will have little voids like in this picture http://www.etotheipiplusone.net/pics/csb/csb4-mid.jpg

[Richard Wallace]

Hmm, what about a hole saw in the drill bit chuck of the lathe?Could work with a sharp saw, relatively slow speed, and frequent stops to clear. And patience. :)

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edit: See picture in the post above. Boring bar is better than hole saw because it gives the removed material a path out.

[Jared]

Colson wheels machine really well, so you can bore them out really quickly - probably faster than if you were to use a hole saw. Freshly sharpened HSS tools will work better that carbide in my experience, but both will work.