[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by Richard Wallace

Ok, so Batman is really one of the Average Joes. He was guided by mentors from two of our sponsor companies.

The raw stock is 6061 Aluminum (McMaster 8974K86 or similar).

The fabrication steps were (1) cut blanks, (2) NC lathe for through bore and center groove, (3) NC mill for fixture holes, (4) wire EDM tooth pattern, (5) back to NC mill for spokes/slots, team markings, and bearing pockets, (6) tumble parts in appropriate media to remove sharp edges.

Steps 1-5 above were done at one sponsor and step 6 at the other. Batman and other students have gotten quite an education from this. They did the CAD but are not qualified to use the tools above, so it was "watch and learn", while their mentors showed off some skills.

In twenty years as an FRC mentor, this is the only time I have encouraged making custom billet wheels. And they look really cool; however, that is not sufficient reason (IMHO) to do something like this. As explained earlier (OP text), our goal was risk mitigation.

How long was the turnaround time on a part like this? Seems like a lengthy process.