Who makes their own wheels?

[bkahl]

While we're on the discussion (and since I have one hanging on my wall)-

195 made a custom shooter wheel for 2013.

The wheel was ~12" in diameter, weighed 4.5lbs and was direct driven by a CIM.

It started as a 14"x14" block of aluminum that was Wire EDM'd to have a spoke profile.

The block was then placed on a CNC mill and the 'wheel' was milled out using a .5" end mill. This left the 14"x14" block with a 13" hole cut out of it.

The rim of the wheel was then sandblasted to allow for the urethane to hold while at speed.

The outside of the block was used as the mold for the urethane cast. The wheel was replaced back inside the block and a .5" dowel pin was used to make sure the wheel was centered in the block. 60A durometer urethane was poured into the mold and was let to sit.

The overall process was a lot of work, but it worked well as a flywheel.

Mountain Dew can for scale.