make vs. buy wheels

[AdamHeard]

Originally Posted by EricH

Metal doesn't give you splinters if it's worn down too much or beaten up... but wood is cheaper. Anyone try plastic at all?

Lots of teams use blue nitrile tread (I think McMaster carries it), though others prefer roughtop or wedgetop tread (not sure on where to get those). A little suggestion: use CD's search feature, looking for "blue nitrile tread", and you should find some websites.

The common tread people use on custom wheels (and on IFI and some andymark wheels) is sold as "incline conveyor belting" from mcmaster. There are two surface types, wedgetop and roughtop.

The wedgetop is just offered from mcmaster in gum rubber (but I've seen some teams, 188 in 2007, with black SBR rubber).

The roughtop is offered in many types, but is most commonly used in natural rubber (tan), SBR rubber (black) and Nitrile (blue). Nitrile seems to wear the best by far, although offering reduced friction. The natural rubber seems to be commonly used, but can wear very fast. I've seen very few teams use the black SBR roughtop, but it seems to be closer to the natural rubber in performance and wear.