make vs. buy wheels

[RMS11]

Originally Posted by techtiger1

UHMW or ABS plastic are both very dense plastics that work great for wheel applications. We used UHMW 2006-2007 and had very little problem with it, it is critical to remember you are working with a plastic when toleranceing these parts however that is where you run into trouble. http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ght=1251+wheel Here is the thread on our 06 wheels and the next year they were redesigned with a flange for the wedgetop to sit in. We reccomend sheet metal screws with a mushroom head to attach the tread and not rivits. I know the 07 was a 4 in dia wheel and the 06 I think was 6 in dia. When machining this plastic use coolant as the UHMW especially does not like excessive heat. 1251 has had custom wheels since 06 and dont ever regret making them. Making wheels is great if you have the time, resources money etc, if you don't buy them or modifiy the kit wheels with some high traction material as Arefin has showed us many times. The AndyMark FIRST kop wheel is a good product in the first place.

Those look slick. And i assume you used the incline conveyor belting for traction. Ya, for us that little weight could matter a lot. About 300 holes later this year, our robot clocked in at 119.8, afterreplacing the sponsorship material And to mount the incline conveyor belting do you use rivets, screws, or something else? Thanks