The shooter wheels and guides for the Team 980 and Team 4 collaboration were made from 9-ply plywood. The material is lightweight, incredibly stiff,! and strong. In the hands of a master woodworker/artist (thanks, Klaus), this material is a great choice for certain applications.
Were those parts done on a CNC mill or by hand?
Looks like it could have been a CNC router.
All the wood work was done by hand by one of our mentor, Klaus.
There’s something to be said about “craftmanship” here.
No CNCs were used; just an arc carefully drawn with fine pencil, a radius jig for the router, and the steady hand of a master of his trade (20+ yrs).
Templates for the ball guides were cut with a router. Each template was touched up by hand then used to cut the rest of the lot for the build. Final hand finishing followed by assembly (clamps, wood screws and glue) completes the ball guide. They’re strong, lightweight(ed), true, and almost a work of art.
The wheel was cut with a radius jig and router. Again, a template was made. The final wheels were trued to about +/-0.005" on the radius.The wooden pair saves almost 6 lb. compared to the 16" Skyway wheels we started with!