Is there a place where we can buy 8" diameter (or 6" diameter), 1" wide aluminum wheels? Thanks in advance. 
And if not, that’s okay too. =) Or if anyone has any other suggestions for pre-made wheels, that’d be great.
We’re getting our’s from McMaster, but the driver picked them out, so I’m not too familiar with what they provide.
Check it out at McMaster.com
Odds are that what you’re looking for is not an off the shelf item, although there are places that will make them for you.
Do they have to be aluminum? I know you guys have used the skyway wheels turned down in the past with conveyor belting attached. If it’s not crucial that the wheels be aluminum I’d just go that direction.
Our team has used skyway for the last couple years.
you can make your own… you just need some aluminium pipe, some 1/4" plate and a rotary table… although it takes SOOOO much time… abt 2-3 hours per wheel… and thats with all the jigs and everything we made to speed it up… if you want a cool rim patter you need a CNC but if holes will suffice you can do that on the rotary table as well… we are probly gonna get ours waterjetted since milling them is going to take too long… or just use stock wheels … but if you have unused students and an unused mill w/ rotary table making them is not especially difficult just time conusming!
If you want to go even further, you can check out the 6 inch and 8 inch omni trick wheels on AndyMark.biz. I’ve seen these puppies and they are sweet! :]
You can always look at wheels that were made by teams last year and, if you see any that you like, see if that team is willing to sell you some.
you could try having the outer part of the wheel being pvc conduit (order 6inch tubing) and then just have ur rims made on a cnc or by hand (takes a LONG TIME) and then attach some kind of tread to the pvc using epoxy and pop rivets… Our team did these two years ago and they were by far the best part of our robot…any more questions contact me or team 11
We might be CNCing some 5.5" diameter 1.25" wide wheels. It is possible that we could make more to sell them to you, but I can tell you right now it won’t be cheap. Probably roughly around $80-100 each. Don’t hold me to this. I have to check with the team if we can even do it. But let me know if you are interested.
wow, thats a big chunk of money
I didn’t want to quote something too low, then have to make it higher later. If someone is interested, I can get some real prices.
If I understand the rules correctly, the teams offering to sell wheels to other teams on this thread MUST be able to sell wheels to ALL teams and be able to deliver the product within a reasonable time frame (about a week).
Is this what is being offered?
Do I understand the supplier rules correctly?
-Mr. Van
Coach, 599
I believe that you are correct, but that they allow suppliers more time to get the parts out if they have to machine them.
Update 2 had a clarification that the five days to ship was under “normal circumstances”. FIRST recognizes that there is always the possibility that a legitimate supplier can be overwhelmed by the sudden requirements of 1000 teams.
Seen many 1 1/4" end caps lately? I wouldn’t have thought that they would be in short supply, but they seem to be.