How should our team buy an axle for the Skyway wheels?
We also need another set of sprockets. (Is IFI the only place to get these?)
Where can we get these?
Depends what kind of wheel you’re using.
If it’s got bearings in it, and you’re driving the wheel, not the shaft, you can use any standard shaft (The most common is 3/8" I believe)
If you’re driving the shaft and not the wheel (ie: the hub is keyed) you need a keyed shaft of that size
Either kind can be found at www.mcmaster.com
P.S. I’m moving this to the technical forum.
Places like mcmaster or msc would be great places to get more sprockets. You can access their websites at: http://www.mcmaster.com and http://www.mscdirect.com . You can also get more shaft from them as well.
Be careful what advice you’re giving people. Those kit sprockets have been custom bored. If you buy standard sprockets from a source other than IFI, then you will need to have them pressed onto the shaft.
See THIS.
You can use a bolt if you are putting it together like the kit does, at least that is what the instructions said if I read them correctly. We will be using bolts for our wheels as soon as we get them.
I’m so sorry, but I have found the section in the rules about the axles.
We still need help with the sprocket issue, thought.
a 4 sprocket set (2 big ones for the skyway wheels provided[28 tooth], and two smaller ones for the gearbox output shaft[20 tooth]) ARE available at IFI robotics they come as a PACKAGE and are ~80$ ($@#$@#$@#$@#…)
btw what was it about the shafts that you found in the rules?
In the Tips and Guidlines, they said that a ceartian type of bolt makes a good axle.
wich bolt is that? we cant find that part and we gotta order our…
Thanks
Any 3/8" diameter shoulder bolt with a shoulder the width of the wheel well should work fine.
Any 3/8" dia bolt will work.
I recommend: Part No. 91236A644
From www.mcmaster.com
But any equivalent part will work.
JV
The only bad thing about those sets are that you can’t just get the sprockets for the wheels. Our team needs to buy 8 more to get our 6WD working and we are going to need to buy 4 sets at 80 bucks, that is not fun. We are currently trying to trade for them, otherwise, we are going to get them made. We hope to be able to get them for less than 40 bucks a piece
Oh, Thanks. On monday our team called IFI and they said that they were not planning on offering individual sprockets anytime soon.
Thanks So much
the 3/8 bolt is to small for the bearings
the wheels end up being very wobbly
For the sake of accuracy, IFI is now selling individual kit sprockets.
our team is used 4 long bolt as a shaft, it fit nicly 
Ya, but get it 5 in. long The chasis was made to fit that size bolt just right.
what about putting the axle onto the chassis? Do they sell a piece like the one diagramed (attached - sorry im not a good drawler)? Have you seen something like that before that we could buy instead of having to machine ourselves - we have limited resources?
Sorry if this was asked before.
Thanks.
That’s called a pillow block. Search on MSC, McMaster, sdp-si, etc for them. They’re easy to find, the trick is getting some that don’t weigh 10 lbs.