| Details for building a 1/6 Scale Radio Controlled Tank. Wheels and tracks.
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| Needing
lots of wheels means lots of cost and weight, and looking at the choices
available I decided that making my own from wood was the best option.
Pros:- You will get the size you want - they are light - easy to make more if they become damaged. Cons:- Time consuming both to construct and finish to a acceptable standard. Tool choices are either:- Bench saw [ I have a 10" but it scares the sh*t out of me !] Jigsaw not accurate enough and hard work ! Router [ I did not have one at the time] Bandsaw [ I do not have one] The first thing I did was build a jig so I can get repeatable results. Picture shows the jig I use to cut wheels on my bench saw and also it goes on my drill press to allow the drilling of holes around a wheel. The center spindle is a 12mm bolt as used for the axles etc .To cut a wheel a sacrificial piece is used [ the straw coloured square ] to which 2 pieces of plywood[ the wheel blanks] are pinned. This assembly is slowly turned on the jig whilst the saw is raised until both the blanks are cut. The sacrificial piece should really be even bigger as this protects your hand from accidentally dropping onto the saw , the guard has to be up otherwise it fouls the rotating blanks. The square edges are good as they help you to grip the piece as it is turned , also stand to the side of the saw as all the sawdust and corners that fly off all go forward. Really to do it safely it is a 2 man job. I have only cut the Idler and Drive wheels on my own and will get my father up to help me tackle the 100+ pieces I need to cut for the 10 pairs of road wheels.
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| The
parts for a Drive wheel can be seen here.
A:- Is the sacrificial piece that goes on top of the blanks to protect your fingers ! B:- A with 2 plywood blanks attached C:- B after it has been cut on the saw D:- Is the 12mm Axle bolt E:- 1 Outer ring cut from one blank 2 One blank with style holes drilled 3 inner cut from same blank as 1 [ waste not want not !] 4 Parts 1-2-3 assembled into a wheel Only another 26 to go ! Well my father came up Monday , and we spent from 10:00 till 14:00 cutting wheels ! The picture shows on the back row the blanks for the outer road wheels 3/8 plywood one for the wheel rear and one for the rim and center to give it some style. The middle row shows the 3/4 plywood for the inner road wheels these will just be disks with no style at all. The front left are the front idlers these need gluing together and spokes adding where the pencil marks are. To the front right are the rear drive wheels these need gluing together and the rubber drive surface adding. Tip Always cut more parts than you need 10%-20% then grade all parts cut as either A [good] B [ok] C [hide somewhere!] Then ensure the A's are the ones on show the B's can be put somewhere not to obvious and hope the C's are in the 10%-20% ! Tracks are probably the hardest part to build making them strong enough is difficult and problems like shedding a track can be very hard to resolve. So what to do ? Well read this! http://www.rctankcombat.com/articles/track-systems/ Then select the one that suits your skills and budget ! | |
