Skaldiddog's "Progress"

[TEDROCKZ]

=s




Sorry could not help it. Great job on the wheels

[SkaldidDog]

Originally Posted by e-hills4x4

They weigh less than an ounce each?

Nope. They weigh slightly more than one oz less each than my old wheel/tire/foam combo for a savings of ~5oz on the rig. My new knuckle wts will weigh a combined 4oz more than the old ones for a net rig change of about 1oz or so. If the front is too heavy I'll drill out the weights to lighten them up.

[SkaldidDog]

Originally Posted by TEDROCKZ

Sorry could not help it. Great job on the wheels

Thanks for the kind words gents. That's actually funny as hell.

[SkaldidDog]

Got the lathe portion of the knuckle wts done yesterday. They weigh over 1lb ea. When halved and channeled for the knuckle they should be just shy of 8oz ea...without any tungsten this time. With the 0.9" wheel they stick "in" a little more but not past the margin of the tire. I beveled the inner edge to reduce snags. As with all of my stuff, these will evolve.

[SkaldidDog]

Finished cutting my new knuckle wts last night. They are 7.80 oz each. I've included my previous version (tarnished one) for comparison. I plan on putting 3 oz of W slugs in the new ones which will put them at 9+ oz ea...too much. I'll then trim them down to lower/forward bias the weight so they weigh ~7.5 oz with all three slugs. Then I'll adjust wt by removing slugs and find the point I like. I'm used to 6 oz per knuckle but with the new wheel/tire combo shaving 5 oz off the rig I'm not sure what wt I want to run now. After I finish these knuckles I can get back to making more wheels...and actually do some dang crawling!!!

Thanks for watching.

[rob_b]

Nice "progress". Make some Brass slugs so that you can run empty, Brass or Tungsten. Maybe some hollow Brass ones too to keep crud out of the hole and for the all important uniform look.

[SkaldidDog]

Good idea. I'm thinking some delrin plugs to keep the crud out. It's just so dang fun and easy to work with.

[paystin]

You're an impressive man Joel. I wanna be like you someday.

[Brackett]

What type(as in name) of mach. are you using? (combo lathe/mill or seperate?) Nice work! Love seeing guys come up with new things!

[SkaldidDog]

Originally Posted by paystin

You're an impressive man Joel. I wanna be like you someday.

Thanks but you'll have to get a lot shorter!

Originally Posted by Brackett

What type(as in name) of mach. are you using? (combo lathe/mill or seperate?) Nice work! Love seeing guys come up with new things!

Smithy 1324IMX combo. Out of the box it's not up to my standards but after a serious cleaning, partial disassembly, tuning, modification and some high end aftermarket holding/tooling/accessories, it's awesome. The tailstock leaves much to be desired but I've not modified it yet. I've run it for many long days and the motor never gets over warm. Customer service rocks. It's not quite big enough so when I have a third garage bay or a separate shop I'm getting a Bridgeport and separate lathe.

[Illeagle]

Great work as usual Joel. Those new weights and wheels appear to have a very tight tolerance between them. Do you think when your hex's/bearings get a little play the weights will actually drag on the wheel or does it just "appear" that the tolerance is that tight?

[SkaldidDog]

Done! I milled the knuckles down to the point that they are 7.6 oz each with three W slugs in each one. I'm running 850/725 F/R hubs with one 0.063" 7075 spacer all the way around. Overall the track width is ~0.25" wider than my old setup. The front is ~11.25" wide from the very tip of one side wall lug to the other. Overall weight is within grams of when I started (5.25lb w 860mAh). I also swapped out my whored-out old rear tranny case for a new one too so that added a little weight too (not in photo). The new knuckles weigh 3.5 oz more combined than my old set so that's the weight difference between the old and new wheel setup too. I really like how it drives now. Some of my test lines that were excellent at resolving small improvements with a pass/fail outcome were a piece of cake. The little extra track width may be helping too. I'm very pleased with how they came out and dig they way they look, kinda utilitarian and beefy. It was a fun project and it felt good to get back on the mill after two straight months of 80hr weeks. Time to do some cleaning up and I'll make three more sets over the Holidays. After that I'm not sure what else I can make for my rig...but I'm sure I'll think of something.

Happy Holidays and thanks for watching.

[SkaldidDog]

Originally Posted by Illeagle

Great work as usual Joel. Those new weights and wheels appear to have a very tight tolerance between them. Do you think when your hex's/bearings get a little play the weights will actually drag on the wheel or does it just "appear" that the tolerance is that tight?

Thanks. I was slightly concerned about that too so I beat on it hard yesterday...with no rubbing at all. the 0.025" gap seems to be enough. The wheels are very stiff and could actually go on a diet with no ill effects. If I get rubbing the ID on my V2 set will be a little larger. The bearings are 12mm that I pressed into the knuckles so there is zero play at that point. The hexes have no play yet and I keep them fresh. Any rubbing when it happens will place smooth delrin on polished brass and that's a pretty low COF if I'm not mistaken. I did fine sand the leading and trailing edges of the knuckle in case of trouble.

[mark reel]

YEAH BUDDY ! those LOOK Awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!........ i hate you
i'm so jealous

Ridiculous SICK work you go going on there
see ya sat at the comp

[Frankenwheely]

Is there anything you can't make? Nice and clean setup.

[rob_b]

Originally Posted by SkaldidDog

I'm very pleased with how they came out and dig they way they look, kinda utilitarian and beefy.

Agreed. However, I feel you should show us how fancy you can get on the rotary table and do a spoked version

[d-wray]

Awesome work Joel! I'm glad you got them done, your bringing my set of wheels & weights tomorrow right? Just don't tell Nabil.

[SkaldidDog]

Originally Posted by mark reel

YEAH BUDDY ! those LOOK Awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!........ i hate you
i'm so jealous

Ridiculous SICK work you go going on there
see ya sat at the comp

Thanks Mark.

Originally Posted by Frankenwheely

Is there anything you can't make? Nice and clean setup.

Yes there is...7075 Berg transmission cases...that's what I want to make but have not figured out how with an etch a sketch.

Originally Posted by rob_b

Agreed. However, I feel you should show us how fancy you can get on the rotary table and do a spoked version

That's a possibility. I'm diggin the rustic spoke free versions for right now.

Originally Posted by d-wray

Awesome work Joel! I'm glad you got them done, your bringing my set of wheels & weights tomorrow right? Just don't tell Nabil.

Thanks David. I'll get right on your set.

[mattin]

Originally Posted by SkaldidDog

Thanks Mark.
Yes there is...7075 Berg transmission cases

Hey,

any interests in some drawings of a reargearcase that can be done on a mill and lathe...with lots of patience, which i see You have?

greetings

Martin

[SkaldidDog]

Originally Posted by mattin

Hey,

any interests in some drawings of a reargearcase that can be done on a mill and lathe...with lots of patience, which i see You have?

greetings

Martin

Yes Sir!!! Thank you.