Beadlocks

[CustomCrawler]

I decided to make some 2.2 beadlocks (for personal use ONLY). My current design consists of the main body, that will be made out of 3" diameter gray Unital (a form of Acetal). Inside of that, a 1" diameter peice of aluminum will be screwed in that will serve as a mount to connect the wheel and axle. I have no idea how I could mount it to the axles, though. The pics show a hex, but I don't feel like paying $400 for a 12mm broach. The lock rings will be 2.5" diameter delrin with 10 screws holding them in place.

In the pictures, the main part will be taller and have a lip to hold the tire bead in place.

[fuzzhead]

when will you be milling these out. should be interesting to see.

[CustomCrawler]

The material should be here in a week. Then, I'll start. I might have to make a tool post riser since the material is so big, but that shouldn't be too hard.

Heres what the finished wheels should look like.

[fuzzhead]

cool

keep us updated.

[BultacoJim]

CustomCrawler

Are you sure you don’t want to leave the Hex in your wheel design?
You can improvise a cheap broach by using a Hex wrench of the right size.
Heat it cherry red & let it air cool to anneal it.
Chuck it in your lathe and make some circular grooves for chip clearance.
Reheat it to a light straw color and plunge it (moving it in a circular motion) into a can of oil to harden it.
Get a cheap ($30) arbor press from Harbor Freight and press your home-made broach into a round hole slightly smaller than your finished Hex (14 mm?) that you want in your wheel.

Practice with a few scrap pieces of material before you attempt the finished wheel.

1st picture is what your broach should look like.
Notice that the far left side is untouched and is your finished hex size.
The right side has been turned down until it is circular.
This is the diameter of the round hole you will drill in your wheel to start the broach.


2nd picture is a home made Hob to make gears & splines.
It was made out of drill rod in the annealed state on the the mill & lathe.

[CustomCrawler]

Thats a good idea. I'll try that. Could I use the broach in a drill press? Of course it wouldn't be turned on. Would I need to heat up the aluminum that will be broached?

[BENDER]

Originally Posted by CustomCrawler

Thats a good idea. I'll try that. Could I use the broach in a drill press? Of course it wouldn't be turned on. Would I need to heat up the aluminum that will be broached?

A press would be better then a drill press, but give the drill press a try.
If the broach has a nice long lead on it, you SHOULD be able to push it through.

You shouldn't have to heat the alum, just smother it in cutting oil.

Wheels look sweet, definitely keep us updated.

[BultacoJim]

Bender mentioned something I forgot to say.
Like he said, LOTS of oil.
I like that “stinky” high-sulfer black cutting oil for pipe threading.
You’ll see it used with the Ridgid pipe threading machines at Home Depot.
Just don’t do it dry. It must be done with oil.
And no, don’t heat anything during the actual broaching process.
And like Bender said. The longer it is, the less force it takes to press it through.
Offset your Lathe’s Tailstock to give it a slight taper from the round end to the Hex end..

If you’re just making hex holes in aluminum, you don’t need anything hi-tech.
Be careful using your Drill press, just don’t exert a lot of force on the handle.
With aluminum, it might work Ok.

I got this little guy:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...temnumber=3552


It was on sale for less than $40.