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< General ~ Alternate materials |
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Posted:
Mon Mar 16, 2009 8:42 am
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Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 1391
Location: UK
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I notice some vintage rollerskates had metal or wooden wheels.
Anyone had any experience of other materials than plastics for wheels on any skates/board, and how they felt/handled? |
_________________
"The best part of falling is getting back up again" |
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Posted:
Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:18 am
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Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 51
Location: Bucharest Romania
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I saw some super-strong glass 2 years ago on roller-skates, they handled absolutely perfect, and they looked wicked |
_________________ Heeler : Dude! I just did an awesome frontside on the HP (halfpipe)
Non-Heeler : In Heelys? Yeah right, Heelys can't do anything cool!
Heeler : ... Yes ... they ... can!
*does an awesome frontside tru*
Non-Heeler : WHOA! THAT WAS SICK!
*buys Heelys*
Heeler : Smart choice! |
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Posted:
Tue Mar 17, 2009 2:54 am
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Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 1391
Location: UK
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Now THAT is an interesting thought. . . . of course glass would be a BITCH for me to make myself - I'll keep my eye out for any pre-made ones that might fit into a heelys bay tho (like Pro skateboard wheel size), thanks! |
_________________
"The best part of falling is getting back up again" |
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Posted:
Wed Mar 18, 2009 12:50 am
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Joined: 04 Dec 2007
Posts: 1067
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
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Posted:
Wed Mar 18, 2009 2:28 am
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Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 1391
Location: UK
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True.
I guess I just enjoy finding out WHY a given method isn't used, by making the mistakes for myself - so I often do things even when I know they'll probably fail, sort of as a learning experience as to why they fail, if you get me?
But thanks for letting me know the down-low on the glass wheels. |
_________________
"The best part of falling is getting back up again" |
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Posted:
Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:58 pm
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Joined: 03 Jan 2007
Posts: 469
Location: Ol' Virginny
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Try clay. Before urethane was used, clay was the staple material used for pro-level (if you can even call it that) skateboard and rollerskate wheels. For the most part >> u-thane revolutionized the street wheel. Get yourself a copy of Lords of DogTown and witness history. |
_________________ I HAS A SIG! |
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Posted:
Fri Mar 20, 2009 5:13 am
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Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 1391
Location: UK
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Cool, I'll see what I can find. Thanks Deez. |
_________________
"The best part of falling is getting back up again" |
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Posted:
Fri Mar 20, 2009 3:26 pm
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Joined: 04 Dec 2007
Posts: 1067
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
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Posted:
Fri Mar 20, 2009 4:22 pm
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Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 1391
Location: UK
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Yeah, i'm not even sure clay COULD be lathed. . it would crack, right? I mean once it's dried and you've cut through glaze, it's like hardened powder inside right? Assuming the clay is the same kind we used to make in school or whatever? But maybe there are some clay wheels somewhere smaller than the current absolute max heely wheel size (which with a large mega bay is currently about 49mm diameter, 46mm width) that I could provide a modded axle to fit them into the shoe? |
_________________
"The best part of falling is getting back up again" |
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Posted:
Thu Nov 26, 2009 6:58 pm
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Joined: 26 Nov 2009
Posts: 7
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Sorry about resurrecting this old thread, but how about ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene? UHMW is very tough and crack resistant. You can machine it like wood with a regular drill and lathe, although you can't sand or grind the stuff because it's very abrasion resistant. Some sources say it literally wears better than steel does. They already make some aggressive skate wheels with UHMW and they don't need a separate plastic frame molded into it. It's 100% UHMW.
Forgive me for my ignorance, since I don't have Heelys yet (still figuring out which Heelys to buy). But you wrote in another thread that Megas are 48mm in diameter. Is there any reason one couldn't create homemade Big Deuces with two 47mm aggressive wheels separated by an axle spacer? Even with urethane wheels, you can get pretty hard (over 100 durometer) aggressive wheels, which should eliminate the complaint about real BDs being too soft. |
Last edited by majorhealey on Thu Nov 26, 2009 7:00 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Posted:
Thu Nov 26, 2009 7:00 pm
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Museum Curator
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1474
Location: Central North Dakota, aka The Middle of Nowhere
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This is why Freespins were invented, and those even have independently-spinning sides.
They just don't *sell* them for reasons unknown. |
_________________ Community: We want new Megas!
a finger on the monkey's paw curls: we get them, and they're hideous |
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Posted:
Thu Nov 26, 2009 7:18 pm
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Joined: 26 Nov 2009
Posts: 7
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Once you mentioned Freespins, a little Googling found Merrie's thread from early this year where he had scratchbuilt BDs out of Macks. Also saw his Youtube video where he just stuck two 47mm inline skate wheels on an axle. Maybe I'll try that. Shouldn't be too hard, just two wheels with maybe a washer between them. |
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Posted:
Thu Dec 03, 2009 2:00 am
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Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 1391
Location: UK
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Yeah, the tough bit is finding donor wheels with suitable characteristics (size, hardness etc). And the 48mm mega's are from the larger shoe sizes (usually around US 9-12) - smaller Heelys come with 46mm (medium) or 44mm.
Also, if you're making Heely wheels out of Inline wheels - some of the width will need to be shaved off... two inline wheels total 50mm wide, and this is wider than any current axle. |
_________________
"The best part of falling is getting back up again" |
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Posted:
Thu Dec 03, 2009 2:19 pm
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Museum Curator
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1474
Location: Central North Dakota, aka The Middle of Nowhere
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Merrie_England wrote: | two inline wheels total 50mm wide, and this is wider than any current axle. |
Two adult inline wheels, but don't they make them smaller than this? |
_________________ Community: We want new Megas!
a finger on the monkey's paw curls: we get them, and they're hideous |
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Posted:
Tue Dec 08, 2009 6:33 pm
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Joined: 26 Nov 2009
Posts: 7
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Merrie_England wrote: | Yeah, the tough bit is finding donor wheels with suitable characteristics (size, hardness etc). And the 48mm mega's are from the larger shoe sizes (usually around US 9-12) - smaller Heelys come with 46mm (medium) or 44mm.
Also, if you're making Heely wheels out of Inline wheels - some of the width will need to be shaved off... two inline wheels total 50mm wide, and this is wider than any current axle. |
That's why I suggested UHMW, which cuts like wood. You can buy 12x12x1.75" sheets for less than $60. Stick it in a planer to shave it down to the right thickness, drill 36 7/8" holes in it 2" between centers with a spade bit, then cut up into 36 separate 2x2" blocks with a bandsaw. Stick it on some old bearings on an 8mm diameter bolt with a nut and clamp the bolt head in a vise. Clamp a drill or something to mill the edge, probably by turning it at a right angle. Use the nut to lower the piece bit by bit as you slowly rotate it so you can cut a consistent diameter from top to bottom. When you're finished, you should have 36 UHMW wheels of whatever radius you want. |
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