Making rubber road wheel tyres

[MikeN]

Is there a way to make solid rubber model tank tyres?
They would need to end up about 105mm diameter and look like this:
https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.FKIlKtv5U ... ImgDetMain

Note the holes and tread pattern.

I could make them as one with the steel road wheel and paint them.
Which is not ideal.
Or, I could turn them from a hard machineable plastic and press them on to the steel rim.
This might look better, but they would end up rather black and shiny.
Interested in any suggestions.
Thanks, Mike

[Ecam]

I know some have 3D printed molds and poured a silicone (I think) product in them to create tyres. I am planning something similar in the near future for some upcoming builds. Hopefully someone who has done this will be along soon to explain it better.

[MikeN]

It would be interesting to learn how to glue/bond a silicone tyre to metal or plastic.
I imagine a thin section silicone tyre being quite stretchy and elastic which might present problems in use.

[Ecam]

True, AND I could be completely wrong of what material is used to make the tyres!

[tankme]

Is there a way to make solid rubber model tank tyres?
They would need to end up about 105mm diameter and look like this:
https://th.bing.com/th/id/OIP.FKIlKtv5U ... ImgDetMain

Note the holes and tread pattern.

I could make them as one with the steel road wheel and paint them.
Which is not ideal.
Or, I could turn them from a hard machineable plastic and press them on to the steel rim.
This might look better, but they would end up rather black and shiny.
Interested in any suggestions.
Thanks, Mike

I will be finding out pretty soon which method, FDM or resin, is best for that type of "rubber" wheel. I bought the files to print the 1/6th Comet and the tires are very similar to those. Black and shiny is easy to fix with an airbrush loaded with a little bit of buff colored paint. You can also sand TPU somewhat which will rough up the surface so it's not shiny. Sanding will also dull the black color.

I know some have 3D printed molds and poured a silicone (I think) product in them to create tyres. I am planning something similar in the near future for some upcoming builds. Hopefully someone who has done this will be along soon to explain it better.

Using a silicone mold is still effective, but if you have the ability to 3D print and make a mold, why not just 3D print the tire and skip the mold? For FDM printers there are different shore hardness of TPU that can simulate rubber. With a resin printer, there are different shore hardness of resins that print even more like rubber. I personally just picked up some RESIONE F39 Flexible 3D Printer Resin to experiment with. I think that I will try to print with it making some Centauro tires once the Conqueror track links are done. Most of the "rubber" road wheel simulations I've done have been with Overture TPU (shore hardness 95). I did print some truck tires with TPU and they turned out...just OK. There was a lot of support material that was hard to remove, but that has been a bunch of firmware releases ago so they may print better now on the Bambu. I'm going to use it to print out TPU flexible skirts for the HL Merkava. I sketched them up in the slicer and soon as the printer is done printing ASA Conqueror parts, I'll load up the TPU.

It would be interesting to learn how to glue/bond a silicone tyre to metal or plastic.
I imagine a thin section silicone tyre being quite stretchy and elastic which might present problems in use.

I've heard of some folks using black Loctite 480 to glue tires to wheels, but the stuff is expensive:

LOCTITE® 480
Instant component bonding - toughened, low-viscosity adhesive

A rubber toughened, low viscosity, black adhesive ideal for impact applications.

[MonsieurTox]

You have 2 ways to do it :

- Print them in resin with rubber like resin. Never tried myself but from what have read, it's quite expensive, it's not that easy to print well at first but once you got everything dialed it really looks like rubber (comments from a guy who worked into the rubber industry).

- 3D print a resin master, or machine it, mold it and cast it in soft urethane (various shore available). The small holes would not go through all the tires width but Im not sure they do on the real tank, and I think it would do the trick.

[MikeN]

Thanks for the replies.
3d printing is completely beyond me, I can barely use a pc. I am a retired engineering machinist. The only thing I really know how to do is make things on my lathe and mill. Mostly in metal.
I think , to begin with I will have a go with turning a tyre from black acetal plastic to see how it looks. As suggested, I can spray paint them to dull them down if they look too glossy. I think I can make a tool to cut the tread and a drill jig for all the little holes (1280 ! I reckon). BTW, the cross sectional drawing shows the holes do go all the way through.
As suggested, one of the Loctite products might be suitable to secure the tyre to the steel wheel. Failing that, I now think I could secure them mechanically. Either by pinning or a retaining ring on the inside of the wheel.

[HERMAN BIX]

viewtopic.php?t=31578&start=70

Go to page 6 onwards.
This guy is a print Ninja and can recreate anything.
Im positive he can do the tyres for any design you need and he wont force you to sell organs on the black market to achieve it.
Send him a PM & see what becomes of it. Nothing ventured-nothing gained.
Tell him I sent you !!

[MikeN]

viewtopic.php?t=31578&start=70

Go to page 6 onwards.
This guy is a print Ninja and can recreate anything.
Im positive he can do the tyres for any design you need and he wont force you to sell organs on the black market to achieve it.
Send him a PM & see what becomes of it. Nothing ventured-nothing gained.
Tell him I sent you !!

Sorry, Ive only just seen this last post.
Ive been out in my workshop (shed) this afternoon and I might have solved my own problem.
I found a sheet of 13mm thick, black (actually very dark grey) plastic under the bench.
Enough to try and make 3 tyres.
So I turned up 3 blank tyres on the lathe. It turns out its not as shiny as I thought it would be. A sort of satin sheen.
I Made a drill jig. Drilled them and thats as far as I got.
Turning the tyres took about 10 mins each.
Making the drill jig about an hour and a couple of minutes each to drill the holes.
I think they will look quite acceptable. I might still paint them. When the paint wears off they will still be blackish.
Next job is to make a device to cut the tread pattern.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I think im ok now.
If anyone wants to see how it goes I will start a build thread.
Ive ordered some more plastic from ebay.

[MikeN]

Also,
When making the tyres I made a useful and unexpected discovery.
When I offered up the tyre to the still warm drill jig to see if it would fit. It slid in and then immediately expanded from the heat and jammed itself in place.
After levering it out I carried out a small experiment.
I measured the tyre cold, then submerged it in boiling water for a few seconds and was surprised to find that it immediately expanded by 0.75mm.
A huge amount that I wasn't expecting. It of course returned to its original size on cooling.
This is useful to know because it solves the question of how to secure it to the wheel rim.
I will simply shrink the tyres into place.