Great Dane excavating co.

[Cooper]

Humm, tube/ tubeless tires?!?! That would be cool!! Maybe for the next project and some more experience on casting stuff .

Well I started welding the tire parts together.

Made a center piece for glueing the parts together. The aluminum was just shy of being able to use to make the rim. So have to get some more stock.




And the shop fox kept wanting to be nosey so he was sniffing the acetone I was using to glue tire with.



( just for the record the cat wasn't huffing glue. Don't want an animal cruelty case!)

[speedy8305]

Looking good Cooper Looks like when you finish it will be a winner.

[Cooper]

Oh and picked up a vacuum pump and harbor fright. Got it for de-gassing molds and casting resins. Quite a few times in the past I could have used one (and some gauges) for repairing/charging air units so it's not all hobby based purchase

[Old Guy]

Cooper
Back to the double acting stage cylinder, we tried to come up with a way to feed oil from the bottom but were never able to feed oil from that end for retracting. But I'll keep watching to see how you do it.
Aren't tires fun I did a set for my Letourneau L2350 like you I made a master using some old tires I had then coated it with about a 1/4" of urethane, ( Pink color) I then made 2 plaster aparis (spell ?) outside cavities, to hold molds from deforming. Next I made some urethane foam center cores suspended by a solid core where rims go to save the amount of tire material required. Procedure, place bottom mold in place with center core then foam, then top mold with ports to but in tire material, plaster parts had pins to make sure they lined up. Once cured opened molds pulled out tire trimed off ports and placed this side on the inside when mounted on model. Turned out great tires were made of Smooth On products and with foam core I didn't need to put anything inside tires to stop compressing by models weight. hope this will give you some ideas. Oldguy is true all my friend have been retire 10 years or more.
Earl

[Cooper]

Thanks again earl, I probably won't get to mess with this stuff till after weekend. I'll try and make something up for what I'm thinking for double acting cylinder. And yes I have been thinking of some sort of core for these as a lot of casting material will be needed. And I have to make 6. Figure this is the first of a few mess ups I'm sure m

[andyathome]

those tyres are looking awesome, just a thought in the moulding process.
I don't know what you guys call them over there , but we call them pool noodles.
once you make the mould , if you were to glue the foam pool noodle to the centre hub and then cast the tyre you would use less rubber and also achieve a hollow tyre that you could then fit the air valve..

now that would be cool!

cheers andy

[Cooper]

Had some home time this evening and made two round blanks to ride in the bead area of tire. The bolt holds them together. The reason I did this is I'm going to use the acetone vapor bath to smooth any lines out. From past experiences in this the bottom always seems to get more of the vapors. As I only have done acetone in bucket ( bottom liquid and soaked towel on top, both techniques) this time I have a electric heat plate to vaporize acetone but still want the ability to invert wheel half way through process. If I knew what I was doing things would not be so stressful as a good bit of time involved in this so far and if I melt it I'll be ,, well we all know how that works!!! Lol!!!

[Cooper]

Andy I have thought about displacing some material with cheeper means on the inside of tire. That may be a bit more advanced than I've got yet. That would really require a three part mold. As the mold part on the inside of tire would have to be secured/suspended during casting and then on removal from mold a three part would be better (I think) . And they may be a little bit more casting material but it will also end up more added weight. I would imagine each tire will be weighing around 2-3 pounds. Just a uneducated guess right now. I'm not even sure the casting resin I am getting is the right hardness. Won't really know till I make one . I'm shooting for a shore hardness of 60 that should be like a sneaker bottom. Softer than a super gummy tire.

[Cooper]

Oh and some good redneck engineering=== metal 5gallon bucket with a puddle of acetone in bottom, electric hot plate for a nice gentle heat source to vaporize acetone, all in a toasty garage with open flame gas heater on wall!!! What could go wrong? I guess I should record the process

[RCP57]

Is that a "Cooper" tire?

Sorry way too many hours in the shop over the last two weeks... Mold looks awesome!

[Cooper]

Originally Posted by RCP57

Is that a "Cooper" tire?

Sorry way too many hours in the shop over the last two weeks... Mold looks awesome!

yes Cooper heavy haul tires, new market they are getting into. a tire company that makes mining equipment!!!!








Smarta$$

[modelman]

Cooper-your tire plug looks good. Have you decided how you will mold it? After I made mine I figured out a way to make it in to equal halves by using one mold. Make the mold come to the exact centerline of the tire, then pour that part and let dry. Then remove it from the mold and pour the other half and drop the cured half on top while it is wet and the tire will be bonded together. You will need a "key" on the tire and mold to line up the 2nd. half but it should work. If you do it this way you will need a leveling table to have the mold exactly level when pouring. BE CAREFUL WITH THAT ACETONE!!!

[Mikem]

If they don't work out they would be awesome flatcar loads ! Mike

[Cooper]

Originally Posted by modelman

Cooper-your tire plug looks good. Have you decided how you will mold it? After I made mine I figured out a way to make it in to equal halves by using one mold. Make the mold come to the exact centerline of the tire, then pour that part and let dry. Then remove it from the mold and pour the other half and drop the cured half on top while it is wet and the tire will be bonded together. You will need a "key" on the tire and mold to line up the 2nd. half but it should work. If you do it this way you will need a leveling table to have the mold exactly level when pouring. BE CAREFUL WITH THAT ACETONE!!!

Yeah, when the acetone comes into play the fires are out and garage aired out frequently!! Possibly a younger me may have enjoyed the risk!!! But not now .

The way I'm planing on making the mold is to fabricate a mold box, elevate tire enough for second half mold, fill in with clay up to centerline of tire. That is also why I decided on this tread profile with center flat. Pour mold material. Possibly pour a hard mold support on top of that. Flip over, remove clay, clean up any water based clay residue, pour second half with fill/vent spouts. Probably 4 around sidewall of tire. That side will always be the inside of truck. And tire is unidirectional. So any flashing should be at flat centerline of tire that will be easy to clean up and on back of tire. At least that is the plan. I've been watching a few mold and casting videos and that looks like the best way to go. (Again , I think)

[Cooper]

That was my home cooking station. Couple ounces of acetone heated to around ? Boiling off point. Had to make a little stand. Bathed for about 1-1/2 min. The one pic shows a drip of acetone condensation that was on alum when I flipped it over and ran. I'll sand that down. Have to bathe it once more for other side. I was using a plexiglass lid to watch the melting up the side of tread. Don't know what I'm doing so I figure I can always do more than having melted it too much. Had the fan on low and garage n window open a bit then completely aired out. Still a bit of fumes. I should have asked some of the locals in town to do it, they would have enjoyed the fumes and slight headache following more than me

[Cooper]

Sanded it on the lathe this time and cooked again. Came out fairly well. Should be good enough for me





Going to let it dry overnight to completely set up any soft material. There are some minor imperfections and I'm not sure how they will show in a cast part. But like I said I have no idea of what I'm doing so I'll just have to wait till a final product. At least I didn't over cook it and have to start over!!!

[bigford]

and the house is still standing!!!

[Cooper]

Originally Posted by bigford

and the house is still standing!!!

Lol!!! Yup , just keep seeing weird things and bumping into things!!! oh and the wife just got home from a dog Halloween party. She was giving me stuff for not blowing up house with vaporizing acetone while she used hair paint on the dog , in the house, that stuff is butane based!! I walked inside the hose earlier and just about fainted!!!!

[steamer]

Cooper, I'll ask you to go back and read the last line on your post again and then I'll ask you, if that stuff didn't affect you a little more than you though!!! LOL!!!

[Cooper]

Originally Posted by steamer

Cooper, I'll ask you to go back and read the last line on your post again and then I'll ask you, if that stuff didn't affect you a little more than you though!!! LOL!!!

Lol!! Darn computer spell checker!! Lol!! That's what I saying!!