Wheels for a cordless drill gear motor | Any suggestions?

Hello Everyone,

I finally had the money to order the BotBitz 85A ESCs and now those have arrived I would like to get cracking on getting a test bench mobile. My only issue is I am struggling to find suitable small wheels that will fit my drill motors. I measured the threaded part of the shaft with some calipers and it is 9.3mm.

Anyone have any suggestions as to suitable small wheels for this? The tutorial I had been following from RoboWars Australia used Bunnings Red Wheels, which I cant find for love nor money.

Thanks a lot!

Will :)

Heheh, we need an FAQ somewhere on this subforum! Have a look at this: http://www.fightingrobots.co.uk/thre...l=1#post467492

You might want to make your own wheels out of HDPE if you want very small ones. Most of the wheels I see people use are about as tall as their robot.

Thank you! Sorry for not seeing this sooner -_- literally spend and hour googleing lol

Hey it's no problem at all. I had to ask when I was building - nobody tells you these things. Why can't these people just use normal threads?!

I know what you mean xD Thanks for taking the time to reply :-) Hopefully Caractacus Alpha build will be underway soon xD

Instead of melting, you can just drill a hole smaller than the diameter of that weird imperial nut and hammer it in. I found that's working better and looking nicer.

But you still have to look out, it doesn't work for big wheels.
build a 6kg-bot with 30cm HDPE-wheels (somewhat Gabriel-Style) and had to deal with wheels falling off the nut almost every fight. But seen other bots doing well with that method, their wheels were just way smaller.
So do it for smaller wheels, and for bigger ones you'll need a hub of some sort.

That weird Imperial nut is a 3/8 UNF, a rather normal US thread. Nothing Imperial to it. Yes, it uses inches and threads per inch, but the angle of the top ain't 55° , but 60° like the metric threads.

Depending on your robot, you could always look at some BaneBots wheel, I myself got four 2in 7/8 Orange (used 2 per axle) as i need some rather small but wide wheels and it was more cost effective for me. It really depend on your design

When I was still on drill motors I found these wheels

http://www.screwfix.com/p/select-rub...diameter/8359p

Work well with this nut:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3711183674...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT (think I went for "long female")

The hole is a bit smaller than the nut but I didn't drill it out - I jigsawed some little guidelines matching the corner points of the nut, flooded the hole with hot glue and then hammered the nut in nice and snug.

The L/H screw goes through the narrower hole at the end to tie it together nicely. After reading that same Australian guide I made sure the hole in the washer wasn't too loose. I also hacked off the little neck on the rear so the motor fits closer to the body of the wheel.

Then I got fed up trying to mount the motors and bought some Gimsons.

https://www.bearingboys.co.uk/Blue-E...-Wheels-1402-c
I believe another good source of wheels (not used them my self but I think others have). Might be heavier, but are sturdy and have a nice big boss to put a nut in. If your doing the hot nut/ small hole method, only drill the hole as deep as you want to put the nut in (not all the way through) means nut can only fall out the side you put it in, and then use a large washer on the reverse thread screw, acting against the wheel, to clamp it all together. Hope that makes sence.
Or if using the long female nut on that eBay link. you won't need a large washer (will hold the motor to the nut really well) just need to find a way to keep the nut in the wheel well.
Oh and longer nuts are often better than short (acts as a longer lever). Hope this helps

hmm wondered where you got those large blue ones from... Still, no use in my current project

A quick work of caution on the Bearing Boys blue wheels that are linked a couple of posts up. They do not have a plain bore centre, instead they have a roller bearing pressed into them which makes them no good for fitting on to the drill motor/gearbox output shaft. (Yes, I bought some without checking :oops:). You could press the bearing out but the bore you are left with is bigger than the O/D of the typical 3/8UNF nut, so still not straight forward.

Bearing boys do a grey wheel which does have a plain bore that a 3/8UNF nut can be inserted/melted into. They feel about the same level of grip as the blue wheels, but I have nothing to confirm this.

Also as noted both the blue wheels and the grey wheels are heavy, but feel reasonably sturdy. I got some nylon wheels from them and screwed mountain bike tyre on to the outside and saved around 300g for a pair of 4" wheels.

Oh thanks for correcting me! I wasn't aware of the bearings, they make every thing more awkward! (was getting some my self at somepoint so I'll keep that in mind)

bearingboys wheels need to be 'plain bore' to be the ones suitable.
i bought a selection of blue wheels, and they are fine.

Although the better grippy ones i bouht through a work supplier - BIL group. They are amazing but sadly bearing boys were just cheaper with a 20% off code, however the rubber is slightly different.

I've been using black bearing boys wheels and they've been great on a pair of drills.

Thanks everyone for all your replies! I have a good understanding of what to get now :) You are all awesome :)

Sounds like you got the wrong ones Al, need the plain bore centre ones as Nat mentioned. The bore on these is 12mm, which is a decent amount for pressing a nut into: https://www.bearingboys.co.uk/Blue-E...r-Wheel-8698-p

there are 12mm bore ones which are the 125 and 100mm diameter wheels, the 80mm diametert wheels are 8mm bore - the 80mm are the ones from BIL. i made some nuts up from some hex silver steel and pressed them into a newly drilled hole bigger that 12mm, so as long as you have suitable wall thickness, you could make some up for your diameter - contact me if you would like some made up. will add pic when i find it on phone

Hey everyone,

I have been wheel shopping and I found a cheap wheel which I thought was the right bore (It was advertised as 9mm bore). I thought with that size I could screw it straight on but no such luck unfortunately! It's actually about a 10mm bore which is a little too big.

Attachment 6693

So I had a look at Ellis's videos, like R9000 suggested, about melting the brass nut into the wheel. This looks like it will be a good plan but I just want to make sure of a few things first!

1: Does this look like the 3/8 UNF thread? Because the guy in the DIY store seemed to think it was a 10mm x 1mm machine thread. Is that the same? I done know xD What do you guys think?

Attachment 6694

2: Whats the proper name for the brass 1 inch nut thing Ellis used? cus I cant find the bleeding thing! lol

Thanks a lot everyone for your help!

Will :)

The guy in the DIY store doesn't have the backgroundf knowledge. And a M10 is close to a 3/8 UNF.
So yes, it looks like the standard 3/8unf.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by maddox10

The guy in the DIY store doesn't have the backgroundf knowledge. And a M10 is close to a 3/8 UNF.
So yes, it looks like the standard 3/8unf.

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Brilliant thank you! Any ideas on what I should look for nut wise?

Thanks a lot!

Will :)

i use these, however it isn't threaded all the way through


https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/?iid=191818...&crdt=0&chn=ps

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Roboteernat

there are 12mm bore ones which are the 125 and 100mm diameter wheels, the 80mm diametert wheels are 8mm bore - the 80mm are the ones from BIL. i made some nuts up from some hex silver steel and pressed them into a newly drilled hole bigger that 12mm, so as long as you have suitable wall thickness, you could make some up for your diameter - contact me if you would like some made up. will add pic when i find it on phone

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Is this the kind of thing you mean? **Link**

Was thinking if i can find a small enough bore then i could just screw it on?

Thanks for the reply!

Will :)

It would be a 3/8 Unc, and the brass nut thing would be called a brass coupling nut. Normally they are sink plated steel in their common form.

I made some easily on the lathe if you have access?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Roboteernat

It would be a 3/8 Unc, and the brass nut thing would be called a brass coupling nut. Normally they are sink plated steel in their common form.

I made some easily on the lathe if you have access?

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Thanks a lot :-)

Unfortunately I don't think I know anyone with a lathe. Do you think it might be a good idea to order one made to the right size? Or is there places where you can rent the equipment?

Thanks again!

Will :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by willcaddy

Thanks a lot :-)

Unfortunately I don't think I know anyone with a lathe. Do you think it might be a good idea to order one made to the right size? Or is there places where you can rent the equipment?

Thanks again!

Will :)

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If you are able to, you could become a member of a local Hackspace or Makerspace where you will find like minded people and tools to help out.

Which wheels did you go for? I could make some and sell them to you for you to insert?

Renting equipment wouldn't be suitable for a lathe, and even the smaller ones from machinemart etc wouldn't be up for the job, although could do it at a push.

I made mine from plywood. Photo shows one just mocked up, have since covered with tyres just screwed on. Attachment 6697

Tony those wheels look cool are you going to add some bike rubber ?

Yeah I have.
Attachment 6698
Attachment 6699