Wheel jig

**Treecycle** · 19th June 2016, 09:44 PM

I've been working on a design for a jig to help in cutting the tread on wheels for construction vehicles.
Below is the design I drew up and have modified it a few times as I started to make the parts.

Jig model.JPG Jig model_2.JPG Jig model_3.JPG

The idea is that a wheel can be mounted on the front shaft and locked to it. The knob at the back can be used to index the shaft and wheel around precisely using the pin to locate the knob for each cut position. I have holes through at 3 different heights to accommodate a vast range of wheel sizes. Anything from 40mm up to 200mm diameter will potentially fit.
So far I have only made up the 2 mounting plates and checked their alignment over the saw blade.

WP_20160618_16_18_57_Pro.jpg WP_20160618_16_19_13_Pro.jpg WP_20160618_16_19_46_Pro.jpg

I have a template of a basic wheel which I can modify and see what the wheel will look like before I cut the grooves. It only takes about 30 seconds to make the changes and you know exactly what you are going to end up with. Below are some samples of different variations.

Wheel 16 narrow.JPG Wheel 16 wide.JPG Wheel 24 narrow.JPG Wheel 24 wide.JPG

The next job is to turn the indexing knob on the lathe. I will make 2 different diameter knobs, one for small diameter wheels and one for the bigger ones. I am going to put 24 index positions in one and 18 in the other. I will look at making others as I experiment. As I don't have a dado stack, to make the wider cuts I will just loosen the nut holding the wheel after the first revolution of cuts and rotate it enough to get the slot width I require, then do another revolution of cuts.
I will update when I have the knobs and shaft turned. The shaft will have to be steel to give me the strength I need.
I am sure there will changes that need to be made once I get it finished start to use it.

**Keith_1** · 19th June 2016, 09:51 PM

Great work and great Graphics too Dallas

Top Stuff

Keith

**htl** · 20th June 2016, 05:53 AM

Needing to make one myself and like you, have been checking all the different ways it can be done.
Sure am liking the adjustability of your jig.
Nicely done and looking forward to more.

**crowie** · 20th June 2016, 09:50 PM

Mechanical Engineering - resourceful and brilliant Dallas...
Heaps easier to have it in the kit rather than all my jigs I'm made....
Thank you sir for sharing it...HOPEFULLY THE MODS & ADMINS WILL ADD IT TO THE BEST OF THE BEST for easy future reference for those that follow...
Well done, cheers, Peter

**Alexkara** · 21st June 2016, 02:47 PM

Hi 3C, Being a jig maker, I am very impressed. The diagram appears to be a SketchUp model which further impresses me.
Is the any chance of getting a copy of the SKP file? I am fortunate enough to have access to a laser cutter and though I only cut to a max of 6mm MDF I could always cut multiple pieces and laminate. Would need to modify your plan to include dowel alignment holes for the lamination otherwise it looks great to me. Laser cutting would eliminate any minute drill press/hole alignment issues.

I would be more than happy to do some “horse trading” for T&J models imported into SU.

Nice to meet someone that may share my passion for using SU.
Alex.

**Dalboy** · 21st June 2016, 05:13 PM

Great looking jig Dallas look forward to seeing the first wheels off of it.

**Treecycle** · 21st June 2016, 09:36 PM

Originally Posted by Alexkara

Hi 3C, Being a jig maker, I am very impressed. The diagram appears to be a SketchUp model which further impresses me.
Is the any chance of getting a copy of the SKP file? I am fortunate enough to have access to a laser cutter and though I only cut to a max of 6mm MDF I could always cut multiple pieces and laminate. Would need to modify your plan to include dowel alignment holes for the lamination otherwise it looks great to me. Laser cutting would eliminate any minute drill press/hole alignment issues.
I would be more than happy to do some “horse trading” for T&J models imported into SU.
Nice to meet someone that may share my passion for using SU.
Alex.

Thanks for the kind words Alex. Unfortunately it is not done in Sketchup so I cannot give you a skp file. I can save it in up to 30 other file formats if you have any others you can work with.

**htl** · 21st June 2016, 11:59 PM

Having fun making your jig today, and trying to come up with a good way to hold the tire in place for the cut.

**Alexkara** · 22nd June 2016, 01:18 AM

Originally Posted by Treecycle

Thanks for the kind words Alex. Unfortunately it is not done in Sketchup so I cannot give you a skp file. I can save it in up to 30 other file formats if you have any others you can work with.

Curse words... Still to find another Sketchup tragic. Any chance of a DWG or DXF forma? Oherwise a picture (BMP,JPG,TIF) format from a front on perspective may do.

**Treecycle** · 22nd June 2016, 10:38 AM

DWG or DXF no problem. DXF appears to be a file type I can attach here.
I will do it tonight when at home and see how we go.

**Treecycle** · 22nd June 2016, 10:01 PM

Saved the files as DXF, but when I went to insert them here it said they were too large.
I do have them as PDF if that helps.
I machined up the shaft tonight at work so now I can do the rest of the wooden parts at home.

Wheel tread jig reduced.PDF

Shaft.jpg

**Alexkara** · 22nd June 2016, 10:53 PM

At a pinch the PDF will have to do. Unfortunately I would need to draw it from scratch and use the PDF for measurements (which I was hoping to avoid). Do you have a DropBox account and if not would you be adverse to creating one? I have one, but I believe when I invite someone to my DropBox, they are required to register/create an account. If it's not too much of an issue I would need your email address for the invite. Some people are adverse to giving out private addresses so you could email it to me at "[email protected]" otherwise I'll just make do with the PDF. I use dropbox to share my Sketchup files and one get 250GB free storage to play with.

**htl** · 23rd June 2016, 02:25 AM

Treecycle thanks for the plans here's a look at my first try at this.

IMG_2803.JPG IMG_2807.JPG

Will do a post latter to day when I see how and if things work out.

**Dalboy** · 23rd June 2016, 06:18 AM

Thank you for sharing the PDF Dallas I certainly like the design and can make good use of a tread cutting jig

**Treecycle** · 23rd June 2016, 08:40 AM

Great work there htl. There's no messing about with you, straight in and get it done.
Good to see different ideas for the indexing. My ideal would be to find a small wormbox and mount it on the end of the shaft, but not worth the cost of buying one. That way it could be used a bit like an indexing head used in engineering which gives you almost infinitely variable options.
How did you position and cut the slots in your template?

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