How to make Silicone Wheels? (Step by step tutorial on how to make your own custom wheels)

[@Oceanic_visions]

Wow so cool, I just bought them and I will be using them for my robots!

[@GrumpleBots]

Great video! I'm going to be trying this for a new 12lb bot.

[@DrumBotics]

@@GrumpleBots Great! Try to use harder silicone as your robot is very heavy.

[@CombatBro-Botics]

Thanks. We are totally trying this!

[@emmamarx9284]

I’ve been prototyping very small silicone wheels for a robo mouse project for my cats, using a similar process but I’ve been printing the rims in abs like resin. I might try FDM next for the free texture the layer lines give. Great video! Was fun to see other people experimenting with multi material designs. 😊

[@DrumBotics]

@@emmamarx9284 Thank you! You can use basically any filament for rims as long as it's not soft. My needs are different as I need a harder plastic for tightening wheels to the shaft.

[@emmamarx9284]

@@DrumBotics I’ve got some petg I’ll have to toss in the dryer and see if I can’t print some of my current designs, I get great results on small pieces on my Ender 3’s with PLA (after years of tinkering lmaoo) so hopefully I can get petg to print just as good. The wheels are dime size though 😅 might test them in PLA to see if they’ll even print correctly haha thanks for the reply! good luck on your projects!

[@DrumBotics]

@@emmamarx9284 Well, in my experience petg for me printed better and more precisely even than pla! But yeah drying is crucial for high quality small things.

[@emmamarx9284]

@@DrumBotics hmmm, interesting 🤔looks like I’m sinking my weekend into dialing in one of my printers for petg! Haha thanks man! I appreciate your feedback!

[@338AIterated]

This is awsome! im going to be making some wheels for my Vex Robotics robot and this is exactly what i needed.

[@DrumBotics]

Nice to hear!

[@338AIterated]

@@DrumBotics also quick question. for foam tiles do you think the riged wheels would still provide better grip or the reglar ones.

[@DrumBotics]

@@338AIterated Foam wheels with teeth you mean?

[@338AIterated]

@@DrumBotics no. the arena that we use in vex uses foam tiles as the floor. and in your video you mentioned for like hte harder floor like wood, tile or stone the riges seem to have better grip and allow for better acceleration and traction i was wonderinf if you thought the same would apply for a foam tile arena floor.

[@DrumBotics]

@@338AIterated Well what I know is that flat tires have more grip when they are clean (after 30 seconds depending if the floor is dusty) Bumpy tires are less grippy at first, but as they get more dusty they still retain their traction. I would think bumpy would be better still.

[@QWERTY_56_WASD]

Great video!!!

[@DrumBotics]

Thank you.

[@francootaola9172]

I would have add 45 overhangs at the exterior so it would also help with the blocking in the axis direction 👍🏻

[@VARGASESPIRIDIONFREDY]

Amazing video friend, I wish you much success

[@Rrevo]

Great video and promising content for combat robots! I would change the locking profile to be rounded on the outside diameter so you have more even pressure and wear over time with the wheels. I also generally would prefer to flow the silicone around to the side walls so they can't slide off the side. Nylon generally isn't the best plastic to help adhere silicone tread to, but you could look into some PP filament that has a better chemical bonding.

[@DrumBotics]

Interesting... Thanks for ideas, will try some.

[@thercdriver]

Great Video! What’s the difference b/w PU and Silicone Wheels?

[@DrumBotics]

Hi, sorry but what is b/w Pu I may ask? Never heard of it.

[@thercdriver]

@@DrumBotics polyurethane

[@karondkarpaintwingsnstuff4323]

@Drumbotics, any information when the kit is available again? Keep up the good work

[@DrumBotics]

Soooo, as I have just competed at a new antweight competition with the Kit it will be a little bit delayed. 2 maybe 3 weeks at most. So my plan is to release a fight recap video about the DrumBotics kit and restocking it at the same time. Thank you!

[@karondkarpaintwingsnstuff4323]

@@DrumBotics nice, order will be incoming.

[@DrumBotics]

@@karondkarpaintwingsnstuff4323 Great to hear! Also... This stack of kits will be slightly better with 7075 aluminium forks. Grippier wheels (softer silicone) and other upgrades that makes the kit easier to assemble. But everything will be mensioned in the video

[@AQucsaiJr]

What mold release wax are you having success with? Thanks.

[@DrumBotics]

@@AQucsaiJr I can't answer you with this question😀 it's, because I Bought it a long time ago and I don't remember it's brand.

[@AQucsaiJr]

@@DrumBotics No worries. Was going to give this a try with my kids and your method seems to work very well. Also, I apologize for the delay in information about the kit. I am hoping to have time for a good review very soon.

[@Tecno_sth]

Im building a wedge right know and planned to use 30g per wheel. The weight class is 500g or where I life it’s the ant weight class. Do you also have tips on how manny walls are good/bad? And what kind of infill would be the best for these kind of wheels? I already build a horizontal spinner with TPU wheels which where ok and did the job but I wanna change the tier for the spinner too

[@DrumBotics]

@@Tecno_sth 30 grams per wheel is very heavy and in that case your rims could be easily printed with 100 infill. You can save some weight by making them 4 walls with 30 something infill and that would work. I'm using a hard plastic if my wheels would be placed on the motors shaft so that the wheel would be tightly mounted on the shaft. if it's by belt then tpu, soft nylon works the best.

[@Tecno_sth]

@ thx for the great answer. I’m gonna print the rim from ASA and I have some silicon 30A lying around for the rest. The 30g is the max for the wheels as buffer.

[@TeamCryptidRobotics]

Is there a reason you used silicone over urethane wheels? I use urethane for my custom wheels

[@DrumBotics]

@@TeamCryptidRobotics Never tried urethane, I have more experience with silicone

[@JimmyHedman]

Could a syringe be used to fill the silicone?

[@DrumBotics]

@@JimmyHedman Of course! Just use a thicker one. Silicone has a pretty thick solution. The harder the silicone the thicker the it will be. But I guess it would work fine.👍

[@myaheath]

STL or 3MF file for the wheels and molds? Also curious if you tired TPU. If so, how did it compare?

[@DrumBotics]

@@myaheath No TPU didin't work at ALL. It is because there is a metal insert and there is a lot of pressure when the set screw screws and tightens the D shaft. Tpu just presses in and doesin't work. A hard plastic is needed like cf nylon. And no i do not share my files as i worked hard to design them year by year.

[@myaheath]

@@DrumBotics I was referring to using TPU for the tire component instead of silicone.

[@DrumBotics]

@@myaheath ooohhhh

[@DrumBotics]

@@myaheath Sorry for this missunderstanding. But still no. tpu does not have any grip with the floor. It is sofr as a plastic, but compared to silicome it is hard as a rock. Would not recomemd using tpu as tires.

[@damfastfpv8016]

First!

[@DrumBotics]

Congrats

[@theMGKPL]

imo poliuretan fome wheels

[@DrumBotics]

@@theMGKPL They are better in your opinion?