# spoked wheels



## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

I need spoked RR wheels that are near 1" in diameter. I've emailed Sierra Valley to see how much they'd charge for custom ones; but I was hoping there would be something cheaper & more of a stock item.

This is for a rail car project, so the wheels need to have smooth running surfaces. Ozark has a 21" (not sure what scale), but I don't have a mini lathe to smooth them out. I'd like to go RC for this, so power pickup isn't an issue, but the wheels need to be electrically isolated from one another.

Here's the prototype, but I'll not be hugely picky on spoke count or whatever.










Any ideas?

Cliff


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Cliff

LGB has plastic spoked wheels on their 2-axle European cars. If the car has lights, like the baggage car the wheels have a metal rim, tire.

You might check with Train-Li or Raindeer Pass.

Chuck


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Hi Chuck, thanks for the reminder. Yes, I've seen the Train-Li wheels, and they're close enough on the spokes I suppose, but I suspect too large... But, who knows. I'll check with Train Li next week at ECLSTS, and measure them, thanks.


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Maybe there are rims somewhere, that I could 3d print the spoked hubs for?


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## Fred Mills (Nov 24, 2008)

Cliff;
Contact me if you need LGB spoked wheels. I have a few that you can have for postage.
They are much like the regular LGB wheelsets, but are spoked with metal tires. [email protected]


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## David Leech (Dec 9, 2008)

Cliff,
Don't forget to 'look outside the G box'.
For example the smaller O gauge Hornby loco has spoked wheels just under an inch diameter.
Cheers,
David Leech, Delta, Canada


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Thanks Fred, very kind of you!
Actually, I'll be seeing you next Thursday evening, if my bar calculations are correct....


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Good idea David. I'll take my tape measurer to ECLSTS next week, and be on the lookout for out of the way O or G things like that.


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

Cliffy, check out Bachmann's hand car wheels. They are available as spare parts, I have a bunch. Approximately 27mm tread diameter with 8 spokes. Each wheel has half an axle which connect together with a plastic sleeve. They don't have a protruding axle like most wheels. The wheel hubs look similar to your picture but the wheel itself is not quite as pretty. 










http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_69_144&products_id=561

Andrew


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Thanks Andrew, funny, I have one of those and eyeballed it earlier in the day, thinking it was too big. I just measured though, about 1.08 rim diameter, might work. Nice detail. The big "G-gauge" flange od though might be a problem: about 1.29", not sure if it will fit.

But thanks for the tip, we'll see how it compares.

[edit] I just checked the Model T kit involved, and the fenders will only tolerate a max of about 1.12" dia for the flange OD. The spoked wheels of the trailing car for that BM gandy dancer rig have a flange od of 1.18, kinda tight; and not as detailed. And the flanges are so deep...

My inspiration is coming form a NGSLG article, where a gentleman converted an AMT 1:24 kit to a railcar. But he used wheels from the Hobby Barn in Plymouth MA, which is no longer in business. Hence the hunt.


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

Cliffy, easy enough to put in a drill chuck and spin against a file to reshape the the flange to be not so deep.

Andrew


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Great point, thanks Andrew. Haven't done that yet, but seems easy enough.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

You could check out the Slaters wheels. I'll bet there's one just the right size and number of spokes! 
http://forums.mylargescale.com/24-product-reviews/64426-slaters-plastikard-wheelsets.html


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Thanks for the link Pete, I'd not heard of them. Very high quality it seems.


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