Spitfire2865
Western Thunderer
Hello all.
Wondering if anyone has any experience making their own loco wheels.
As some may know, I have a desire to build an early American loco to modern G3 standard and unfortunately there are no usable wheels currently on the market.
My idea is to do it as the prototype, having a cast or machined spoked center with a machined tyre shrunk onto it. The major pitfall for me is I have no access to machine tools, although I should be able to shrink a tyre myself with the household oven or bbq by my very rough calculations.
My question then is does anyone know of any good small run manufacturers who would be able to take a design from master to finished parts?
I would idealy like to not blow the entire budget on wheels but I realize they would be a good portion of the cost.
Wondering if anyone has any experience making their own loco wheels.
As some may know, I have a desire to build an early American loco to modern G3 standard and unfortunately there are no usable wheels currently on the market.
My idea is to do it as the prototype, having a cast or machined spoked center with a machined tyre shrunk onto it. The major pitfall for me is I have no access to machine tools, although I should be able to shrink a tyre myself with the household oven or bbq by my very rough calculations.
My question then is does anyone know of any good small run manufacturers who would be able to take a design from master to finished parts?
I would idealy like to not blow the entire budget on wheels but I realize they would be a good portion of the cost.