Longbox55 Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 So, most of us know about the old tire sanding tool made from a bolt trick. For those who don't know about it, basically, it involves cutting the head off a 5/16 or 3/8 bolt to allow it to be chucked in a drill, then trapping the kit tire between a couple of nuts and washers. Well, I was sanding some tires a few weeks ago, and having a little trouble keeping them square on the arbor. Got me thinking "This would work better if there was a good way of centering it. Like if it has a cone like a tire balancer or brake lathe uses". Did a little thinking about how to make a cone, and after a little trial by error, this is what I came up with. As you can see, it's not really much different, only replacing the inner nut and washer with a cast resin cone. Here it is with a tire installed. Fabrication was pretty simple, once I figured out a good way to do it. For the cone, I used a small funnel for the mold, packing the bottom of it with non hardening clay. Originally, I has intended to simply cast the cone, the drill it, bt decided that casting the bolt shank in the cone would work better. The bolt was centered into the funnel, with extra clay packed around the threads up to the level of the bottom of the taper of the funnel. I also checked the centering with a fender washer placed on the bolt higher up. Once satisfied with the position, resin was poured, then the fender washer was replaced on to hold t centered. Some minor trimming after, and cleaning up the threads, I now have a tire sander that will positively center any 1/24-1/25 passenger and light truck tire. Nice thing is, if I need a larger one, it can be easily made with the same procedure, just higher up in the taper of the funnel. It also came in handy for truing up the tire shown in the pic. It is an M&H from an AMT tire set, and I was pretty shocked at how out of wonky it was in the tread. It's now perfectly true, and has a nice even sanded surface. I'll add some more pix, as I am planning to make a larger one for 1/16 scale and larger truck tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Basher Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Cool idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigTallDad Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Faucet washers (for repairing leaky faucets) are tapered, have a centered hole, and come in several different sizes. Check 'em out at Lowe's or Home Depot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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