Looking for ideas on how to widen rubber tires

[midlineqb]

How can I cut rubber tires and glue the parts of 2 tires back together to make them wider?

[GLMFAA1]

Look for the old 'oil embargo' two piece tires and they would be easier to work with.

greg

[Russell C]

This is something that I've thought about but haven't tried yet. It might work best on a tread where a wide flat center section would not look out of place. Using some form or another of plastic, I'd find a way to 'lathe-turn a dowel so that the widening center section is the diameter of the tire, while the two outer areas are cut down just enough to be the inside diameter, thus giving me areas to superglue the split tire sections onto.

Or, I suppose just a straight dowel section could be cut down to match the inside diameter, and the widened section in the center could be a strip cut out of a donor tire and all three could be glued onto the dowel. Do it right, and the added center section could have the deeper levels on each side, making the graft much harder to see.

Edited December 27, 2023 by Russell C

[Bills72sj]

I have done this a number of times. Solid vinyl tires. Sharp #11 blade. Slice 4 tires offset to make two tires. Cut in the groove of the tread not the face. Glue the larger halves together with black automotive RTV.

[midlineqb]

4 hours ago, GLMFAA1 said:

Look for the old 'oil embargo' two piece tires and they would be easier to work with.

greg

Greg, I haven't heard pf these tires before. Where would I look for them?

[midlineqb]

4 hours ago, Russell C said:

This is something that I've thought about but haven't tried yet. It might work best on a tread where a wide flat center section would not look out of place. Using some form or another of plastic, I'd find a way to 'lathe-turn a dowel so that the widening center section is the diameter of the tire, while the two outer areas are cut down just enough to be the inside diameter, thus giving me areas to superglue the split tire sections onto.

Or, I suppose just a straight dowel section could be cut down to match the inside diameter, and the widened section in the center could be a strip cut out of a donor tire and all three could be glued onto the dowel. Do it right, and the added center section could have the deeper levels on each side, making the graft much harder to see.

Could you explain this method in more detail. I can't picture how you would cut the tires? 

[stitchdup]

use glue from a puncture repair kit, or shoogoo2. the shoogoo2 is black glue for repairing soles of trainers. its mostly found in the independant skateboard shops as long as you dont live in california cos it got banned there. loctite also do a version but its clear and full off bubbles and includes silicon which nobody wants near any models. The shoogoo2 does not contain silicon and i'm sure if you were careful could be used to mold your own tyres but its would be a messy process as its really sticky. once it has set it is still pliable. also use it outside, or in the garage with the big doors open. the fumes will affect you otherwise as they are very strong. when i glued up my trainers i left them outside for 2 days cos the fumes hung about for a while

[Fat Brian]

Here's a post that might help.

 

[Russell C]

16 hours ago, midlineqb said:

... how you would cut the tires? 

Brian Croft here beat me to the punch way better than I could have done with the link to the Feb 2018 thread which I must have missed. Great suggestions within it! My late father gave me a mini-lathe with a variable speed drive, so that's what I'll use to spin tires, vinyl or some 2 piece plastic slicks that I got from MCM's Dan Doane where I can turn straight grooves into the plastic ones. The home-made cradle for a cordless drill sure looks handy for slowly spinning large model car pieces.