Keyed Hubs

[TheKid]

I cut keyways into the hubs to see if they would work. All was going well until I attempted to weld the hub together. The wire wouldn't feed. As soon as I opened the top, I saw the problem - rust on the wire. So I had to quit to wrap new wire on a spool. I have a 10 lb. spool and rigged a holder for the welder, but as soon as the weather started getting humid, I took it off, wound two lbs. on a spool and used that. I have access to a machine used for winding line onto fishing reels, so I had to go a few blocks and wind some new wire. By then it was getting dark, so I couldn't finish the first hub. The rest of the 10 lb. spool went right back in the old cooler I keep it in, and I added some fresh dessicant. I just stopped attempting to thread the axle. I got about a half inch threaded, when one of the arms on the die handle broke off. I'll weld it back on first the chance I get. As soon as I finish the first hub, I'll have some pics.

[Richie Rich]

On my Lincoln MIG, I have a piece of Scotch-Brite pad folded over the wire and held in place with a few squeeze-type clothes pins just after it leaves the spool and before the wire enters the drive wheel.

It's a tip I saw somewhere on the old Forum and it seems to work for me. It cleans off any light oxidation before it gets to the torch.

....Richie >

[TheKid]

Thanks Rich. I did the same thing after I saw that in the old forum. It worked well, but I didn't want to take a chance with the 10 lb spool. This time, it was near the end of what was left of two lbs., and I guess the pad wore out. So I just scrapped what was left, which really wasted only a foot or two, because the last six feet can't used anyway. I'll put a new pad on tomorrow when I put the spool on. As soon as the humidity drops a bit, I'll go back to the 10 pounder. There's only about 3 lbs. left on it anyway.
In the meantime, this keyed hub thing seems to work well, so I think I make a couple of 26" hubs as well. I like the 68 spoke hubs. They would look good on a quad, especially with 4 spinners.

[TheKid]

I just attempted to finish threading one end of the axle with just one arm on the handle. It was easy enough, but I didn't notice the threads are crooked. I hope I have another 5/8-11 die. This one's kinda old, and I think I bought another one last year.
http://forum.atomiczombie.com/images/misc/progress.gif http://forum.atomiczombie.com/images/buttons/edit.gif (http://forum.atomiczombie.com/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=4869)
That was from the KC forum, JB Weld thread.
Between doing little things I could do in the middle of the night, I come back here to see what's up. I found the die I bought a while back, and cut the crooked threads off. Apparently, this keyed shaft is a bit harder than the non-keyed shafts I have. I can't seem to get the threads to go at least fairly straight. Even beveling first doesn't help. I guess I'll be off to the hardware store to get the axles threaded. Either that, or cut keyways into the axles I have that are already threaded. I don't know if I could still cut with that much precision anymore, but I guess it's worth a try. That's too noisy for this time of day, so I'll have to wait.

[TheKid]

A little sleep helps a lot. The first thing I did was visit my neighbor the welder, to ask him to get me some welding rods. He gets them from work at a good discount. There's no sense having two back-up welders if you can't use them. I cut off the crooked threads again, and this time, put a steeper bevel on the axles. Bingo. The threads are straight enough now. I had a small problem making the hubs, trying to get them straight. I ended up putting a piece of 1 1/2" OD tube over the freewheel threads, then putting the other flange with the flat side against the tube. The Spinner will be mounted to a 1 3/8" OD tube, which fits nicely into the back side of the freewheel flange. A 5/8" nut fits almost snugly into the 1 3/8" tube, so I'll weld the nut into the tube, so it will thread on the axle. I tried to get some pics, but I had trouble with my software. I'll have to reinstall it later.