26-Oct-2005
I purchased a 9 inch diameter, 1 inch wall tube, 12 inches long. I then had a local machine shop cut it into 1 inch slices.
The Tires were prepared by chucking the inside of the tube with the three jaw chuck, and turning the face and the outside to known dimension. Then I turned it around and faced the other side.
To machine the Tires a I mounted four blocks on the faceplate of the lathe in my shop. Then I machined the face and step in place. Then I made four clamp blocks. This setup was used throughout the tire machining process, and not removed from the lathe. The inside was machined in several steps. Each step was done to all eight Tires. First the inside of the flange was roughed. then the inside of the tire and the flange width. Next the inside of the flange was brought to the right dimension. Then the flange width was completed. Finally the tire inside was comeleted.
Then the Tire was held in the blocks with a bar that fits on the inside bore and picks up the flange. The back of the Tire was then faced.
After that the Tire was turned around and held by a slightly bigger bar. The tire tread and flange was roughed.
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