All the craziness I see happening all over this forum has me wonder why I'm even talking about screwing around with aluminum wheels when I could just make then from carbon fiber? Sure, they might break...but they might not right? If I though some kevlar in probably they won't ever actually come apart. hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.............
You'd be the guy to pull that off. I feel like im working on an airplane with a pipe wrench and a pocket knife in comparison.
What he said. If anyone can homebrew up a set of CF wheels that work it's you. Heck I'm wondering why you mucked about with those silly camshafts instead of just and simply whipping up your own freevalve setup! Just kidding! I think!
It doesn't look hard when these guys do it...
19x10" wheel 5.9kg or just under 13lbs..... that's a light wheel! And I'm guessing only that heavy to let them hit stiffenss goals, he talks a little about that.
The biggest concern I heard int eh video was surviving brake temps....hadn't really thought much about that.
Hadn't thought much about prepreg either. I've never used it but it looks wonderful to work with no mess and take as long as you need with the layup....but google says it's 2-3x the price of cloth+epoxy if I'm looking at the numbers right which is less than budget friendly.
I'll need to think about this a bit.....
In reply to mke :
I've been following this thread since you first posted it. I'm wondering about this "Budget Friendly" of which you speak...
In reply to rdcyclist :
Budgets come in all sizes. 
rdcyclist said:In reply to mke :
I've been following this thread since you first posted it. I'm wondering about this "Budget Friendly" of which you speak...
The whole project was done on a normally $2000 Challenge budget!
.......every year I spend the 2k and then have to wait until next year when the challenge resets and work can continue. There's a reason its at 11 years and counting ;)
Right now I'm readying about vacuum bagable prepreg and also wondering how hard it would be to convert an old compressor take to an autoclave and wondering how to keep all that within a challenge budget. :)
200 gal for $200....hopefully they still have it. It has to be 2ft dia, that will fit a wheel. If I get the tank I'll hunt up an old over to rip apart, wrap it in fiberglass and for under $300 Ill have and autoclave and be a CF King! ... if they still have it.
I hope they still have it! I wanna see what you do with it!
If that falls apart this place says they have a prepreg that only need vacuum bag pressure to cure.
So something like this might be another option.
wvumtnbkr said:I hope they still have it! I wanna see what you do with it!
He says someone is supposed to be pickling it up today....talk about a day late. He'll call if the other guy is a no-show.
I'm finding a lot of literature on OOA (out of Autoclave) stuff now meeting areospace specs.....so maybe an oven is all I need to to this.
In just a few posts this has gone from joking about building carbon fiber wheels, to buying equipment to make the wheels you were just joking about, to having a backup plan in case the equipment was already sold. There is craziness all over this website, but I think your craziness has had a stronger cup of coffee.
In reply to bigeyedfish :
And now you know how I ended up with a black that didn't fit the trans or engine bay and heads that didn't fit the block, had cams with the wrong firing order and ports that point at each other with no way to install an intake.....a lot more is possible when you don't stop to think it through very well first. At least I've moved on from trying to weld new centers into the wheels
"A lot more is possible when you don't stop to think it through very well first."
Well, there's my new .sig. and life motto..
Jay_W said:"A lot more is possible when you don't stop to think it through very well first."
Well, there's my new .sig. and life motto..
Variation on my "Dare to be stupid, life will be more interesting"
Pete
i got nothing, just continue on good sir. I'm enjoying watching it.
Compressor tank sold....plan B with the OOA stuff.
A little quick math. onshape says the volume of the 3pc front wheel is 4479364 mm^3. A yard of standard prepreg CF is 353960 mm^3 and costs about $120. That means there is $1500 on material in a front wheel. If I did that math right then that is not in budget really.
Going to CF cloth and resin separate is about 1/2 that....so $750.
Going to Eglass would be more like $150 and still 1/3 lighter than aluminum, maybe ad $50 to do the outer skin in CF. Very budget friendly....but not CF
The design is far from optimal for a composite layup but I do want to keep the OEM look....my guess is I can reduce the material volume by about 1/3 which would get the cloth+resin into budget sort of.....if molds are free....and I don't scrap anything....and I can actually do the layup in the 2 hours working time.....
And there just has to be some way to use my 3d printer in the mold making process....maybe print 5 spoke/rim sections....or print 1 section and make 5 fiberglass copies I can glue together to make a full wheel mold.
A Creality CR-10 S5 printer ($550 if you wait for a coupon on ebay) can print a 20" cube. Do it all as one?
In reply to Autolex :
That's big! I have a folger tech ft-5
https://folgertech.com/products/folger-tech-ft-5-large-scale-3d-printer-kit
That is 300x300x400...I'd hate to buy another
I had to be the voice of reason, but I’d be seriously worried about making wheels as your first CF project. Konigseg took years to develop their full carbon wheels. When wheels fail (especially in a 900 hp car) things go really bad. I’d really love to see this happen, but I also want to see this car survive a lot of miles.
In reply to Nate90LX :
You're not the only one concerned....I got similar thoughts from a couple buddies. I think any time you're making or modifying structural or stressed parts things can go badly wrong. I'm not sure a broken wheel is any worse than a broken A-arm or spindle....they all lead to a corner of the car on the ground and probably a loss of control and damaged body work right off the bat and possibly a lot more damage depending on speed and location where the loss of control occurs. In some countries you can't even install a non-factory approved tire size and drive on a public road and technically thats true in the US as well with stuff like home made wheels or exhaust systems which are not DOT/EPA approved.
For me personally though its more about project risk vs reward. Buy wheels and bolt them on, no risk....well maybe I'll be off on measuring something and endup needing a spacer or something....and if they are non OEM custom wheels finding a replacement should a pot hole or anything else strike is a concern. Wheels break, my DD has at least 2 bent wheels at the moment and I just a crack one off. Very little reward though....there really is nothing that looks the way I want them to look exactly and buying full custom wheels is WAY out of the question budget wise. . If I make wheels I can always make more so risk of not being able to match but it probably won't go to whatever schedule or budget I tell myself is right.....and having a running engine and no wheels would s#ck.
First thing though is to have a look at what the design would look like. The OEM 308 look that I'd like to maintain is optimized for casting not CF or 3pc don't waste billet.....I got a decent solution on the 3pc center so now I'll have a look at a composite design which because I'll be trying to semi-copy the OEM style it honestly could also be an aluminum fab/weldment design center. Then go from there....had I bought the compressor tank yesterday the decision would be made but since no $$ have yet been spent its really still at the options phase.....on to design.
This thread and your build is awesome, in every sense of the word. thank you.
Not really done yet but sort of getting there. Its 16.5 lbs at the moment but I want to add a bit in the couple place on the rim and remove a bit in the spokes and hub areas and I'm leaning toward inserts for the lugs....but getting there.
Hey.. wait a second! You have a large 3D printer, why not print the centers for a 3-piece wheel, make a silicone mold and cast them instead? You might even be able to fast them in magnesium if you're concerned about the weight?
In reply to Cassius :
Not large enough to print the whole center.....12x12", but I can print wedges and bond them into a full center and maybe call around and find a someone with a bigger printer of even cnc router to know out an mdf or foam plug. But then the casting.....I don't casting stuff and I don't have heat treat stuff....I could add that to the list but thats a big project with spending and learning curve all its own. I looked around the other day for places that could cast it for me and that is an option....probably can't tell them what the part is exactly but its possible. I posted on the ferrari forum to see if there was any interest so I could split the cost but not a peep so....I'll finish the CF design and then decide as the CF center design would be about right asa cast center too.
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