CNC Wheel Profiler

Bill Laird wrote, 3 August 2020

I find turning wheels a tiresome, boring chore, so several years ago I partnered with Terry McCauley and together we built an automated wheel profiling machine. We started with an old automobile brake lathe found on Craigslist, picture attached. Added a custom programmed chip to control two stepper motors that moved a lathe bit in the X axis and Y axis. It will CNC machine the profile of a wheel to the IBLS Wheel Standard. It will handle wheels from 3 inches to 12 inches diameter and any thickness to accommodate 1.5 inch scale to 5 inch scale wheels. To use the device the user faces off the back of a wheel casting and bores the axle hole on an engine lathe. Then the wheel is mounted on the profiling machine using various sized arbors to match the diameter of the axle hole. The finished wheel diameter is input via a control panel, the machine is started and it automatically CNC profiles the wheel.