A Burning (Tire) Problem

[w5brw]

I was approached by the president of a local car club for a club pens. The only catch was that he wants them made out of old tires that have been used up by the members. Apparently they drag race classic cars and have several "slicks" that they want to use. I don't see any problem with the cutting or drilling, but am concerned about how to turn and finish the rubber. He wasn't sure if they wanted it natural and sanded smooth or coated with a finish.

Has anyone tried to turn this material, or glue up pieces for a larger blank? The rubber is about 1/4in thick and several layers will need to be glued together for a large blank.

Got to Love a challenge!

All input is appreciated!

 

[ed4copies]

Kind of!

Ebonite is hard rubber. If you are unsure of that, turn one, the stink will convince you.

I would think passenger car tires (the only kind I am familiar with) would be too soft and would not turn, clean.

Maybe after superheating slicks they turn harder?????

I'd certainly glue up a couple and TRY it, but I would bet (a very SMALL amount) against you (Sorry).

 

[Akula]

drag slicks are very soft...I think any finish would crack

maybe turn a pen out of a material from a car..could be the plastic or metal..then use a piece of the rubber for a soft grip

 

[w5brw]

I was thinking about using the 80grit turning tool to do the roughing out. Figured this was a good time to try setting up on a table in the driveway with the mini-lathe to minimize the malodorous problems.

Maybe if I used sandpaper glued to thin wood to do the turning and misted it with water so it wouldn't get hot I might just get it turned. Just not sure i want to do a large # of them.

 

[w5brw]

Since the tire material is so soft i wonder if it would be better to wrap it around a tube and make a PR blank. It may be hard to hide the seam though...

 

[ed4copies]

If we are taking liberties with the truth, you could get some gas hose (or some other, appropriately sized hose) and just put it around the tube.

 

[w5brw]

If we are taking liberties with the truth, you could get some gas hose (or some other, appropriately sized hose) and just put it around the tube.

Guess I could rough it up so it looks like used tire. It maybe hard enough to try a wax finish on it.

 

[robutacion]

The soft tyre rubber is perfectly workable/turnable, using the "Flap" disc system.

You need to use the lowest grit (30 or 40) to cut to rough shape, 2mm or so from the bushings, them using the 100 to 120 grits you will get a close final shape and a quite smooth finish, where you only need to do your normal hand sanding to get it really smooth.

There are 2 things that you need to keep in mind, void the rubber from getting hot, this will be achieved by not forcing the cutting grits into the rubber nor leaving them there for too long. The hand sanding done with wet/dry papers will address that issue well...!

You may also want to consider what type of finish you want for the rubber surface, if very smooth with a gloss type finish, you need to use flexible CA, otherwise the finish will shatter, latter on, pretty much the same as it does when you coat leather with the normal CA...!

You may also like the finish the Flap disc with the coarser grits leaves on the rubber, in that case, you only have to coated with something. Try it out in a piece of tyre rubber first to see what I mean...!

One of the major difference of following Ed's suggestion, apart from being hectically wrong (in my view) sorry Ed, you wouldn't have the effect the layers of rubber glued together will give, as a piece of rubber hose will show no layers...! The rubber hose idea is excellent tough, if someone wants to try making a normal rubber pen.:wink:

If those people, want pens made out of those specific tyres, that is what you should use and do, if that isn't your coup of tea, for whatever reason, let them know that, with all honesty. Suggest someone else you believe will be capable to do the job or offer the job to anyone interested here, I reckon a few nearby will be happy with the challenge...!

That's what I would do, anyways...!:wink::biggrin:

Good luck.

PS: If you are not familiar with the "Flap" disc system, there is already enough info about this in this forum, some just here

Cheers
George

 

[mredburn]

Would there be any problems with the layered plys in the tire?

 

[w5brw]

The soft tyre rubber is perfectly workable/turnable, using the "Flap" disc system.

You need to use the lowest grit (30 or 40) to cut to rough shape, 2mm or so from the bushings, them using the 100 to 120 grits you will get a close final shape and a quite smooth finish, where you only need to do your normal hand sanding to get it really smooth.

There are 2 things that you need to keep in mind, void the rubber from getting hot, this will be achieved by not forcing the cutting grits into the rubber nor leaving them there for too long. The hand sanding done with wet/dry papers will address that issue well...!

You may also want to consider what type of finish you want for the rubber surface, if very smooth with a gloss type finish, you need to use flexible CA, otherwise the finish will shatter, latter on, pretty much the same as it does when you coat leather with the normal CA...!

You may also like the finish the Flap disc with the coarser grits leaves on the rubber, in that case, you only have to coated with something. Try it out in a piece of tyre rubber first to see what I mean...!

One of the major difference of following Ed's suggestion, apart from being hectically wrong (in my view) sorry Ed, you wouldn't have the effect the layers of rubber glued together will give, as a piece of rubber hose will show no layers...! The rubber hose idea is excellent tough, if someone wants to try making a normal rubber pen.:wink:

If those people, want pens made out of those specific tyres, that is what you should use and do, if that isn't your coup of tea, for whatever reason, let them know that, with all honesty. Suggest someone else you believe will be capable to do the job or offer the job to anyone interested here, I reckon a few nearby will be happy with the challenge...!

That's what I would do, anyways...!:wink::biggrin:

Good luck.

PS: If you are not familiar with the "Flap" disc system, there is already enough info about this in this forum, some just here

Cheers
George

First, I must agree with your point of honesty! I wouldn't have attempted to pass the hose off as a tire. I consider my customers as my friends and you wouldn't do that to a friend.

Second! Thank You, I will take your info to heart and take a shot at it.

Any particular "flexible" ca you suggest? I haven't found one that would come close to that much movement. I have done a few cork slimlines with a ca finish. Those have a little give, but not as much as soft rubber.

 

[dgelnett]

Why not get a plug cutter like the kind that goes on a drill. Then drill through the tire to get a dowel of rubber. Drill a hole for the tube then follow the instructions above for finish although I would think it would be easier to cast in PR, turn and finish.

 

[robutacion]

Why not get a plug cutter like the kind that goes on a drill. Then drill through the tire to get a dowel of rubber. Drill a hole for the tube then follow the instructions above for finish although I would think it would be easier to cast in PR, turn and finish.

That is in fact the best, easiest and fastest way to get the tyre material you require to make the blank(s) with.

At the moment I only can think of one person, our own Monty, that sells flexible CA but is black...! I have read some articles about the various other types of CA, such as the odorless and the flexible ones, I can't recall at the moment where but, a Google search will provide some results, for sure...!:wink:

Warning: I shall state that, the "Flap" disc system is very addictive, in fact, you will be wondering why you haven't tried it, long time ago...!:wink::biggrin:

 

[CREID]

Just a thought here, why not a comfort grip with the rubber, then something else for the main body of the pen.
Curt

 

[JD Combs Sr]

Rubber Hose Pen

I recently turned a slimline from black rubber hose. The hose is fairly flexible, to me it doesn't feel any harder (or softer) then a rubber tire. It turned fairly easy (certainly not like wood but...) with standard tools and easily sanded as well keeping in mind what robutacion covered above when sanding. The previous posts mention using flexible CA on rubber but this was done with regular medium CA. I have some flexible CA but never thought about using it for this. The only real problem I had with it was the nylon mesh reinforcement fibers would not cut very cleanly. They acted a little like soft end grain. I solved the problem by periodically soaking them with thin CA as in soak-dry-turn-soak-dry-turn etc.

Here is my original posting for the pen. http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=78222

 

[JD Combs Sr]

Just a thought here, why not a comfort grip with the rubber, then something else for the main body of the pen.
Curt

I like this idea, perhaps you could use old gear shift knobs or something like that for the remainder of the pen. Just a thought.

 

[CREID]

Just a thought here, why not a comfort grip with the rubber, then something else for the main body of the pen.
Curt

I like this idea, perhaps you could use old gear shift knobs or something like that for the remainder of the pen. Just a thought.

I had a good idea?
Later, I got to go call people!
Curt

 

[wouldentu2?]

Visited a facility where they capped tires and saw the guy abrading the rubber off the carcass before it got its cap, decided then and there to put that into my bucket list of jobs never to do.

 

[tomcatchevy]

What about using some of the tire debris that ends up on the rear fenders during their burnouts? You could probably cast those.