How to: Radius Inner/Outer Lips

[[ben]]

Things you will need:

- bench grinder
- hanger
- wheel(s)
- old bearings
- good bearing spacers & speed rings (and an axle nut of course!)

Optional but recommended:

- dust mask




Starting off, place the wheel on the hanger as you normally would, making sure everything is properly aligned and the axle nut is cranked down tight securing everything in position. If the axle nut is not cranked down, the wheel will probably be able to wiggle around a bit on the axle which will result in oscillations at a high RPM.

With just a slight amount of pressure pulling the inner lip of the wheel against the grinder, grind about a 45-degree angle along the circumference of the lip. This step is to determine the radius of the modification; the more you grind off, the larger radius you're going to have.



Next, start to round it off. Rock the lip back and fourth against the grinder, applying light pressure while doing so.





Now, as far as radiusing the outer lip goes, I would recommend that you flip the wheel and repeat the process. Proceeding to radius the outer lip without flipping it is rather unstable and difficult; your control over the wheel is greatly reduced and chances are it will jump around a lot.



It's do-able but I don't recommend it, so I'm not going to include it in this tutorial.

The finished product may look something like this, depending on how you wanted to do it...



Let me know if I'm being a bit vague on anything; I'm tired and have only spent about 10 minutes on this.

Peace,
-Ben

[Shimotakimas]

I like to sticky instructional threads.

[VulgarDisplayCFH]

Congrats on the sticky and sweet job on wheels.

[Metalhead8290]

GREAT! thanks Ben.

[skully]

So Ben,

Are those Zig-Zags you show in your photos?

I'm thinking about trying out a set of 89a zigs for a pool / park setup, wondering how they would work with radius'ed lips.....

[[ben]]

Yessir,
They are indeed ZigZags (70mm).

[surfinsmiley]

I just did a "make shift" trim on an old pair of Gumballs.

I don`t have access to any machines so I just used a few inches of an old hacksaw blade and rolled down a very slight hill holding the blade against the lip of the wheel.

One run and each lip was trimmed perfectly. Easy!

[Loki440]

About 5 mins work and this is what i got.

either way they were an old set of zigzags with a bit of chunkage on one of the wheels, and last night i was having some troubles well not really but some dancer tricks the lips of the wheels would catch if you didnt do them perfectly so figured hey my not try radius's them.

I did them using an 8 inch polisher with a 60 grit sanding disk on it, work quite good, so much so i think ill do a few more wheels once i try these out.

[Loki440]

oh forgot to add there are a couple tricks i learned while doing, one i marked lines about 3mm in from the lips (can vary on how much you want them to be radiused) but then you sand/grind it at a 45 degree angle till you get to that line, then you just round it, this way they will all be equally radiused instead of just eyeballing it

[wake]

what are the benefits of radiused wheels?

[borisdamole]

not that i care but just so no one gets wrong ideas, its not safe to side grind(to grind on the side of the grinding wheel) with metals..... some grinding wheels are reinforced and ok to side grind on, but most wheels can shatter, and thats VERY dangerous.... it shouldnt be a problem with wheels, but side grinding with metal= very bad....

[Steve757]

so how do those radiused zigs ride ben?
or loki?

i mthinkin of practicing on an old set of avalons i got, then maybe trying out on my orange big zigs:]

[pistol pete]

wow nice job ben. they look great

[[ben]]

Originally Posted by Steve757

so how do those radiused zigs ride ben?
or loki?

i mthinkin of practicing on an old set of avalons i got, then maybe trying out on my orange big zigs:]

Perfect for a carving board. (IMO)

I have some beveled 70mm 80a Zigs on my Vanguard and they offer both great traction and a smooth, predictable drift. They don't seem to slide as well on my Hellcat though, I s'pose it's because I run the trucks tighter.

[.secrets]

Originally Posted by wakeskater17

what are the benefits of radiused wheels?

i would like to know as well

[GoGreenLongboarding]

radiused wheels slide easier and/or more predictably. it helps prevent chunking too

[lukethepuke]

when you say crank them down tight, do you mean that the wheel should be able to spin freely but not jiggle or not be able to move at all?

[[ben]]

The wheel should be able to spin freely, but if you don't have proper alignment the wheel can oscillate and you'll end up with an uneven job.
It's nice to have as little side-to-side movement as possible.

[whatsisname6]

uh how does this help your wheels?

EDIT: whoops didnt see that
never mind

[dhwa1]

is there something else i can use instead of a bench grinder?