Question for custom rim builders

[Miguel Batista]

Hey. Want to build my first rim. Was playing around with Autocad to make a 3D model and so forth and when building it I was thinking of materials and normally I see the faceplate of the rim either Aluminium or Carbon Fiber and was just wondering if anyone ever used (or knows someone who has) wood.

I am asking because it seems like a decent material to use for it's low weight and elasticity. Also, I don't have any milling tools but I have some wood working tools. So that would make it much easier for me to do.

 

[Daniel R.]

Hi Miguel,
two options:
1:
Wood would work. 5mm thickness at least I assume. Plywood.
Polycarbonat (plastic) or ABS would also be an option.

2:
If you design it in Autocad anyway you could let your plate laser cut or mill through a online vendor. There are a lot in the web. Just upload a 2d drawing (dxf - file) and immediately see price etc.
Some companies also allow upload of 3d data. In that case it's mostly Step-file format.
It shouldn't be that expensive.

Cheers Dan

 

[Miguel Batista]

Hi Miguel,
two options:
1:
Wood would work. 5mm thickness at least I assume. Plywood.
Polycarbonat (plastic) or ABS would also be an option.

2:
If you design it in Autocad anyway you could let your plate laser cut or mill through a online vendor. There are a lot in the web. Just upload a 2d drawing (dxf - file) and immediately see price etc.
Some companies also allow upload of 3d data. In that case it's mostly Step-file format.
It shouldn't be that expensive.

Cheers Dan

Thanks. I have some very sturdy Olive tree boards I was thinking of using. The grain is beautiful and they are very well varnished with soaking of olive oil over the years. It should be much sturdier than plywood so I was thinking of using something like 3mm.

I thought of some sort of plastic since I have access to a 3D printer (backplate would be plastic anyway) but despite only having 8Nm or so of torque, I felt like I needed something a bit more resiustant for the front plate.

I will look at some milling options in my area. That could be an option.

 

[Daniel R.]

OK, where are you from Miguel?
Europe?

The olive wood sounds good.

3d printer is good for housing or stuff like that. Or Knobs for rotarys...
Or a backplate that does not get a lot of load or that has some more features than just holes... Like for example screwing bosses etc.

 

[Miguel Batista]

OK, where are you from Miguel?
Europe?

The olive wood sounds good.

3d printer is good for housing or stuff like that. Or Knobs for rotarys...
Or a backplate that does not get a lot of load or that has some more features than just holes... Like for example screwing bosses etc.

Yeah. Uk based.

Well, the back plate would just house the eletronics and pass the bolts to the quick release so that very little load would be applied to it. Load would mostly be front plate (wood) and QR. Of course if this doesn't work then I need to feature in room to add a backplate but we are talking about a CSW not a DD wheel. Yeah, as you say. Going to sleep now. Will think more tomorrow. Saw some youtube videos on DIY rims and no one seems to have used wood. Hence my quedtion if there is anything wrong with it.