A handy wheel puller/press can be made from a C clamp. All you need do is notch the fixed side so that an axle can easily slip into the notch. Depending on the axle orientation you can either pull or push…
JJ from ‘over there’ came up with this idear.
John
I do not see this working when you can not get to the axle from the outside of the wheel. Please elaborate. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif)
I need both of you to elaborate. I am not sure how any of these ideas will work. I admit complete ignorance on this issue; in looking at the wheel the external surface of the hub is a solid piece of metal (or is it just something painted over, or is it plugged with something?). There is nothing to spread that I can see. On a normal gear puller or pulley puller you push on the axle and pull on the thing your trying to remove. I do not immediately see how this is possible.
Joe are you referring to using the external snap ring pliers on both wheels at the same time pushing them apart? That I might be able to see but that’s a big set of snap ring pliers.
Devon,
I use just an inexpensive auto parts store set like this with the tip holder plates turned sideways.
That will push drivers of the axles? Hmm, OK I have a set of those I think. I will have to give that a try. Now do both come off this way or only the weak side? Seems to me once one pops off your kinda stuck with the other. I am not sure why I would ever need to take of both sides but just wondering.
This afternoon I did a 16 tooth 14.5 mm gear (but without the shoulders in your drawing and without knowing the axle hole diameter. It took me about ten minutes. Go to Tinkercad. com and sign in (it’s free) On the work page is a column on the right. Go to Community contributions, and find ProGear. Even a newbie can figure out how to form a gear. I’ll walk you through the rest. If you are on Tinkercad, go to their search engine and enter Bachmann Trolley Gear 6.5 and take a look at the finished product.
If I can do it, anyone can. Don’t sell yourself short.
This wheel puller won’t work if there is a gear on the axle. But it’s clearly an “outside the box” way to remove wheels. I just grab 'em and twist til they pull off! If they are stubborn, I’ll put a pair of vise grips on the axle and use a screwdriver to wedge one wheel off!
Joe Zullo said:
I do not see this working when you can not get to the axle from the outside of the wheel. Please elaborate. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-undecided.gif)
The notched C clamp.
I admit this was designed for car wheels more than flush drivers. I’d drill a small indent (in the screw side cup) for a section of drill rod (I save dull drills and use their shanks when I need quality steel) to push the axle out.
If your vise is wide enough you might be able to rest a wheel on the jaws and tap the axle out, the reverse is trickier with a hammer. Any sideways force might cause a shoulder to gouge the bearing surface.
John
Now i have a question. When you put the wheel back on, how do you properly quarter it?
I put the wheel in a bench vice with the vice opened enough so the gears do not touch the jaws , but the back of the wheel sit flat on the jaws.
I then Just tap the axle that sticks out with a small hammer.
John and Sean, I think you fellows are assuming the axle protrudes out the face side of the wheel. It doesn’t.
Devon, the weak side will come off first. To get the other off, clamp the axle in a vise and use an open end wrench against the back of the wheel and around the axle. Tap on the wrench with a small hammer.
Dick, You do not want to twist these wheels off. They are splined. The plastic splines will shear away and the wheel will be useless. The open jaws off the puller straddle the gear. It works, I’ve done it.
David, quartering is accomplished by lining up the proper spline on the second wheel before seating it on the axle.
Joe Zullo said:
John and Sean, I think you fellows are assuming the axle protrudes out the face side of the wheel. It doesn’t.
OK then you use a drift punch on the axle with the hammer.
?I don’t think you are grasping the concept here?
Hmmmm …OK … Never Mind!
Joe Zullo said:
?I don’t think you are grasping the concept here?
I don’t think you can believe we know what we are doing … (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)
Brace the wheel on the notch in the fixed end of the C clamp and using some drill rod use that to press out the axle using the floppy end (where I’d drill an indent to hold the rod in place) on the screw part… screw it down pushing the axle through the wheel. POP!
Can be done…
Happy Rails,
John
John,
The axle is not accessible from the face of the wheel. Thus there is nowhere that the drill rod can push on.
Joe
It looks like some thing goes thru the wheel …
Disregard the red arrow… look to the left were the rods connect.
I am with Joe on this one unless I am majorly miss-understanding what is being said. These drivers have no access to the end of the axle to push on hit on or to anything else too. There is no through hole on the driver. the face of the driver is a solid piece of metal that forms a cup that the axle is pressed into. In order to use any sort of normal puller you pull on the wheel and push on the axle. This can’t happen.
No Sean the side rods do not attach to the axle centers; they are offset on the crank pins. The crank pins have a hole in them that a plastic thing pushes into. So no there is nothing going through the center of the wheel. Press a dowel into a coffee cup that’s what you have.
