Jon, ah, ok, I understand now. I have places I wont spend my money at also.
I’ve always had good luck with Kadee products – in any scale. The wheels do sound expensive, but they may be useful for certain applications.
I use San-Val (EZ Roll) metal wheels extensively and really like them. I also have some Bachmann, MTH, and AMS metal wheels. I did a project recently where I put four of the small Bachmann wheels to put under Hartland cars. I didn’t modify the underframe at all.
They look really nice.
OK - On close inspection of the photos these are cast wheels like Bachmann rather than CNC turned like Aristo and USA. The cast in name is kinda cool - might be better on the wheel face like early prototype wheels.
I wonder how true they are. Bachmann wheels tend to be a bit wobbly. Greg?
I still have a large stock of Aristo wheels so I’m not in the market, but I would certainly give them a try if I was.
Jon, the prototypes I was provided with were beautiful, I believe they are sintered, i.e. molded like the last batch of diesel wheels from Aristo, and like the freight wheels from AML.
(sintered is powdered metal pressed into a mold, seems to give better dimensional results than casting, don’t know why casting is so much less accurate, must be wear in molds or temp changes as molten metal cools, perhaps someone knows better than me and can explain better)
They are indeed beautiful, with crisp, readable lettering. They ran perfectly true.
Yes, I’ve bought many bachmann wheels, they are cast and often wobble, some so badly I threw them away, but they are cheap.
I do not have a set of the “plain” Kadee wheels. I must have been provided these prototypes about 2 years ago, interestingly…
Greg
Thanks Greg -
I’m pretty familiar with the sintered metal process. Back in the 80’s I worked on the line in a sintered metal job shop.
The reason they can get such good detail is in the process; a very fine metal powder is stamped under very high pressure using two dies to mold the part. After a few seconds at extreeme pressure, a solid, yet fragile piece emerges from the stamp. This is sent on to a sintering oven that fuses the particles into a durable metal object.
Thanks Jon, I mostly mentioned the sintering process for people who might not know. (I meant to preface the part in parentheses with “for those of you who do not know”…)
Clearly you know a lot! I’d appreciate hearing any more you have to share on the process… it seems to me, just from observation, not knowledge, that there must be variations in the process that affect the “granularity” of the finished product, if that makes any sense? Can you shed any light here? I noticed this “granularity” when trying to get a smooth surface on some Aristo loco wheels.
It looks like this process is finding more application in our hobby.
Regards, Greg
Some 3D printers use sintered metal as well. Maybe we can get some 1:32 detail parts in sintered metal in a few years!
I see the methods, SLS (selective laser sintering) and SLM (selective laser melting).
Both use powdered metal building up in layers with the laser “making” the part, either sintering or metling the metal powder.
Unfortunately, much more expensive and not suited to mass production, but prototyping.
But yes, if you can pay the price you could get the parts… I would think that the much less expensive plastic 3D printing will be the frontrunner for detail parts that don’t NEED to be in metal.
Back to the topic 
, the Kadee wheels themselves, I’ll be interested in other’s evaluations of this new product.
Greg
Makes one wonder if the next logical product would be trucks?
Only if they are sprung trucks with real springs! A Al Delton of long ago. Those I’ll buy. Paul
Aren’t their HO trucks sprung?
I had been using Aristo’s modern rollerbearing trucks, but will you still be able to get them after the current stock is gone? Seems like it could be a good time to put another product on the market. Just thinking out loud here…
Thanks Jon, I wondered what sintering was.
Greg, Sam the answer man from KaDee replied to my email. His answer is a set is 2 axles, enough wheels to do one truck. But the posts here show 4 axles. Maybe Sam doesn’t have all the answers. Since you have seen these KaDee wheels, are they heavy? A few years back Comstock came out with some metal wheels and they were really light.
I found I can fix wobbly Bachmann wheels by pressing out the plastic wheel insert, cleaning the flashing and uneven spots off of it, and pressing it back into the wheel. I am cheep ba…person, and I throw very little out.
Greg Elmassian said:
Thanks Jon, I mostly mentioned the sintering process for people who might not know. (I meant to preface the part in parentheses with “for those of you who do not know”…)
Clearly you know a lot! I’d appreciate hearing any more you have to share on the process… it seems to me, just from observation, not knowledge, that there must be variations in the process that affect the “granularity” of the finished product, if that makes any sense? Can you shed any light here? I noticed this “granularity” when trying to get a smooth surface on some Aristo loco wheels.
It looks like this process is finding more application in our hobby.
Regards, Greg
I’m far from an expert. I ran a powder press as a temp employee. My job was to reach in and pluck the part from the die before the powder loader swept over it and the press came down to take off my fingers. I spent more time trying to figure out how to break the machine than learning the process. I was pressing some type of part in the shape of a C. Figured out a way to double load the die with powder; then when the stamp came down - kabam. Coffee break for two hours while they fix the machine! I’ve since greatly improved my work ethic :]
I can only guess that the allows used to make the powder, the granularity of the powder , and the sintering temperature all come into play in the quality of the finished product.
Burl Rice said:
Aren’t their HO trucks sprung?
I had been using Aristo’s modern rollerbearing trucks, but will you still be able to get them after the current stock is gone? Seems like it could be a good time to put another product on the market. Just thinking out loud here…
I have not been able to find any for months. I e-mailed Scott and these are not on the list for delivery.
The closest I could come to metal wheel replacement was AML, but the axle diameter is smaller.
If you know of a source for the A-C modern trucks or the metal wheels for them, send me a private message.
The other reason for posting this…
New product on the market! Sometimes the glass is not always half empty.
John, no the glass is always full. The question is how much water and how much air is in the glass, but its always full of something.
Burl, KaDee’s HO trucks are sprung and they are flexible. And one of the HO cars I have doesn’t track well with them, they flex too much because the car is too light.
I now have a set of the 950 and 951 wheels. I can also confirm that they come FOUR axles to a package. I bought them for $19.99 a set. Maybe tomorrow I will have time to see how they fit various trucks and perform. The hubs are plastic , one thought is that they could be cut back and made to fit the Aristo rollerbaering trucks.
Thanks Paul - A set of 4 axles for $19.99 is very reasonable for this product. I was paying around $12/4 of the shiny Aristo last time I bought them about 5 years ago.
Be interested on how you make ou wth the roller bearings. I have an Aristo show hopper from many years back that still runs on plastic (yuck) !
Now I have to make a correction. They come from Kadee two axles in a pack. I bought mine from Kidmans who are selling four axles in pack. The 950 and 951’s are $19.99 for four axles. This is really getting confusing.
RLD is also selling the 4 axle set, but only listing the blackened wheels at $23.89/4. I think the ribbed version will be a must when I finish my log cars since the wheel backs are visible. Saving pennies!