meowy84

I do some scratchbuilding from time to time and would love to try making my own rubber tires. Has anyone ever tried this and most importantly what compound would I use for the rubber itself? I already tried silicone and RTV gasket stuff but they don't cure without oxygen so it makes it hard to cure in a mould and also they come out too soft. Ideally I'd want to use the rubber that the manufacturers use for their r/c car tires but I think that it may be a process that's too hard/expensive for a do-it-yourselfer.

Any ideas?

dirthead

recycle old rc tires? or maybe even real tires, could make quite a few tires with an old 15 in tire I'd think.[]

yahman1254

My Feedback: (1)

could you melt that without it burning?

hands without shadows

Tire rubber is thermosetting.

dirthead

Huh?[sm=72_72.gif]

Unknown303

Thermosetting plastics (thermosets) are polymer materials that irreversibly cure form. The cure may be done through heat (generally above 200 degrees Celsius), through a chemical reaction (two-part epoxy, for example), or irradiation such as electron beam processing.

dirthead

So could old tires be recycled or not, I'm confused. I figure if you find the right temp where the rubber doesn''t burn, or lose it's elastic properties,if thats possible, then it would be a terrific alternative to throwing out old rc tires.

dacaur

dirthead, Read it again slowly, focusing on the part in bold....
If you still aren't sure, the answer is No, you cant "melt" a tire to make an RC tire, there is no "magic temp" where it will get soft but not burn. it will stay hard rubber to the point it starts stinking and burning.... that's why you see huge piles of old car tires... you cant recycle them into new tires like paper glass....

junion

dacaur is correct. To form or mold rubber you would have to start with uncured natural rubber and after the molding process it has to be vulcanized. The vulcanization process is why you just can't melt and reform old used rubber items.

dirthead

If they were choped up into tiny bits, could they then be pressed into tire form under extreme pressures? Or even bonded together with some kind of glue or epoxy to hold its form?

dacaur

no. epoxy would be too hard, the tire wouldnt be flexible... and if you can find some kind of glue thats flexible enough to work but hard enough still, then why would you need the rubber? Trust me, if it were possible, we would be recyling old 1:1 car tires into new tires....

dirthead

If it were possible eh? Famous last words. That's all the encouragement that someone would need to figure out a way to do it.lol

dacaur

hey if you figure it out, you will be a millionaire... go for it

Straick

For the cost of the equipment and materials needed, it's not really worth it.
In order to make a rubber tire(like in RC's), first you need the right rubber mix so that the finished tire will have the properties you are after. Too much or little of one thing can make a tire too hard or soft to really be useable. After you have the rubber mixed, you then need to press more than the tire will need into a mold and then vulcanize it with the correct heat. Too much heat and the tire will be brittle because the rubber has burned partly. Too little and the tire won't be fully vulcanized and will fall apart under use. You still need to cool it to make sure it stops setting at the desired point. And then, if you are lucky and did everything perfect, you could have a good tire, assuming that you didn't get any air trapped in the mold which would give you a hollow spot or missing part of your tire.
All in all, not worth it for the control and precision required when I can just go out and buy them ready to mount.

Krieder

I would not let the negative news stop you from looking though. Maybe there is another way. The vulcanization is the key to the unrecyclability of modern tires. The process with the steel belts within give the tires their strength and unfortunately one time use. Recapping is an alternative for truck tires, use old wore out cores and attach new tread to it with a bonding agent. i doubt this would produce a viable rc tire due to stresses but it is the one way they do reuse old tires nowadays.

Straick

The bonding agent is an adhesive, and new rubber layed over the old tire, and that is then sent through a mold and vulcanized.

Access

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_recycling

dirthead

Nice article access.,
I think I'm gonna microwave some old tires lol
But seriously, it would be amazing the difference we as a people could make if we did reuse or recycle all the tires in the world. It upsets me to see the world in such dire straits. With a little effort and ingenuity, we could save the planet, and those of you who don't think anything is wrong with it, it's time to get your heads out of the sand, it's not helping anything.
This is not directed at anyone just to be clear, it's just my opinion
Here's to a new day!

dacaur

I didnt say you couldnt do anything with them, just that you cant recycle them into new tires.....

dirthead

Microwave recycling
A new method of recycling currently used by Global Resource Corp. allows a tire to be converted into its original parts including diesel gasoline, black powder, and steel. This new process is inexpensive, and can finish the loop of reusing and remaking new tires from old ones.

Straick

You can also build a houses walls from used tires if you pack them with sand as you are building. Gets done in dessert areas a lot, cheap and a lot of places that have used tires piles are more than willing to give them away as long you aren't dumping them.

meowy84

Thanks for the info guys, although a few of you missed my point. I'm not talking about recycling tires but making them from scratch so that the average hobbyist can do it in their workshop in a way that will be relatively acceptible and where I don't have to invest thousands or hundreds of thousands in expensive tire-making equipment like the factories do..

Straick, the whole point is that you can't go out and buy them ready to mount. If the right tread pattern and size of tire that I'd like to have for my project was available I wouldn't be messing around trying to figure out how to make it myself.