where to purchase rubber to make contact wheels from plywood.

Walgreens, but you're gonna need a lot of them.

I used horse trailer mat. Miller has used it 10 years I think.

Really? I haven't needed any for years .

Still going.

anybody got any suitable horse trailor mat pieces for sale?

Try Tractor Supply Co. If you have one in your area. I know they sell a pickup bed liner in 36 inch width and could shear you a 2 inch piece. That would be 2 by 36 inches long. It is 1/4 inch thick at least.

Thank you.

How are you fellas attaching the rubber to the plywood? epoxy?

It depends on hard of a backing material you need or want but an exercise mat or backpack sleeping pad might be a good choice. Whatever material you go with can be glued on with contact cement.

Fish Head

Could you post a photo of what your plywood contact wheel looks like please.

just curious, are you actually trying to build yourself a wheel? Do you have a grinder already?

I do not have a grinder. I want to build one. But I do not want to pay $300 for a contact wheel. I have seen photos of wood contact wheels and have heard that they work very well.

Do you have a machine you want to sell?

Rick made a wonderful 18 inch wheel but I sometimes wish it had been a 20 or 24 inch wheel. His 14 will fit inside the 18.

Don't have a plywood contact wheel so no pics.

I've used grinders a time or two though.

If my first suggestion sounds too soft look at yoga mats. They come in a .120" thickness for about $20.00 and are far less spongy.

The only reason I chimed in is I've been looking for rubber materials (they're hard to find) to use as sound dampening and these are what I've came with so far. I thought they might be useful for your purpose but ... I dunno.

No on the machine to sell, but could suggest that you can get a 10" direct drive wheel from grizzly for cheap. You can easily machine it for bearings if needed and be well ahead on having a good wheel ready to go for a lot less effort than you'll probably put into building your own wooden wheel. I do have a 14" wheel with bearings, spindle and aluminum Tool Arm that I'll sell but it ain't gonna be real cheap. Good luck whatever direction you go.

I have considered the grizzly. cheap enough by itself, but expensive to modify, and only comes in one size.

Plywood. can get it for very cheap. Easy to cut, easy to screw and glue. Can make any size. Don't need a bearing if I use pillow blocks. Etc.

What is "real cheap"?

Had my grizzly cut for bearings for 25 or 30 bucks by a local machinist. Great way to get into a 10" wheel for the money.

Would sell the whole 14" setup for about $350 which is probably half what it would cost to replace it.

probably a great deal, but on my measly budget I need to build the whole damn thing for less than that, including the motor.

I hear ya on the dinero thing. 14" wheel is probably not where ya wanna start anyway. I'd start out working with a smaller wheel and work your way up to grinding on the big wheels. Check out the Polar Bear kits and/or the Grinder in a box, or you can get the plans online to build one yourself. I'd still consider the grizzly wheel as a pretty good place to start for a first wheel option. 10" wheel is not a bad size to work with and will do a lot of good work and if I recall you can get into the whole shootin' match for about a buck twenty five with bearings and machine work.

Just my .02 but there's more to building a wooden wheel than just throwing it together. getting it balanced is the trick and so forth is a bigger trick than one might imagine. Ole Rick has a whole lot more machinist blood than he admits too and getting that wheel to run true is important. Not saying you can't/won't do it but that grizzly runs pretty darned true and it's an easy way to get yourself up and runnin' quickly when you're getting started.

The very first contact wheel I ever made, and used, I made from a rubber tired lawn mower wheel.

These come in different diameters, and work just fine with pillow blocks. That is what I used, and a motor from a used (worn out) washing machine.

Thats probably more my speed. Maybe even cheaper than that!!! I remember my Grandpa had one of those machines where you sit down and pedal a large wheel sorta like you would a bicycle. the wheel was huge. he used it for sharpening stuff. wish I had that now.

this looks pretty good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40oBU5oboag

Someone who is good with their hands might be able to make one from an old bicycle.

I saw a picture one time, of a knife factory, where the grinders were shaped like a motorcycle. The wheels were about 30 inches in dia. and it looked like the grinding wheel was mounted on the front. The operators laid down on a rack, something like the seat, and held the blade against the wheel to grind it.