Originally Posted by
luckyhomes
Just got my first 12th scale car and I'm hooked. Also my wallet is a lot lighter, so I'm thinking of using a old Sherline lathe to true the tires. I intend to mount a SaburrTooth burr in the tool post at a similar angle as the Hudy burr. I haven't made the arbor or the burr mount yet. Before I spend time on this, I have a few questions.
I've thought about this, but I already have a tire truer, and my metal lathes aren't very portable, but I think I can answer your questions.
I has anyone measured the run out at the arbor on a quality tire truer? Depending on how my 3 jaw chuck closes I could have as much as 5 thous. run out.
5 thou run-out isn't going to be noticeable at all. We're truing foam rubber, which flexes and moves, 5 thou is really nothing in this case, and the wheels most tires are mounted to have WAY more run-out anyway. My Hudy arbor on my old manual Eagle Truer has a total run-out around 7 thou at the wheel mounting/centering rings. Sometimes I can loosen the pinch bolt and mount to a different spot on the motor shaft and get the run-out down, but again, it's not really noticeable.
Is the foam dust corrosive or likely to melt when sticking to oil and grease on the lathe?
I really doubt the dust is corrosive, or I should say there's no evidence of it being corrosive on my 8 year old tire lathe. The foam will probably make a gooey mess with any oils and grease on the lathe table, but it shouldn't be especially hard to clean as long as you keep solvents away from the foam powder. Dryer is better for cleanup anywhere foam dust could end up.
What rpm do tire truers run?
3600 or so.
Good luck.