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The
skate wheels have just arrived in the post. It is grey and slightly
misty but not too unpleasant to be out of doors. I have run out of
suitable spacers to keep the wheels central in the bogie channels. I had
been using 10mm nuts as spacers but they are too large for the wheel
bearings. The spacers only want to contact the inner race. Otherwise they may short circuit the freedom offered by the wheel bearings.
I found some Pex-pipe in my collection. This hose slipped just nicely over the 8mm axle bolts. Pex is a tough, hard and stiff, plastic pipe. Much used for plumbing.
The problem is that I don't have any proper cutters for this material. It needs a clean, square cut for the spacers to be useful. Sawing just produces a rough, furry cut. As does sanding.
I need 32 spacers of the correct length. To take up the slack and gently end load the bearings to avoid tilting. So now I have to go to the builder's merchants to buy a pair of Pex pipe/hose/tube cutters/snips/scissors/pliers. Correct name according to geography.
The cheapest are about £12 [equivalent] each but invaluable for repetitive, clean and square cuts. They come in all sorts of designs and prices. Even electrical and rechargeable versions. Which I don't need for the very limited use I shall give them.
32 spacers later and the skate wheel bogies are all but complete. The budget Pex cutters worked very well. Though I imagine the effort required would rise considerably with larger Pex hose diameters. The cost of the pliers is offset by the toughness, long life and lack of corrosion of Pex pipe.
I considered making brass wheel spacers but there is an unfortunate combination of different metals. Probably leading to ugly staining. Then there is the time involved in producing them on the lathe at zero degree C in the workshop. Besides, there is very little lateral force on the wheel
bearings. So the Pex spacers should last well.
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