[SML] : Antique wheelchair - need new rubber for tires

[Jon Ares]

Just an update, if anyone cares.... I took Duncan's advice and tried
the rubber o-ring route (found different sizes on Amazon) and it
worked. At first, I tried a half-inch material, and the rubber o-ring
material deforms a LOT more than the original rubber, so it was too
small, but 3/4" diameter stuff worked great.  I was concerned with
what Duncan called "the proper cyanoacrylate" - and I tried some 3M
847 adhesive (was recommended by a lot of forums for gluing these
industrial o-rings together) - but it failed.  It never really cured -
stayed mooshy and gummy, and both scarf joints and butt joints of the
o-ring material just pulled apart in a taffy-like stringy mess.  So I
tried just some good-old "super glue" from the general store....
worked like a champ.  I watched a YouTube video of a guy splicing
together this o-ring material, and he used his company's "specialty"
cyanoacrylate glue, held the butt joint together for a 12-count, and
then was unable to pull them apart.  Well, I tried cheapo super glue,
held the butt joint for 30 seconds, and no problem.  Was able to
stretch the o-ring tire onto the wheel with no problem at all.  A
month of use, and the wheelchair is still going fine.

The squishy o-ring material does make the wheelchair sound like wet
tennis shoes on a smooth floor, but it works really, really well.  And
doesn't need Mr. Fancy's Specialty cyanoacrylate.

Personally, I've pretty much never had good luck with super glues
doing a good job, except gluing skin-to-skin, but this time, it was
perfection.

 - Jon


On Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 10:20 PM, Jon Ares <jonares at arescreative.com> wrote:
> On Thu, Jan 25, 2018 at 1:13 PM, Duncan Mahoney via Stagecraft
> <stagecraft at theatrical.net> wrote:
>> I had to do this very job last year.  McMaster-Carr had rubber O-ring stock
>> in the diameter needed, and the proper cyanoacrylate to glue it together
>> with.  I made a little jig to hold the ends of the rubber so the joints
>> would line up.  The joints held through stretching the o-rings onto the
>> wheel rims, and a few weeks of run.  We don’t own the chair so I can’t say
>> anything about longer term performance
>
> Thanks, Duncan.  Much appreciated. Very helpful.
>
> Now that I've torn apart the offending wheel (and inspected the
> others) I see that these were most likely the original rubber... this
> wheelchair is an "institutional" type, most likely from the 30's thru
> the 50's.  Would work great for shows like "Cuckoo's Nest."  2 years
> ago, I painted it up for a 40's show, with a hammered bronze color,
> and looks great - even "steampunk" like....  but the rubber is
> crumbly. The original tires actually have a bit of 'shape' to them, as
> they fitted on the rims, and a hint of tread, and no scarf joints -
> just butt joints, and this is where they're failing. Upon removing the
> crumbly rubber, there's a wire inside, and at the butt joints, the
> wire was hooked together, but without any discernible gap at the butt
> joint - not sure how they did it, but they did. Don't think I have
> that skill myself, though....
>
> --
> Jon Ares
> www.arescreative.com



-- 
Jon Ares
www.arescreative.com