how to make DIY chin wheels =]

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marinewifey4433

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Joined
Jan 9, 2011
Messages
114
Location
Camp Lejeune NC
im wanting to know how to make the wheels that they run in... my husband told me it was just a washer so it shouldn't be too hard. i told him it needed to be at least 16 inchs around.. but does anyone know how to make these? online they are very expensive and id like to make everything i can for them myself =] i love products!
 
Hand your husband a washer and go to it. Washers don't turn, they are flat pieces of metal with a whole in the middle.

The reason wheels are expensive is because you get what you pay for. They don't need washers, they need bearings. And if you need them to ideally be sealed to keep the wheel in working order after being on contact wit dust and shavings, etc. Firstly finding a large enough anything that right shape to make a wheel is difficult and expensive. Then you have to drill through it and make sure that everything is mounted EXACTLY in the center, otherwise the wheel will wobble, the bearings will go out in a very short time, the turn will be inconsistent and choppy which would be uncomfortable for the chin and shake the cage to all ends.


You can get a good wheel for usually $60 - $80, if your chin lives for 10 years that's only $8 a year. You have two that makes it $4/chin/yr.
 
Yes, I do agree with Riven. My boyfriend's parents bought me a wheel for our playpen. It was from Fortinate Chins (supplier here on the board). It was cheaper than the chin spins, but boy is it noisy!! We have the playpen in the living room and when they "go to town" we have to turn the TV up. LOL. The chin spins are supposed to be relatively quiet, so if noise is an issue- get the chin spin. I think the Fortinate wheel was like $35 and Chinspin is around $65.
 
i have instructions at home that someone sent me but i can not find a darn link! i will search some more. but they involve sheet metal, bearings, and wood. and they are supposed to be at least 15 inches wide.
you can seach the internet and if your husband is handy he can figure it out.

my fiance' is a sheet metal worker, so he works with that stuff all the time.........it just having the time to make 9 of them!!!!
 
yeah he's very handy and told me it would be like 10 dollars for him to build one! so id rather spend that then the 120 to 180 dollars for one lol
 
noise isn't a issue at all. they are in my living room so while they are awake at night were all the way upstairs in bed lol..

My parents could hear my flying saucer through the floor when it was in my chins' cages and I still lived at home. So the noise IS a bit of an issue. This was with 3 doors shut to bedrooms and attic.
 
i dont think it will be $10 because the bearings are about that price but he can probably make it for less than $20. he will need to buy the wood, sheet metal, bearing, hardware, etc... and he will need a circular saw (think thats what it is called) to cut the wood backing into a circle. if he does it, let us know how it works out! i had my fiance start one and he got as far as putting the metal into a circle! maybe if i just buy the bearings and put them on his dinner plate he will get the hint!

eta: when you are trying to watch a movie or tv show and your chins are running on wheels it is near impossible to hear! they are noisy and if you have more than one......wow!
i have had to rewind movies because i couldnt hear key lines more than once!
 
I have made lots of wheels myself. I take a 16inch feed pan and attach a lazy susan bearing. Then I attach that to a board(this way its spread over more space in the cage) then attach the board. I have found as long as you keep the bearing well oiled it isnt that noisy, but you have to oil them like once every couple of months. I use pam to oil them and dont have a problem and the chins love them. They only ended up costing me about 12 bucks a piece.

*Please note that the bridge is no longer in the cage in the first pic.
 

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I have made lots of wheels myself. I take a 16inch feed pan and attach a lazy susan bearing. Then I attach that to a board(this way its spread over more space in the cage) then attach the board. I have found as long as you keep the bearing well oiled it isnt that noisy, but you have to oil them like once every couple of months. I use pam to oil them and dont have a problem and the chins love them. They only ended up costing me about 12 bucks a piece.

*Please note that the bridge is no longer in the cage in the first pic.

That is exactly the wheel I have! It was noisy from the day I got it, so maybe I need to oil it?
 
My parents could hear my flying saucer through the floor when it was in my chins' cages and I still lived at home. So the noise IS a bit of an issue. This was with 3 doors shut to bedrooms and attic.

I have 3 flying saucers and haven't had any issues with noise with them. Perhaps it's the cage or the way they're mounted. Once the chins were across a hall from my bedroom and then later they were downstairs below my parent's bedroom. The only time there was ever an issue was when the bearing needed to be replaced and it squeaked.

However, those homemade wheels with the lazy susan bearings are horrible for noise in my opinion. I had one and stopped using it. Sure, you can keep them oiled, but they're still by no means quiet.
 
Oh did it, Dawn? I didn't realize that.

And Alli, it may have been the cage it was attached to. I had it in a QC Mansion, so it rattled pretty badly. But my point was, if a homemade wheel tends to be noisy, thinking that it won't be as bad just because it's in a separate room isn't necessarily going to be a fix to the problem.
 
I have some instructions I could email if anybody is interested. I got these from Chinster years ago. I believe he got them from someone else for different animals.

email me - [email protected] if you want a copy.

Ronda
 
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