3D Printing • Design for Prototyping
Ultimate 3D Printed Skateboarding Wheels
As an avid skateboarder, Tyler, a project Coordinator at Dinsmore, Inc., follows numerous influential skateboarders and skateboarding companies. One company in particular caught his eye—Braille Skateboarding, due to their hilarious videos and rigorous product testing. Recently, they produced a series of YouTube videos testing various sets of 3D-printed wheels. Unfortunately for them, each set tested either squished down under the skateboarder’s weight or broke after one or two tricks.
“I watched how many wheels they tested and how badly each set failed. I knew our new technology would hold up better than all previous versions.” Dinsmore’s recent partnership with Carbon3D offers a chance to use the latest Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP) technology and material that would allow for the top-of-the-line designed 3D-printed wheels. Tyler contacted Braille’s filmmaker/producer and pitched their team the idea. After swapping ideas back and forth over a course of a few weeks, a production date was set. Braille’s team was very excited, to say the least, to be the first group to test the new materials in this way.
Dinsmore agreed to design two sets of 3D printed wheels; one mini set of wheels in Rigid Polyurethane (RPU), so it would be fun for Braille’s viewers to watch and the other; a standard set built in Flexible Polyurethane (FPU) that would be used for actual skateboarding. Tyler developed the mini set for the fun factor, knowing full well the harder material would be extremely slippery to skate and probably wouldn’t last very long due to the material choice and grueling force Braille’s skaters would put the wheels through. This set was being built for laughs. Â
The mini wheels surpassed expectations, even though they eventually cracked and later broke. The manufacturing process and material choice showcase the extraordinary 3D printing technology Dinsmore has at their fingertips.
The development of the standard set of FPU wheels, Tyler created using his own design files and added Dinsmore’s logo for a finishing touch. “I chose the FPU material, because it is completely solid, yet has some slight flexibility, and has the most similar characteristics to standard, normal-sized skateboarding wheels.” Dinsmore’s team printed two sets of Elastomeric Polyurethane (EPU) bushings as well as one set of FPU bushings. “We wanted Braille Skateboarding to be able to compare the difference of a normal set of bushings to a printed set.”
Aaron Kyro says, “So basically these guys were skating this. Did you find anything weird with this? Yeah, the trucks are loose. They didn’t realize that not just the wheels are 3D printed, but everything besides the wood and metal is 3D printed. A testament to Dinsmore. A testament to how they are the ultimate 3d printed wheels.”
The bushings and interior wheel opening specifications may not have been initially sized correctly, but both sets of wheels and bushings performed well above expectations. A true feat of engineering as the project files and specifications were solely developed and created by Dinsmore’s staff. After endless tricks and jumps the FPU 3D-printed wheels were dubbed “The Ultimate 3D Printed Wheel,” by Braille Skateboarding. Dinsmore’s extensive industry experience and product knowledge allows them to stand above the rest in the 3D Printing field and who knows, maybe even in the Skateboarding wheel industry as well.
Tyler stated, “I pushed for this extracurricular project because I wanted people to see that technology is always evolving and that we can actually 3D print in production-like materials that have strength and durability.” An idea that started as a fun side-project, ended up challenging their skateboarding knowledge and allowed the Dinsmore team to utilize all its latest tools and technology.
After the first YouTube video was released, Tyler contacted Braille Skateboarding to see if he could send a revised specification version of the standard skateboarding wheels, unfortunately, the video was already in editing and no additional sizing specifications could be changed.