3D Printed Skates

After watching the movie Big Hero 6 I felt inspired to make some of the sweet skates shown in the movie. I was wondering how to make them, What material is easy to work with but is sturdy? Than I thought about 3d printing, I haven't seen very much 3D printed means of transportation except for the 3D printed car by Local Motors.

So I decided to take on the task of creating the first 3d printed 2-Wheeled skates. In this instructable I'm hoping to show you how to build the skates and show You how I explored the science of 3D printing.

I first Started off with a prototype. The design featured full shocks on each side and a full shoe grip. There is one wheel on each side, but after some thought on the matter, Uni-Skates (the original idea) didn't seem within the limits of the human body. With one wheel on each foot that would put a lot of stress on your ankles, but I wanted something that you wouldn't have to worry about buckles or clasps and with out those you wouldn't be able to connect the skates to your ankles.

I had to borrow the schools 3d printer to make my first draft of the of the axle holder part. While the design would have worked, it was big, cumbersome and because of the curve of the foot, it was not as universal, so only people with flatter shoes would be able to use them.

These are the first set of STL files needed to make the skates, everything is up to scale and You only need to print one of each file.

Next it is time to connect the parts to your shoe. after you print the parts take the Shoe_att. part (shown in picture 3) and hold it up to the spot on the shoe where you want the skates to be. I picked the spot on my foot where I am most comfortable balancing on, right on the arch. When you find the place that is perfect for you you can trace a cutting path onto the shoe. **UPDATE** If you put the wheels a little further up closer to your toes it will be easier to balance.

After cutting the incision on the shoe and making sure the pieces fit nicely, I glued the shoe to our 3D printed piece.

I used a combination of JB weld and hot glue to connect the pieces. I waited overnight for the epoxy to dry for maximum strength and used clamps to hold everything together.

After waiting overnight I checked to make sure that the epoxy had adhered to the shoe and thankfully it had!

Next I checked to see if the two pieces (Axle holder and Shoe_att) fit together. I sanded my pieces down just a tad to ensure a snug fit.

These are the files for the wheels, I made two sizes. the smaller side is easier to balance on and would be safer, but I chose the larger wheels so I could see if the ABS could support my weight. All you need here is a total of 4 wheels of the same size.

I have 2 files for each type of wheel (big, small) one comes single, with only one wheel, but if you have a bigger printer you can do all 4 at once.

Next after you have printed all of your 4 wheels, you must get 8 ball bearings. They must have an outside diameter of 16mm and an inside diameter of 7mm. I got mine at a local hobby RC shop for about $15, but im sure you can get them online though I am not sure about the price. After you get the bearings you are going to push 2 into each wheel, one on each side.

Now it is time to prep the axle mount. After finally printing the final ones i made sure that they fit into the shoe. If they don't fit than sand the pieces just a tad so the pieces join and wont easily come loose.

Now you are almost done! You just need to complete the axles now! To make the axles you will need 2 pieces of 5/16" threaded rods each about 16mm long. To finish putting on all 4 wheels you will need a total of 12 nuts.

First I inserted the rod into the axle mount. Than I screwed in 2 nuts to hold the mount in place and so that the axle wont wiggle around. I used glue to secure them just in case. After that I threaded 2 More nuts to hold the wheels in place. when doing this step make sure that the wheels wont rub against the shoe. you can glue these nuts in place if you want to, though it might be a good idea to keep them "loose" just in case if you need to switch the wheels.

These pictures show in more detail how the axle mount should look. There are 2 nuts holding the bearings in place for each wheel.

When you have done this you are basically finished! though if you want to use these a lot I would suggest adding some spray on rubber to make a tire.

This is the finished result! I have made mine and will hopefully build another pair using the smaller wheels. Feel free to mod/ change the files as needed, thought they are still under a non-commercial license. I hope that you will be able to make these your selves and if you do please upload a picture or video!

Enjoy!!