OO/HO Gauge Wheels by MrBunsy

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

FDM printable OO/HO Gauge wheels, compatible with commercial wheelsets with axles 25.65mm long, ending in points. In general, I think you're better off buying cheap plastic HO wheels from china, but it was a fun experiment and it provides future options for non-standard styles and sizes of wheel. I tested them on my garden OO gauge railway (PECO track and pointwork, generally imperfectly laid and a bit wonky) and they are reliable!
When slicing, make sure to use the minimum layer height possible for the flange. Prusaslicer's variable layer height is useful for this.
There are two types of these wheels:
"Flat": intended to slot onto a 2mm diameter, 25.65mm long pointed axle (the wheels are flat).
"Pointed": intended to slot onto a 2mm diameter, 18.5mm long flat-ended axle (the wheels have a pointed cone).
Both types are used the same way - two spacers are slotted onto the centre of the axle first, and then the wheels should fit onto the ends of the axle, with the spacers keeping the wheels at right angles to the axle. The spacers should slot on with minimal effort, but the wheels are designed to be a tight fit. However, this has proven to be slightly material dependant, so you may need to adjust the centre hole radius if you have trouble.
For the flat wheels I've used reclaimed axles from Dapol wheelsets (which proved very unreliable on anything other than perfect trackwork). This has proven very reliable and robust. Most of the printed wheelsets work first time, with only occasional wheels proving to be wonky after first assembly. I have experimented and can make my own spiked axle using 2mm brass rod, a dremel and a whetstone. I wouldn't recommend it though, it's quite a lot of effort.
For the pointed wheels, I've used 2mm brass rod I cut with track-cutters (which ensures a nice clean, flat, cut). The points often need a bit of post-processing with pliars to cut off any blobs or strings. About half the wheelsets end up with a wonky wheel after first assembly, usually they're fine after replacing just a wheel. Provided you rectify any wonky wheelsets, these too have proven reliable on my garden railway.