Customizable Hamster Wheel
Description
# Customizable Hamster Wheel [Short video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mc1dFtjHH4&feature=youtu.be) This is a fully customizable hamster wheel implemented in OpenSCAD. You can change the size, thickness, and vary the design (e.g. number and shape of the holes and grip pattern) quite a bit. See some examples in the STLs, which fit in a 5 gallon aquarium nicely. I have incorporated a dust bath / litter-box area into the base, which uses the space nicely. (Yes, our hamster uses this as a litter box!) The wheel uses a 608 skate board bearing for very satisfying, silent operation. Don't fret if you don't have one - just order it from Amazon for a few cents. There's nothing else to know and it's well worth it. I have added a printable bolt and wingnut as well as two printable washers that keep the wheel spaced correctly. The thin washer goes between the base and wheel and to keep the wheel from rubbing. The thicker one goes between the wingnut and the bearing. See Notes about printing and the fit below. Note that one reason that having this customizable in OpenSCAD is so useful is that simply scaling the design up or down in your slicer it would not work with the standard 608 bearing. It's also just fun to customize exactly to your critter's needs :) See my full project: Hamster Land, for more: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3435179 This wheel was inspired by Mark Butler's excellent design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1083729. Thanks Mark! ## Printing and Fit I printed the wheel and base at 0.35 on my MK3 at 15-20% infill. For the nut and bolt I used 0.1 or 0.2 with 100% infill and slowed it down. I used PLA for all of this, which I believe is non-toxic, but my hamster hasn't really chewed on any of it yet anyway. Note that PLA does not hold tension well so don't over-tighten the wingnut. Just enough to hold it on well is all that is needed. If you notice some play between the bearing and the bolt (e.g. if the wheel sags down or scrapes the base) you can just add one or two more of the outer washers to give it some more clearance. I may increase the tightness there in a future update.
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