Bengal on the new wheel

Bengal is testing new exercise wheel! A bit smaller, but lighter and a lot more stable. Somali is sitting on a fence, that is, on top of the wheel, for now.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• bengal
• cat
• exercise
• wheel

[manenash]

Masons sold me half a tube (6' long) and I had another person who was interested in making a similar wheel, so I sold him a half of that, so the materials, all told, cost me less than $100 :)

[manenash]

The bearings are attached to the outer ring. I used 1' wooden dowels to glue them in place, one bearing on each side, with cut-out. Plastic (and heavy cardboard) prevents the inner ring from wiggling side to side. Basically the pair of them makes the railing within which the inner ring rotates; sort of locked as a large bearing. Please be sure to make the inner ring larger by about 2" then the outer one. Cut out both sides of the foundation with 38" wide

[manenash]

circle, cut the outer ring to extend its radius by 2", screw it in with any screws long enough, attach the 8 pairs of bearings, glue in the carpet (I used a very sticky double-sided tape that was a millimeter thick with tiny wire mesh embedded in it), glue the carpet around and you are done.

Mike

P.S. I couldn't find 38" Sonotube, that is why I bought 36" and constructed the whole thing by cutting the outer ring.

[manenash]

Thick plywood (7 layers) for the stand, screws, dowels for the bearings, glue gun. The inside ring is made 2" wider than the outside (using the carpet), to prevent cat paws from grabbing onto the stationary pieces. It's important to place 2 sets of bearings at the very top because cats like to sit on top of the wheel. I have pictures I can share, they used to be on my web site but I got hacked and spammed, so it is currently down.

[manenash]

A Sonotube 36" (mason's supplies), cut to 1' wide, carpet, 16 rollerblade bearings set in pairs on the inside of the outer ring, 2 long plastic strips bent at the right angle (lowes), two strips of 1" wide brown dense cardboard-like sheets (lowes) for guides, wrapped around the outside of inner ring. I wish I could find 38" sonotube for the outer ring, but as it was I had to cut the outer sonotube and spread it about 8" apart, to be able to fit the inside ring with 1" to spare for the bearings.

[egalitarianerd]

Adorable video!

Your cat wheel is the best-looking I have ever seen, and you've totally inspired me to make one- thank you so much for listing your materials.

I have a couple question though, if you'd be so kind? We've just ordered in a 36"x12' Sonotube, and there's just three things we can't figure out so far- What are the plastic strips for? And how do you get the 1 inch bearings to stay on the top- is that what the cardboard guide's for?

Thank you so much!

[powershop1903]

Does anyone have a cat that paws at your bedroom door at 5:55am ??

[marianadeos]

Hey how did you make this? What materials?

[mira750]

how did you make this?