TREAD SECTION

I made the base from high quality finished plywood. They'll probably shrink in time, but that will give me an excuse to upgrade and possibly motorize the thing (ha ha). The belts are made from Mark Thompson's great foam rubber pipe tape method. I went el cheapo on the wheels (of course) and made them from masonite discs with wooden spindles. I covered the spindles with metallic (chrome looking) tape which worked remarkably well, though they don't show up in this photo. The masonite part was just spray painted metallic silver. The side plates are mat board reinforced with wood strips. Half round molding was used for the familiar raised pattern. I painted the whole thing with a hammertone finish spray paint to simulate metal.

UPDATE

My original tread section was never quite right. I had mis measured and the rear slope was more shallow than the front. I lived with it but never showed anyone a side view as it was awful. The new tread box was totally rebuilt from scratch, including the wheels. I also added hidden wheels so it can actually roll around now. The treads hover less than an eighth of an inch from the floor, which are non working of course. I also made it a textured surface this time and like it a lot better.

UPDATE 2

These are the same poor man's wheels, made from masonites discs with PVC centers. This time they were sanded and painted with a chrome silver spray paint. The chrome duct tape still covers the spindles. To simulate the 6 holes on each side I made two templates (for the two different diameters) and spray painted them flat black. You can hardly see all this work, but at least I know it's there!