Hi guys and gals,
I am pretty new to Blender and have spent some time looking for answers but am still stuck. How do I make a wheel spin on it’s proper axis? I can rotate a cube ok but when I try to make the letter “O” or a torus (practice wheel), rotate like a bicycle or vehicle wheel, I am having trouble getting the axis to be the axle of the wheel. It will rotate or spin but nowhere close to properly in the center. In the end I am wanting to make a motorbike wheel spinning the tire but have to take baby steps as I go. 
Thanks in advance,
Grumple
show some pics here!
you may need to reset the origin to the center or where you want it to rotate
it will rotate around the origin of the object only!
salutations
Hi Ricky,
Maybe I need to ask how to reset the origin to the center? I think I have done it but is there a keyboard command to “center” it? You really need a picture of the letter “O” or a default “torus” to help? Don’t forget, I am a noob yet so the pic would not be a designed wheel or anything cool. I am just trying to figure out the animation part and then work on a real wheel.
Thanks,
Grumple
In edit mode, select your circle of vertices and shift-S and choose ‘cursor to selection’ and then in object mode, in tool shelf, choose origin to cursor.
Thanks Craig,
That was enough to tip the scales in my favor and I figured it out. Although when I created the torus in the default location after deleting the cube, the origin is probably already set to center, I always start messing with the camera view etc and move the object. I create my own problems. So after I did the shift-S and the cursor to selection, I realized nothing moved. So I went to “TOP” view and applied my keyframes etc and the torus spun as planned correctly instead of a wobbly football. So maybe you can answer a basic question. What is the best way to set up the view of the camera and object without making a mess?
Thanks,
Grumple
I usually set my camera to the view I want - the trick with working with objects is to use local coordinates to rotate/translate instead of global if you have somehow turned it from being in original rotation.
Ok thanks. Being a noob is no fun but after a couple a days of trying to figure out this spinning circle I wasn’t gonna give up. I will use local coord’s from now on.
Grumple
you could also look on vimeo or utube for some basic video tut on animation
it would probably gives and help you for a good start!
good luck
I think I watched most of the tutorials but they were way over my head. I am still trying to figure out why, when I open a new window, I end up creating 10 more of the same window when trying to close it. 
Very intuitive. But yes, I have watched many tutorials but need to get the interface better figured out before they make sense as once I ruin the interface with 60 mini windows I usually shut it down and start over and that is time a wasting.
Thanks,
Grumple
go to cgcookie site video tut
there are some free tut intro to blender 2.5
should help understand how the GUI works
happy blendering
Thanks for the info, I will check it out. But to be honest I even have the Blender for Dummies Book, and the window part of the interface is just weird and hard to get used to. I will get used to it eventually but for now I sure am having a tough time with it. I am used to opening, closing, and minimizing a window. Not covering or splitting it. Very powerful program and the price is right though. 
Thanks again,
Grumple
hope it helps
Thanks, 1.3 helps for my issue. The other video’s in the 1.x section are good video’s too but I already knew that stuff. Now the guy making those video’s is good and he explains things slow enough where you can follow along. Great job Jonathan!
Grumple
there is a lot of intro videos done by Mfox here
http://blenderlabrat.blogspot.ca/?view=flipcard
salutations
Thanks Ricky,
That looks like more good stuff…It will keep me busy for a long time. I mainly started with blender for intro’s to video’s but there looks to be a lot more fun to be had, as time allows. Sometimes I have to take a nap you know.
Grumple