Thread: Toys for Big Boys - Making Wheels

I see that the post I linked to for the post of "Making Wheels" has indeed expired, so I have recreated it below:

Making wheels – the ones with spokes.

This is the way I make the wheels with spokes for my “Toys for Big Boys”.

Since there are a number of set-ups required to make these wheels, I make them in batches instead of just four at a time.

To get a good joint, the pattern for the tire inside diameter must closely match the pattern for the wheel outside diameter allowing just enough room for glue. Too loose and you have a bad looking joint. Too tight and you won’t be able to put them together. I highly recommend that you make a few practice cuts for both wheels (hubs not necessary for trials) and tires from scrap stock before making your wheels. This will allow you to “fine tune” these patterns.

When doing these trials, and you think you have them just right, be sure and actually glue the samples together. The fit you feel between the parts “dry” is NOT the same as when there is glue in the joint. When you assemble them with glue, make sure the grain directions match. When the fit is correct, you must take care not to have the tire at an angle or it will bind up. I apply glue around the wheel (only in the middle of the width), start the tire by hand and when I am sure the parts are straight, I place a board across the tire, put my hands on the ends of the board and push straight down until the parts are flush.

This write up and pictures show the 3/4” wide wheels that are used for the “luxury” cars such as a Buick or Cadillac of the 1930s.


WHEEL A.JPG

The narrower 1/2” wheels I use for the early Fords and Chevys etc, are made in the same way but with different dimensions. The 1/2” wheels are the same outside tire diameter (walnut), but the wheel (maple) inside and outside diameters are larger. The interior hub (maple) diameter is the same.

This gives the 1/2’ wheels a smaller tire cross-section and a wider area for the spokes (1/8” diameter dowels).


WHEEL B.JPG

I start with the wheels (maple). I layout a pattern for the blanks having every other row offset to maximize the number of blanks available from a given piece of wood. Drill 1/4” holes in the center of blanks and cut out with a hole saw of appropriate diameter to allow finish cleanup of the outside diameter by using a routing fixture. BEFORE cutting with the hole saw, mark each blank with the grain direction. See why this is necessary in the routing the outside diameter below.

When cutting out the blanks with the hole saw, cut more than half way through from one face, flip over and cut the remainder from the opposite face. This minimizes tear out on the back face that may occur if you go all the way through from the top face.


WHEEL C.JPG

When all the wheel blanks have been cut out, the next step is to route the final outside diameter. To minimize potential breakage when routing, I made my fixture to take two blanks at a time and orient the two blanks so the grain of the first blank is perpendicular (90 degrees) to the second. The reason I recommend marking the grain direction before cutting out the blanks is because the grain in maple is sometimes difficult to see on the cutout blank, I stack the two blanks at 90 degrees on the fixture pin.


WHEEL D.JPG
WHEEL E.JPG
WHEEL F.JPG

My fixture uses a 1/4” carriage bolt that goes through the bottom holder, through the two banks and the pattern block and a spacer and then through the upper plate of the fixture and is held in place with a threaded hand knob. Make SURE that the knob is securely tightened because the routing operation may tend to rotated the blanks if they are not held tight.


Copy of WHEEL G.JPG

After all of the wheels blanks have been routed to final outside diameter, the next step is to drill the holes for the spokes. The fixture shown has an index wheel to located the 12 spoke holes at 30 degrees apart. The drill bit is supported by a steel bar to minimize deflection of the bit. The fixture incorporates a hole in the lower block directly below the blank for the index pin.

The next three pictures show a blank in the fixture, but WITHOUT the outboard support in place. The blank is held in place with a hand knob.


WHEEL H.JPG
WHEEL I.JPG
WHEEL J.JPG


The outboard support is now added and is held in place by two hand knobs. This support has a hole for the carriage bolt that the blank is mounted on. This hole has a pressed in 1/4” hex nut that has been drilled out to 1/4”. Without this support, the end of this bolt will deflect down when you start to drill the blank..


WHEEL K.JPG
WHEEL L.JPG

The index pin goes through the outside support, through the fixture block and then into the slot in the index wheel. Drill (9/64” diameter) deep enough to go into the hub 1/4”. (the hub will be cut from the blank in the next step). Drill the first hole, pull back on the index pin until the index wheel can rotate. Rotate the index wheel so the next slot in the index wheel lines up with the index pin and push the index pin in. Drill the next hole and repeat for all 12 holes.

Next, BEFORE cutting out the hubs from the blanks, mark each blank near the 1/4” center hole with a number or letter. Draw a line from the center hole to the outside of the blank AND on the outside surface of the blank and put the same letter or number on the outside surface of the blank.

This is necessary so that you can match up the hub and the wheel after the hubs have been cut out for inserting the spokes. No matter how careful you are, there will be some drift of the holes while drilling and the hubs will only fit the wheel they are cut from. The reason you mark the letter or number on the outside surface of the wheel is that most of the line on the wheel is removed when the inside of the wheel is rounded over (see details of this step later)


WHEEL M.JPG

To cut out the hubs, I use a fixture that prevents the blank from turning while the hub is cut out using a hole saw. This hole saw cut out needs to allow clean up material both on the outside of the hub and on the inside of the wheel. These clean up cuts will be done with routing fixtures. As noted above, cut out from both sides to minimize tear out. This picture of the fixture shows the wheels being held using spacers of the appropriate size to fit the wheel. 3/4” and 1/2” wheels use different spacers. The fixture without spacers is used later to cut out the insides of the tires.


WHEEL N.JPG
WHEEL O.JPG

The outside diameter of the hubs are routed in the same way as the wheels, doing two at a time, grain directions at 90 degrees, with the same fixture but a different lower holder and a different pattern block.

After the outside diameters of the hubs have been routed, I use my lathe to round over both edges of the hub (approximately 1/8” radius).


WHEEL P.JPG

To finish the wheel inside diameter after the hubs have been cut out, the wheels are placed in a fixture that centers the wheel over a hole in the bottom plate. That hole diameter is what you want for the finished wheel inside diameter.


WHEEL Q.JPG
WHEEL R.JPG

The upper half of the fixture is added to hold the wheel in place with hand knobs tightened to hold everything securely.


WHEEL S.JPG

After the inside diameters of the wheels have been routed, round over the inside of the wheel (both faces) with a 1/8” round over bit. I use a fixture similar to the one for routing the wheel inside diameter, but with a larger hole in the lower plate to allow room for the round over bit.

Now it is time to assemble the wheel, hub, and spokes. Cut the spokes so that when inserted into the hub, they will protrude approximately 1/8” to 3/16” above the surface of the wheel. I made another simple fixture to hold the wheel and hub concentric to each other. This is where the lines marked on the hubs and wheels come into play. Tighten the hand knob holding the hub. Rotate the wheel to line up these lines and LOOSELY hold in place. Insert four spokes at 90 degrees through the wheel and into the hub to make sure the rotation is correct and then tighten the hand knob to hold the wheel in place.

Next insert the remaining spokes to make sure everything lines up. Now, I glue the spokes in place. To do this use needle nose pliers and pull out one spoke about 1/4”. Use a small artist’s brush to put a little glue on the spoke next to the outside of the wheel (no glue is needed where the spoke goes into the hub). Push home the glued spoke making sure it seats into the hub. Finish the remaining spokes in the same manner. As soon as all the spokes have been glued, the hub and wheel assembly can be carefully removed from the fixture to dry while the next units are assembled.


WHEEL T.JPG

After the glue has dried (I give it overnight to be sure), use side cutters to clip off the spokes as flush to the wheel as possible. Take a round rasp and file down the ends of the spokes flush or slightly below the surface of the wheel, taking care to file ONLY in the middle (file parallel to the wheel face, NOT across it). This is necessary because you don’t want to remove any material on the outside edged as this will show when you glue the wheel/hub assembly to the tire.

Now, for the tires.
Lay out the tires in the same manner as the wheels – drilling 1/4” diameter center holes. You can cut them out with a hole saw if you have one of the correct diameter. I do not have one, so I made a marking gauge that is just a circular disc of the required diameter with a short dowel glued in the center.

If you don’t use a hole saw, cut out the tire blanks on the band saw taking care to cut close to the lines made with the gauge. I try to cut to within 1/16” of the line to minimize possible grabbing and tearing when routing the tire outside diameter. Route the tire outside diameter just like the wheels using the appropriate pattern block.

Next round over the both edges of the tire using a 1/8” round over bit.


WHEEL U.JPG

Next, using the same holding fixture that was used to cut out the hubs from the wheels (this time without any spacers), use the appropriate size hole saw to cut out the inside of the tires leaving material to allow routing the exact diameter for proper fit to the wheels.


WHEEL V.JPG

Routing the finished inside diameter of the tire is similar to the procedure for the wheels, but using a different fixture of the appropriate size. Remember, unlike the wheels, the tires ARE NOT rounded over on the inside.

All that is left is to glue the tires to the wheel/hub assembly making sure to follow the procedure noted at the first of this article concerning gluing the sample parts when fine tuning the wheel and tire patterns.

Note that the finished wheels at this point will have a 1/4” center hole. I use 7/16” axle pegs for my vehicles, so the completed wheel will have to be drilled out appropriately.

Thanks Big D for redoing it......

That is definitely the best tutorial I have seen.

The time, effort and no doubt trial and error to arrive at the procedure and result is worthy of all the accolades we can muster.

Fantastic BigD. Thanks for sharing again! What projects are you working on?

Bret

Great tutorial big d can you tell me the inside and outside diameter of the hub and tyre please

Originally Posted by bobman 58

Great tutorial big d can you tell me the inside and outside diameter of the hub and tyre please

I sent this information to you in a private message. I also stated that I have a drawing with this information in a drawing that I have available as a PDF. If you (or anyone else) would like this PDF, send me your email address.

Incredible ... the scale is 'real'



cool bananas ... Greg

Thanks for re-posting this always worth seeing how others go about making different things

Unbelievable!!! Absolutely incredible!!!

JackL