Thread: 1930 Ford Model A Roadster - Slow WIP

Originally Posted by bj383ss

Looking good Steve. Everything looks precise.

Bret

So far so good, Bret.

I'm hoping to get most, if not all, of the spoke-hole drilling in the hubs done tomorrow.
I can't wait to get these wheels finished and get onto the body.

At the moment I'm puzzling over the best way to make the hub caps. A slice of dowel would be easiest, but that would only present end-grain. I might have to try to hand-shape little disks. I'll use Silver Ash for a nice, white, chrome-like look.

G'Day Steve,
Could you use a "plug cutter" to make your blanks then sharp/carve them to how you want them to look??
Cheers, crowie

Originally Posted by crowie

G'Day Steve,
Could you use a "plug cutter" to make your blanks then sharp/carve them to how you want them to look??
Cheers, crowie

Hi Peter. Great minds think alike.

I ordered a set of plug cutters last night, just in case, but thinking along those lines I reckon I can make them using a holesaw without it's pilot bit. Almost the same as a plug cutter.
I'll give it a test later. If I have a problem, I'll bore a hole in a small board to use as a guide, clamped to the workpiece.
As mentioned, if that doesn't work, I'll have the plug cutters to fall back on.

I'll cut a cylinder, round the end to hub-cap shape, then slice it off 3mm thick. (6 times).

No problems. The holesaw minus pilot bit worked well. 2 x 18mm hub cap blanks, they just need cleaning up to 17mm dia., then shaping and cutting into individual hub caps.
I didn't need a guide, I just clamped down really well.
A new trick learned.

The first, on the left, has a slight taper at the top, (not that it matters), but the second one cut clean and cylindrical: -

Attachment 218764

I can get back onto the hub shaping now that's off my mind.

The hubs trimmed to 19mm diameter and the axle-holes drilled out to 6.5mm.
Spoke-end hole drilling next.

Here's another for you Steve.
MOTORING along now.......

Originally Posted by _fly_

Here's another for you Steve.
MOTORING along now.......

That's shocking.
Not (s)poking along?

I got the marking out done, but ran out of time, so the drilling is for tomorrow.

Been watching this from the beginning and it is coming along great. I am especialy watching the wheel build

I never thought about using a hole saw without the pilot bit. I may have to try an experiment on the lathe and see how it turns out. Might save me some time. I could use it to rough out. Drill as deep as possible and then take it to the bandsaw and saw off the bottom to release.

Looking good Steve keep chugging along!

Bret

Originally Posted by Diggerdelaney

Been watching this from the beginning and it is coming along great. I am especialy watching the wheel build

Slow, slow, slow, but it's getting there.

Since the wheels are a fair departure from the plans, I'm trying to carefully show all the steps in order. (I had to plan carefully to get it to work out.)
ie Couldn't cut them out then use a Forstner bit for the axle-head recess, since the 6mm holesaw pilot is too large to centre the Forstner bit.

112 holes to drill in the 7 hubs tomorrow - should keep me out of trouble. (Then 96 in the 6 rims.)


Bret, I wouldn't use a holesaw without pilot bit in a hand drill, but it works well in a drill press and should with a lathe too. (Not really any different to a plug cutter.)
It did clog often, though, so I had to clear the teeth every 1-2mm and let the cutter cool to help avoid burning. I used the vacuum cleaner with a crevice attachment to cool the cutter when it was out of the timber and speed the process.

I just realised that I forgot to post one of the pics earlier.

This is trimming the hubs to 19mm diameter with the hand drill / disc sander. Rugged and not particularly high precision, but it does the job.

I made up a temporary table extension with acrylic top and used the drill's 2nd handle bracket to slide along the PVC as a guide. Made it easier than holding the drill mid-air: -

Marking the spoke positions on the edge of the hubs: -
Attachment 218833


Transferring the marks to the centre line.
It's easier to get them spot-on when clamped in a vice: -
Attachment 218834


Edit: The hubs must be exactly 15mm deep at this stage, or when in the spoking jig the hub will not be central to the rim.

Steve,

You and your jigs. You should go into business making professional woodworking jigs.

Bret

Originally Posted by bj383ss

Steve,

You and your jigs. You should go into business making professional woodworking jigs.

Bret

Ha. Yeah, I'd probably enjoy that. I'd go broke though. Two or three jigs and I'd reach market saturation.

Actually, the one in the pic is my dowel clamp, for cutting dowel. I drilled several dowel-sized holes along it, 1/2", 1/4", 3/16" and 3/32", then partly split it and added the bolt.
In conjunction with the Dremel Multi-Max flush-cutter blade, it works a treat. Nice accurate cuts and no tearout (and no dowel-spinning).