How to Make Wooden Spoke Wagon Wheels
- 1
Wooden spokes driven into a hubwheel image by Chad Perry from Fotolia.com
Turn the spoke board on the wood lathe, using the chisel to make the dowel round ends. These rounded spoke ends are called tenons and will fit into round holes that you drill into the wooden wheel curved pieces called fellies. Make the opposite board end into a flattened trapezoid shape that will fit into trapezoid holes that you bore or chisel into the hub. Using the spokeshave, plane flat the top and underside of this spoke end. Since these ends that fit into the hub are a trapezoid shape, be sure to plane the slanted sides inward one half of a 45 degree angle. Repeat this step until you have a total of 12 wooden spokes. - 2). Make a felly template by drilling a hole at the beginning of a yardstick. Drill a second hole at the 21 inch mark. Place the yardstick on top of the plywood sheet. Starting at one corner, using the yardstick as a compass, place a pencil in the second hole and draw an arc. Repeat 3 inches further out or at the new 24 inch mark. This is now your felly template. Cut out this shape on the jigsaw and use this template to cut out one felly from your felly ash board. Repeat cutting on the jigsaw until you have a total of 6 fellies. These fellies, or curved wooden wheel pieces, will serve to make your wooden wheel.
- 3). Draw 12 trapezoid shapes on the outside of your hub, using the spoke end as your template. Chisel these out to 1 1/2 inches deep, keeping the edges as symmetrical as possible.
- 4). Drive the trapezoid end of the spoke into the trapezoid hole in the hub as tightly as possible. Repeat this step 11 times until you have driven into the hub a total of 12 spokes.
- 5). Place a felly centered on the edge of two spokes. Mark where the dowel tips or tenons meet and drill two holes, one for each tenon end. Using the maul hammer, pound the felly onto two spokes. Repeat this step until you have hammered on a total of 6 fellies.
- 6). Heat up the 48-inch diameter iron band. While it is still hot, drop it over the newly formed wheel rim or wheel fellies. Pound it even with the wooden fellies.
- 7). Pour buckets of water all around the fellies or wooden wheel and iron rim. Steam will rise as the iron band cools and tightens around the wooden wheel.
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