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New 3 Wheeler Model

Wheels

Spokes:

Spoke Making


Three wheels with 24 spokes will need about 90 inches of dowels. You should make at least 12 dowels as that is the maximum you can use at a time on a wheel when gluing them into a wheel.

  1. Square sticks for making the dowels:
    1. Install a 7 1/4" finishing blade in the table saw.
    2. Install the zero clearance insert.
    3. Set the fence to 3/32" from blade.
    4. Slice the black walnut piece until you have enough slices to make over 12 square sticks.
    5. Lower the blade to appropriate height for cutting the sticks from the slices.
    6. Clamp finger boards of 3/32" material to the fence to hold the slices steady as they are pushed through the saw.
    7. Feed the slices by finger under the finger boards, not putting fingers and blade in the same place of course. When the far end is a safe distance behind the blade reach around and draw out the piece from the back to finish the cut. A 3/32" wide push stick does not last any time.
    8. Sort out any sticks that were cut too thin.
  2. Rounding the dowels:
    1. Attach the dowel jig onto the router then clamp the other end of the jig to the bench top with the router on top.
    2. Pull the square sticks through the draw plate so they will turn easily in the 7/64" entry hole of the dowel jig.
    3. Fix each square stick into the chuck of the electric drill, fit other end into entry hole of the jig, turn on the router, start the drill and slowly feed the stick into the jig. Adjust height of router bit in the jig so the resultant dowel will not bind in the exit hole. Stop router and drill when the chuck reaches the jig and remove dowel.
    4. When all the sticks have been done, reverse the drill. Feed each stick as far as it will go into the jig. Attach the drill to the far end. Start the router, start the drill and draw the dowel the rest of the way through the jig.
    5. Take the burr off the dowels by drawing them through the draw plate.
    6. ---
    7. BTW I tried making some dowels with just the draw plate but they developed a distinct curve after getting worked over so many times.
  3. Wheel Disks
    1. Dimension a board for the wheel disks 9/16" thick 4" wide and 12" long (or more to make extra disks for spares)
    2. Set the adjustable circle cutter to 1.33" radius and cut the disks.

      Cutting Wheel Disks

    3. NOTE: I found this tool could not stand up to the torque from cutting the hardwood. The tool bit tilted back causing it to no longer cut a vertical sided cylinder but a slightly sloped cone. I tried shimming it with some strips from an aluminum pie plate which helped a little bit. I still reset the tool's radius after each cut. To square off the outside of the disks I stacked them on a 1/4" bolt, mounted it in the drill press chuck then filed and sanded the stack as it spun until the sides were even.
    4. Use the wheel clamp and drill the 3/8" axle hole in each disk.

      Drilling Axle Hole

  4. Drilling the spoke holes:

    Drilling Spoke Holes

    1. The spokes on opposite sides of the wheel are shifted 30 degrees from each other so you need marks on the wheel disks for lining up each side on the jig. Draw a line across the edge of each disk with a square, identify the line and one side of the disk with '1's. Put a '1' near the axle hole and another near the outside edge on the same radius line so you can make sure the same side is up when you are inserting the spokes. Use the centre finding attachment on the combination square and the 30, 60, 90 triangle from the geometry kit to locate a point on the edge 30 degrees from the line. Drop a perpendicular across the outside from this mark and identify it and the other side of the disk with '2's.
    2. Set the spoke drilling jig on the drill press table.
    3. Insert a 5/64" bit into the chuck. Raise the table until the drill guide hole with the one dot beside it slips over the bit and continue till it touches the chuck. Loosen the chuck and move the drill bit and lock it where it just reaches inside the 1" diameter hub circle marked on the face of the jig. Now lower the table until the drill tip is inside the brass drill guide. Lock the table tightly. Recheck the drill tip position. Check the side to side position of the jig, ensure there is no sideways pressure on the drill bit. Clamp the jig to the table.
    4. Put a wheel disk on the jig, side '1' out. Line up the '1' edge line with the top right one dot mark on the face of the jig. Drill the spoke hole until the chuck touches the guide. Repeat, aligning with each of the one dot marks. Turn over the disk and align the side '2' line with the one dot marks as you drill the holes. Repeat with each wheel disk.
    5. Lower the table, loosen the clamps and move the jig and table to fit the drill into the two dot hole in the guide. Lock the table and clamp the jig.
    6. Put a wheel disk on the jig, side '1' out. Line up the '1' edge line with the top right two dot mark on the face of the jig. Drill the holes aligning with each of the two dot marks. Turn over the disk and align the side '2' line with the two dot marks as you drill the holes. Repeat with each of the wheel disks.

      Finished Spoke Holes

  5. Cut out hub and rim
    1. Install the 1" plug cutter in the drill press.
    2. Put the wheel clamp on the table with the 1" plug cutter centering plug in the wheel hole.
    3. Align the wheel clamp with the plug cutter and clamp the back edge of the wheel clamp to the table.
    4. Make a test cut on the first disk about a 1/4" deep. Check that the spoke holes all go deep enough into the hub for the spokes to be glued securely. If not, its back to the spoke hole drilling jig and drill a little deeper.
    5. If the spoke holes are deep enough, cut the 1" hub out of each of the wheel blanks. After each disk is cut use a twist tie to keep the pieces together.
    6. Install the 1 3/4" sawtooth Forstner bit in the drill press.
    7. Put the Forstner bit plug in the wheel clamp and double check the alignment.
    8. Drill the rim pieces out to 1 3/4", twist tie the hub and rim pairs together.
    9. Do a quick sanding of the hubs (As I discovered you cannot sand the hubs after the spokes are glued in place.)
  6. Weave the spokes

    Gluing in the Spokes

    1. Take a hub and rim set, line up the '1's. Slide a spoke dowel through a hole the rim and into its matching hole in the hub. Put in all the spokes that go at the same angle on that side. Turn the assembly over and insert six more dowels using the same angle holes on this side. You will find that the wheel is now solidly held in alignment.
    2. To glue the spokes, back one out until the end is free from the hub. Put a drop of glue on the tip beside the hub and spread a drop around the dowel just outside the rim by twisting the dowel under the tip of the glue applicator. Twist the dowel as you push it back into place in the hub. Repeat for all the dowels.
    3. When the glue sets, cut off the excess dowel.
    4. Repeat for each wheel.
    5. The one dot holes and the two dot holes go through the outside at almost the same places. You will need to touch up the unused holes on the drill press using the spoke drilling jig again.
    6. Then glue in the other set of spokes.
    7. Here are my wheel blanks ready for the lathe

      Three Wheels with Spokes


The outer rim radius should be 7/8" and the edge of the rim is 0.10" in from the side of the wheel disk. Use your artistic talent to shape the rim and the tire.

See the Wheels section of the Plus 8 model article for my 'lathe' set up. My lathe being the table top drill press laid on its side using a 3/8" bolt to hold the wheel in the chuck and instead of chisels I use the Dremel tool to remove material.

Here is the product of my efforts

Wheels After Shaping on Lathe


Axle Pins:

This is the step that would work best with a lathe. I struggled to make the pins in one step using a dowel jig to go from the 3/4" x 3/4" stick right down to the 5/16" axle pin. Fortunately the rough pins I produced are glued out of sight. The following is an untried two step process that should be better than what I did.

  1. Cut a 3/4" x 3/4" piece of black walnut 6" long.
  2. Make a dowel jig to turn this into a 3/4" dowel. Use a 3/4" exit hole and a 1" entry. I used a 1/4" bit on the router. You will need to put a screw into the centre of one end of the stick to hold it in the chuck of the electric drill.
  3. Turn the 3/4" dowel.
  4. Make another dowel jig with a 5/16" exit and 3/4" entry. Again taking the 1/4" router bit.
  5. Using the screw to hold the dowel in the drill, feed it into the jig until 1 1/2" of 5/16" dowel projects through the jig. Stop the router and the drill and pull the piece out of the jig.
  6. Remove the screw, fix the 5/16" end in the drill chuck and turn the other end into 5/16" dowel leaving about 3/4" of 3/4" dowel between the two thin ends.
  7. Saw the piece in two through the 3/4" diameter part. The 3/4" section will become the hub caps on the car.
  8. Cut the 5/16" sections 1 1/2" from the hub caps.
  9. Cut 1 1/8" from one of the cut offs for use as the rear axle.
  10. Round over the hub caps


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