MSCCC Badge

Wheels

The store bought wheels had tires that looked too fat for the car, too high an aspect ratio. I decided to go for the 72 spoke wire wheels.

Compare Wheels

The wheel modifying 'lathe' was faked up out of the table top drill press. To hold the wheel in the chuck I used a cut off rusty 3/8" bolt that fit tight in the holes in the wheels. I put two nuts on the bolt to prevent the end from going through the wheel to endanger the cutting bits. The cutting tool is a Dremel so no pressure is required in the cutting.

Drill Press as Lathe

Mark a circle 3/8" in from the edge of the tyre for the new wheel rim. Use a straight sided bit in the Dremel to cut a shallow notch on the outer side of the line and then round off the new side profile of the tyre.

Enlarging Wheel Rim Diameter

With the same bit widen the interior of the wheel disk to near the new rim diameter, cut a little deeper near the rim to give the centre a shallow cone shape.

New Wheel Shaped

Shape the edge of the wheel rim with a small ball shaped bit.

Shape Rim Bead

Sharpen the groove between the tyre and the rim with a cone shaped bit.

Rim Tire Line

The pattern of the spoke wires repeats every 30 degrees. I marked out a centre line on each wheel with the centre finding attachment of the combination square. Then used a geometry kit protractor to locate the rest of the 30 degree radii. And then back to the centre finding attachment to draw the radii.

Mark Spoke Lines

Use the "V" shaped chisel to cut out each of the marked radii starting the cut 1/16" from the centre hole.

Cut Spoke Lines

Then cut shorter grooves between each of the radii so each pair of 'wires' forms a "V".

Paint the tyres and the grooves with a flat or semi-gloss black paint. I made the mistake of using some model airplane paint, its solvent soaked deep into the spokes darkening the wood.

Paint spaces Between Spokes

Sand the spokes to remove surface paint. This can be done on the 'lathe'. Carve and file the heads of the 5 pins to make two-eared knock-off hubs.

Finished Wheel



<<< Previous Home Next >>>