Turningwoodenspokesonalathe.

Piecesofash(1by2)werecuttolength(~11long)and
thentheangleswerecutonaregulartablesawwithajigasper
pictureonright.Apieceofsteelwasputonthebottomofapiece
ofplatetorunintheguideandangleironwasattachedto
producetheproperanglefor12spokestocometogetheratthe
hub(15oontwosidesofthespoke).Abracketcomesoverthetop
andcanbetightenedwithabolttoholdthepiecerigid.After
cuttingall12spokes,itisimportanttochecktomakesurethey
willmeetcorrectly(evenly)onthehub.Ileftsomeplaysothat
whentheywereassembledepoxycouldbeusedtoaddstrength
andholdthejointstogether.

Onpictureonright,thespokeontheleftshowswhatitwould
looklikeafterhavingthetapercutintoit.Next,theroughpiece
wascuttobeapproximatelysquareatthenontaperedendand
thecentresweremarkedtobemountedonthelathe.Thesecond
spokefromtheleftisanexampleofwhataspokewouldlooklike
afterbeingsquared.Thetwospokesareexamplesatlaterstages
ofcompletion.

Thelatheforroundingthespokeswasset
upsomewhatlikeacrudemetallathein
thatwayswerebuiltoutofchanneliron
andacarriagewasbuiltthatrunsalongit
beingpropelledbyanallthreadrodthat
hasahandcrankontheendofit.The
carriageisthesamechannelironwith
smallerpiecesofchannelironboltedtoit
andacatchonthebottomtokeepthe
carriageagainsttheways.Anutis
fastenedtothecarriageandtheallthread
rodisrunthroughitwithabearingonthe
endoftheways.Becausetherewasa

handcrankputontheendoftheallthreadrod,whenitisturneditfeedsthecarriagealongtheways.
Anelectricmotorwithasawblademountedonamandrelontheendoftheshaftismountedtothe
carriage(safetyguardsareremovedforclarity).Thesawbladeisoffsetsuchthatwhenitisnearthe
tailstockendofthelathe,itwillnottouchthetailstockbutwillgettotheendofthewoodspoke.Itis
importantthatthebladeturnsinthedirectionthatitcomesdownontheadvancingside(clockwisein
photographbelow)topreventthepiecefromsplintering.IwilltrytouploadavideoofthisontoYou
Tube(searchforRetiredHoodliftertoseealistofmyvideos).

Makesureboththesawbladeandthewoodpiececan
turnfreely.Thesawbladeshouldnothitthelatheever
andshouldnottouchthewoodpieceuntiltheyare
bothrunningandthecarriageisadvancedalongthe
piece.Thewoodpieceshouldnottouchthesawblade
untilbotharerunningandthecarriageisadvanced
alongthepiece.Asthesawnearsthehubendofthe
piece(acrudemarkcangivesomeindicationofwhen
youareapproachingtheend),thesawandlatheshould
beturnedoffandmeasuredmoreprecisely.Finally,the
carriagecanberemovedfromthewaysandthepiece

canbesandeddowntocompletion.Thiscanbeseenasthirdspokeonthephotoabove.Afterstarting
thelatheandthesawmotors,advancethecarriagealongthewaysslowlysothatthesawbladedoes
notbouncetoomuchandthepiecebecomestoorough.Byusinga7sawbladeyougetanice
taperedcurveforthespokewhereitjoinsatthehubasperthepictureabove.
Therimendofthespokecanthenbeturneddownusingregularchiselswiththesmallnibthatfitinto
therim.Thiscanbeseenasthefourthspokeonthephotoabove.
Inordertomakespacefortheweldinthehubandfor
rollingspokeintotherim,asmallcornermustbecutoff
thespoke(outsideandinside)asperphotoattheright.

Channel(1by)wasrolledtoapproximately22
diameterandweldedinsiderimasperpicturetorightand
diagrambelow.Theboltsusedthroughtheplatesand
spokesareAllenkeybolts(nicesmallheadslook
somewhatlikerivets).Theplatewastappedtoreceive
theboltssotheexcessboltcanbegroundflushwith
theplatesoitwillmountflushwiththeplateonthe
rearaxle.

Allsurfacesexceptwherethespokeswereincontactwitheachother(atthehub)werecoatedwith
epoxy(WestSystem105Epoxy&WestSystem207Hardener(3:1))andallowedtodry.Irecommend
thatyoucompletelyassemblethewheeldrybeforeapplyingepoxywherespokesjointomakesureitall
fitsproperly.Thediameteroftheassembledspokesbeforeepoxywasadded(onthehub)was1/16
largerthantheinnersurfaceoftherimtomakepreload.Whentakingwheelapartafterthisinspection,
slackenslowlyandkeeptheboltthatdrawsitalltogethertightwiththehubsoitdoesnotflyapartand
damageyouorthewheel.Finally,coatthesurfacesofthespokesthatareincontactwitheachother
andreassemblethewheel.Thewheelwasassembledsimilarlytotheelegantdescriptionat
www.modelt.org/regans%5fwheels%5web/.Useasmanyclampsasyouhavetoholdtheinsideand
outsideplatetogether(withspokesinbetween)untiltheepoxyisdry.Afterepoxyisdryyoucandrill

outtheholesforth
heAllenkeyb
bolts(drilltheplateto1
13/64soitcaanbetapped
dforcourse
thread).

Finalprod
duct: