turning wooden spokes on a lathe

8/6/2019 Turning Wooden Spokes on a Lathe

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/turning-wooden-spokes-on-a-lathe 1/4

Turning wooden spokes on a lathe. Pieces of ash (1 ½” by 2 ¼”) were cut to length (~11” long) and

then the angles were cut on a regular table saw with a jig as per

picture on right. A piece of steel was put on the bottom of a piece

of ¼” plate to run in the guide and angle iron was attached to

produce the proper angle for 12 spokes to come together at the

hub (15o on two sides of the spoke). A bracket comes over the top

and can be tightened with a bolt to hold the piece rigid. After

cutting all 12 spokes, it is important to check to make sure they

will meet correctly (evenly) on the hub. I left some play so that

when they were assembled epoxy could be used to add strength

and hold the joints together.

On picture on right, the spoke on the left shows what it would

look like after having the taper cut into it. Next, the rough piece

was cut to be approximately square at the non‐tapered end and

the centres were marked to be mounted on the lathe. The second

spoke from the left is an example of what a spoke would look like

after being squared. The two spokes are examples at later stages

of completion.

The lathe for rounding the spokes was set

up somewhat like a crude metal lathe in

that ways were built out of channel iron

and a carriage was built that runs along it

being propelled by an all‐thread rod that

has a hand‐crank on the end of it. The

carriage is the same channel iron with

smaller pieces of channel iron bolted to it

and a “catch” on the bottom to keep the

carriage against the ways. A nut is

fastened to the carriage and the all‐thread

rod is run through it with a bearing on the

end of the ways. Because there was a



hand crank put on the end of the all‐thread rod, when it is turned it feeds the carriage along the ways.

An electric motor with a saw blade mounted on a mandrel on the end of the shaft is mounted to the

carriage (safety guards are removed for clarity). The saw blade is offset such that when it is near the

tail‐stock end of the lathe, it will not touch the tail stock but will get to the end of the wood spoke. It is

important that the blade turns in the direction that it comes down on the advancing side (clock‐wise in

photograph below) to prevent the piece from splintering. I will try to upload a video of this on to You

Tube (search for RetiredHoodlifter to see a list of my videos).

Make sure both the saw blade and the wood piece can

turn freely. The saw blade should not hit the lathe ever

and should not touch the wood piece until they are

both running and the carriage is advanced along the

piece. The wood piece should not touch the saw blade

until both are running and the carriage is advanced

along the piece. As the saw nears the hub end of the

piece (a crude mark can give some indication of when

you are approaching the end), the saw and lathe should

be turned off and measured more precisely. Finally, the

carriage can be removed from the ways and the piece



can be sanded down to completion. This can be seen as third spoke on the photo above. After starting

the lathe and the saw motors, advance the carriage along the ways slowly so that the saw blade does

not bounce too much and the piece becomes too rough. By using a 7 ¼” saw blade you get a nice

tapered curve for the spoke where it joins at the hub as per the picture above.

The rim end of the spoke can then be turned down using regular chisels with the small nib that fit into

the rim. This can be seen as the fourth spoke on the photo above.

In order to make space for the weld in the hub and for

rolling spoke into the rim, a small corner must be cut off

the spoke (outside and inside) as per photo at the right.

Channel (1 ½” by ½”) was rolled to approximately 22”

diameter and welded inside rim as per picture to right and

diagram below. The bolts used through the plates and

spokes are Allen key bolts (nice small heads look

somewhat like rivets). The ¼” plate was tapped to receive

the ¼” bolts so the excess bolt can be ground flush with

the ¼” plate so it will mount flush with the plate on the

rear axle.

All surfaces except where the spokes were in contact with each other (at the hub) were coated with

epoxy (West System 105 Epoxy & West System 207 Hardener (3:1)) and allowed to dry. I recommend

that you completely assemble the wheel dry before applying epoxy where spokes join to make sure it all

fits

properly.

The

diameter

of

the

assembled

spokes

before

epoxy

was

added

(on

the

hub)

was

1/16”

larger than the inner surface of the rim to make preload. When taking wheel apart after this inspection,

slacken slowly and keep the bolt that draws it all together tight with the hub so it does not fly apart and

damage you or the wheel. Finally, coat the surfaces of the spokes that are in contact with each other

and reassemble the wheel. The wheel was assembled similarly to the elegant description at

www.modelt.org/regans%5fwheels%5web/ . Use as many clamps as you have to hold the inside and

outside plate together (with spokes in between) until the epoxy is dry. After epoxy is dry you can drill



out the ¼thread).

Final pro

” holes for th

uct:

e Allen key bolts (drill the ¼” plate to 1

3/64” so it can be tapped for ¼” cours

e

turning wooden spokes on a lathe

Documents