Roundy roundy wagon wheels

by brae Email

The Allwood covered wagon kit I am transforming into a 1:12 scale farm wagon has an ingenious method for constructing the wagon wheels.  They supply dowels you cut into spokes and the shaped inner hubs.

The wheels are made from two layers of diecut plywood glued together and sanded.

The ingenious part comes in the form of the jig used to line up the spokes.  It is made from two layers of plywood lined up in the middle and glued together.

The wheel assembly fits snugly onto the jig and the hub is placed in the middle.  The jig has grooves in it serving as a guide for the spokes.

Of course, nothing is ever that simple - the hubs were sticking up just a bit making for a bowed hub.

So, I taped two dowel lengths under the jig to get the hub to sit correctly.  Let's not confuse matters and say the jig makes it easy to put the wheels together, but it helps enormously.  :D

The instructions tell you to cut a whole bunch of dowel lengths to certain measurements, but I didn't do it that way.  Instead, I measured only the first one to the kit specified length and then measured the rest of the dowel lengths to fit.  There was no way the standard measurements given with the kit instructions were going to work for all the spokes - some would be too long and others too short.  That's the nature of imprecise diecut parts.

Once the glue has dried, the wagon wheel pops off from the jig.  :D

4 comments

Comment from: Audra [Visitor]
It looks wonderful. I would have believed you if you said you made that all yourself!
01/25/12 @ 18:46
Comment from: Angie Martin Hall [Visitor]
Impressive! You must have the patience of Job.
01/26/12 @ 06:40
Comment from: Lucille [Visitor]
It will be lovely once it's finished. You're very patient to go through such a process!
01/26/12 @ 07:14
Comment from: brae [Member] Email
Thank you! I really enjoyed making the wagon for Baslow Ranch, and honestly since I already have an idea what I am doing it doesn't take as much patience trying to figure it out...it's more a time investment than anything. :D
01/26/12 @ 07:27

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