Spoked Wheel Jig

[Dalboy]

I make toys as well as spending my time turning. One of the things that I need are spoked wheels of different sizes some of which I can do on the lathe. Well this jig makes setting up to drill holes in the centre hub a lot easier and less time consuming.

Blank ready for attaching

How the blank is mounted

Mounted and ready to drill

The end result with a rubbish piece of wood still a happy result this took less than 5 minutes from cutting the blank to all the holes drilled

 

[blackrodd]

An excellent post many thanks, but what about 'tother end?(outside)
I'm interested in this as I'm Mending floral display wheel barrows, carts etc now , ready for next year.
Regards Rodders

 

[Dalboy]

An excellent post many thanks, but what about 'tother end?(outside)
I'm interested in this as I'm Mending floral display wheel barrows, carts etc now , ready for next year.
Regards Rodders

Because of the size of wheels the spokes will sit in a small rebate cut from the back so no jig for the outer rim. If they are large wheels they are normally made in sections with an iron tyre similar to full size practice or with out the tyre but are joined with a through tongue.
Also note that this jig will mainly do even numbered spokes anything that can be divided into 24.
If I had changed the dividing plate and put it on the back where it would be easy to remove then I could have made different plates

 

[Dalboy]

Well the jig worked great the first set of wheels now made from it.

 

[blackrodd]

Thanks for the finished item follow up post on the spoked wheel jig, A clever and simplified way of doing it I see,
looking at the finished wheel, But definitely looks the part too!
Regards Rodders

 

[chipmunk]

Hi Dalboy,
Did you consider using a drilling jig similar to this Sorby one...
https://www.stilesandbates.co.uk/product.php/section/7031/sn/76516

...and then use the indexing system on your lathe?
You could then have left the hub in the chuck while it's drilled.

A very simple drilling jig can be just a spindle turned down to fit in your toolpost with a cross-hole you set to centre height and drill through with a hand drill. You could use unhardened or better still hardened steel inserts to lengthen its life otherwise here's another more sophisticated idea...
http://www.davidreedsmith.com/Articles/DrillGuide/DrillGuide.htm

If your rims are also turned on the lathe then the same method could be used to drill through the rims from the outside-in.

I haven't tried this but if your wheels are dished like traditional cart wheels then it might even be possible to angle a long drill bit across the face of the rim to drill from the inside to the outside part way through.

Just a thought
Jon

 

[Robbo3]

Has Photobucket deliberately blurred the pictures. I don't remember them being like this.
One of our club members wants to know how to make wheels & I was going to point him in the direction of this thread.

 

[marcros]

Just seen the same on another forum. I wondered whether it was a photobucket tactic but thought no more.

 

[Trevanion]

I think in the last 4 months or so Photobucket's policy has become that if you're not a paying member you can't embed your photos anywhere else like on these forums, so they blurred and watermarked all photos belonging to non-paying members.

Basically, cough up the dough for people to see your pictures on other sites, or host them somewhere else. It's a tactic alright, a bad one.