I had a guy come buy. He is building a Gatling Gun, 1/3 scale. He asked me to build the spoked wheels for him. I figured it would be a cool project to be part of. He supplied me with some Walnut parts. He gave me 16 segments cut on a CNC for the two, 8 segment wheels. He also gave me 40 blanks for the spokes. These had the centers drilled on the ends and a 1 1/2" radius cut on one end that would meet with the brass turned hub.
I started by drilling dowel holes in the end of the segments to form the rim. I used a nylon band clamp to hold it together and put it in a jig that was just a compass to draw two concentric circles on the octagon.
After the circles were drawn I used a band saw to cut out the inside circle. Then I glued up the rim.
I got my spoke blanks turned by my turning guy. He did a nice job. Does all his work by hand lathe, no duplicate. This would have been a good job for a duplicator though.
After the rim was dry I made a jig to sand the inside diameter with my RoboSander Drum, a flush sanding drum. The picture shows the rim in the finished condition. I didn't take a picture of the actual operation:thumbdown: When I did it the outside was still and octagon and I was able to put a few screws in it to attach the rim to the ID circle jig.
Then I made a jig to round the outside. This was a circle made from MDF with another larger circle underneath as a base/platform. The smaller upper circle fit snugly inside the rim and I was able to mount it on my edge sander and spin it around until I got the right size. I used a 60 grit belt. I didn't even cut the OD with the bandsaw, just sanded it down.
Then I needed to make the jigs for cutting the angles on the spokes that would go on the hub side. I needed 11 1/4º angles on both sides so I made a jig to cut one side at 11 1/4º and the other at 22 1/2º because I will be referencing it off of the first angle.
I used poplar blanks for adjusting the jig
My first try the parts weren't wide enough.
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