Another newbie trying to make wagon wheels

[MiTasol]

that about describes it in one

[Frank S]

Do you have a steam cabinet for making bent felloes or are you planning on making cut felloes wheels made with bent felloes can have fewer segments but are much more difficult to to work as care must be taken in relationship to the grain. I haven't done a wheel since I was in my teens as an apprentice in a blacksmith shop but I do remember a couple things from the 60's 1 is very dry wood 2 ash makes the best hubs and Hickory was preferred for the felloes red oak made nice looking spokes but white oak was harder rectangular spokes offset in the hub made a stronger wheel and when the tire was shrunk onto the wheel the wheel stayed straighter, banded hubs even if turned almost never split. 1 more thing chisels had to be honed to surgical sharpness and re done regularly

[MiTasol]

Many thanks for the info Frank
I had only expected info on making the tires (my part of the project) so your data is a gold mine
The group I am with (a Australian country MenShed - see What is a Men's Shed - Australian Men's Shed Association for more information on Sheds in general) is intending on using cut felloes. Being in Australia we will be using the Australian woods which were historically used. The information about needing very dry wood was not something we had considered.
Many thanks
Mi

[Frank S]

Mi. you need to try and get the moisture content of the wood well below 20% 10 to 15% is optimum
for the tires if memory serves you will want to make the outside perimeter length the same as the perimeter of the wheel then heat the tire slowly and evenly until it has expanded enough to slide over the wheel then quench to shrink it to size. Failing this you would need to make a shrink-er which grabs the edges of the tire in 2 places then pulls the clamps together while you hammer the tire between the clamps. This is normally a process to temporarily tighten a loose tire.
to make the tires you just need a ring roller then weld the ends together and roll through until it is as near perfectly round as possible.
Hope this helps as I said it has been nearly 50 years since I helped make wagon wheels

[Jon]

The men's shed movement is fascinating. Still probably too early to glean enough long-term data on its affect on longevity and quality of life, but what I've seen is very promising. For example: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26061865

RESULTS: The findings from this study support the notion that participation at Men's Sheds decreases self-reported symptoms of depression. Beck Depression Inventory-II scores showed that most participants were currently experiencing minimal depression. The Men's Sheds environment promoted a sense of purpose through relationships and in the sharing of skills, new routines, motivation, and enjoyment for its members. The shed encouraged increased physical activity and use of cognitive skills. Finally, participants reported feelings of pride and achievement which had an impact on their sense of self-worth.

This all makes perfect sense, but we never really had much data to back it up. Now we can say that science increasingly agrees: building stuff is healthy!

I also like how non-politically correct Australia is about this. In America, there's a bunch of social garbage surrounding the categorizing of an activity as being "for men". The Men's Shed movement demonstrates that such an attitude is not only counterproductive, but is literally unhealthy.

[MiTasol]

I also like how non-politically correct Australia is about this..

I can assure you mens sheds are an aberration because Australia is, unfortunately, far more politically correct than the US, though generally not as bad as Canada. And yes there are womens movements who want equal access to Mens Sheds, and some sheds were women members are admitted.

Our shed (25 members) has two members who tell everyone that the shed is the only reason they have not committed suicide.

Recently after the Charlie Hebdo shootings all our politicians stood up and proudly announced that they supported Charlie Hebdo and then went back to refusing to repeal section 18C of the race relations act. That act prohibits any Charlie Hebdo type publications or statements in Australia. One TV journalist (who is a total ass) was fined and jailed for making a true statement because it offended a small number of members of one particular racial group.

For those not familiar with the true definition of Political Correctness it is The belief that it is actually possible to pick up a turd from the clean end. Others put it at Intellectual barbarism and psychological fascism for the creation of thought crime