evil spinny project...finished!

Dan Noren

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on sunday, my brothers shanghi'd me to with them to a local swap meet and car show. both for my usefulness as comic relief, and as a pack animal (carried a 57 chevy gas tank 6 blocks). they bought me a foot long hot dog, so we're even. :rofl: well, while we were walking about (about 6 miles that morning), while they were looking for parts for their cars, i spotted an evil spinny project in the making.:eek::D:thumb: there, laying on the ground, were a bunch of ford model t wheels (sorry larry, no tires). then it hit me, i had always wanted to turn the spokes for one of those wheels. so, with great regret, i parted with $10, and acquired the wheel. today i had my dad and i ground off the peened over (smashed all to heck really) ends of the carriage bolts, turned off the square (yes larry, that thing with 4 corners) nuts, popped out the bolts, and pounded out the cover plate from the outer side, and the hub out the other end. the hub finally came out once i had removed a couple of the spokes. it was then that i realized that i didn't have the camera along:doh:. i did stop by a little bit ago, and got some pics of the parts. my other brother is going to sandblast the rim and hub parts for me. i am going to take the measurements, and turn the spokes (now i have to find some really thick hickory turning blanks), and when all is reassembled, say it with krylon (black, as varnished spokes were not a production item). well, here are the pics....
 

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Wait a minute...a hot dog :huh::eek: You didn't hold out for a sticky bun :huh::huh:
I'm sorry...I can't participate in this lack of commitment anymore :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
don - they are turned, as there is a stub tenon on the end. these are production spokes, and doing them by hand would have been too time intense, as ford was running 3 shifts turning out model t's. it looks like they just had the angle cut on the blank, mounted in a lathe, a few passes to the finished diameter, and the tenon made.

jim - all the stand had was hot dogs. not too worried though, my brother is going to sandblast the metal parts for me for free, so it evens out somewhat.
 
Did you only get one Dan, why not 4 then you could have sold them at the end of it. What you gonna do with one wheel?:huh:

Cool project. Friend of mine is a car buff and he has a model T hanging on the wall. He told me there are sites where you can still buy all the parts and build your own. I said to him "Only in America":D:thumb:
 
That looks like a fun project. Love doing things like that. The closest I have come is making a little ship's wheel for a small sail boat I wanted to make. When I did it I wasn't turning so I used a router to shape the spokes. Now I want to do another one using the lathe.
 
jon, ya need to put on the cheaters and take another look at the pics. the metal parts are rusted pretty good, and the spokes are so dry rotted i don't know what's holding them together....:rofl:
 
this project has gone on a bit of a tangent today. like all the rest of you, i hate to part with what could be perfectly good wood. so i sacrificed one of my spokes on the altar of spinnydom today. since i wanted to see how far the age cracks went, i nipped off the round end, and found that even with exposure to the elements for the better part of 90 years, the insides of this spoke was quite solid. so i figured, why not? lo and behold, about an hour later i had 2 pens done, one in the traditional ford black finish, and one in the much later option of a bright finish. the black one was done with black rattle can lacquer, and the bright one with clear rattle can lacquer. you can see in the one pic, that some of the original black paint still survives.
 

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you are right les, but they won't be conversation pieces here, as i am sending them to bill ford jr., sort of an oldest part of the company gets used by the one of the newest parts of the company.

i lucked out today, and found a lumber supplier that has the 2x2 inch hickory turning blanks that i need. i wound up talking with the gal who packs the orders, and she will make sure i get the good, straight grained, full 2x2's that i need.
 
well, another part of the puzzle in place. picked up the plywood, 4x4, and other parts for the wheel press today. this will come in handy when it comes time to press the whole thing together again. may not be spinny, but an important part of the project. i'll be adding the metal parts and foam pad to it tomorrow.
 

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this project has gone on a bit of a tangent today. like all the rest of you, i hate to part with what could be perfectly good wood. so i sacrificed one of my spokes on the altar of spinnydom today. since i wanted to see how far the age cracks went, i nipped off the round end, and found that even with exposure to the elements for the better part of 90 years, the insides of this spoke was quite solid. so i figured, why not? lo and behold, about an hour later i had 2 pens done, one in the traditional ford black finish, and one in the much later option of a bright finish. the black one was done with black rattle can lacquer, and the bright one with clear rattle can lacquer. you can see in the one pic, that some of the original black paint still survives.

Well done. Old wood like that can be very crumbly. It benefits from stabilizing for preservation. If you have a blank or two you want stabled send to me, I'll be happy to do it gratis.
 
it's been a while, thanks to a pair of 60 hour weeks, but i've finally gotten back at this. since last posted, the hub parts, and rim have been sandblasted, primed and painted. yesterday i cut the hickory blanks to final width and thickness. now i just have to do the final markings, and they will be ready for turning. i'm still debating on whether or not to put a tire on it as well.
 

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back at it again! got all the spokes marked off for cutting the angles. i used a bit of plywood for a positioning jig for the saw. finally put the new saw to good use (and a pic of the sawdust for the nonbelievers). got everything cut and ready to go, looked at my watch and thought, just in time to pick up the wife from school. when i went in the house to get my coat, i found that the only time piece i hadn't turned back was my own watch! i still had an hour to kill. so, i killed it in a nice way. i set up the blanks with nail point holes for the head and tail stocks, and mounted one. then with more time left, i figured, why not? so i turned the first one to get a feel for it. i think i'll do the rest either tonight or tomorrow.
 

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