Hello All,
I used to rebuild my wheels myself but now I found one strange felloe on one of the wheels I am willing to rebuild. Instead of holes it have bosses where the spokes comes.
I am wondering if I can drill holes of the right size where the bosses are or must I look for an other felloe??
Thanks
Andre
Belgium
Andre
I have a set like that, think these are later year, around '24 maybe with the round end spoke that doesn't pass thru the felloe.
The more found wheels have the spoke with the end passing thru. But note the rim around the spoke end, that provides the support. Just drilling a hole in the felloe may not be the better idea, as the thin felloe metal sharp edge may get the better of the wood spoke. I would search out another wheel, or else reshape the wood spoke end to mate with the dome shape recess.
Its hard to believe they'd have relied on a dimple to support the spoke end... Hmm. Are you sure that's not a rivet with a center hole bored into the spoke? Even that's just the lesser of two evils weakening the spoke. ws
Guys, this is a legitimate original version--I'm not certain which supplier, nor when or how long they were made, but I suspect Ford decided it wasn't a good idea after all and went back to the hole design.
Andre, drilling holes in yours is not a good idea, for the reasons previously mentioned. Felloes are not that hard to obtain, I'd just get another one. I have one of these dimpled wheels in my parts piles too, and I keep it just as a wall-hanger conversation piece.
I have 2 of the dimpled wheels on a 1925. They seem very solid and work fine. Careful machining on new spokes should work OK. On the other hand, the other type of rim shouldn't be that hard to find.
Rich
I also have at least one of the dimpled wheels but I am not trying to complete a set.
It looks like loose spokes could quickly develop into a collapsed wheel if not caught early??
Thanks All,
As the other three wheels have the hole felloes I will take a Hole felloe to replace the dimpled one. The dimple Felloe will be changed into a Wall-hanger as David did with his.
Have a fine weekend and drive it save.
Andre
Belgium
Like David D and a few others, in my over forty years in this hobby, I have managed to acquire ONE, count it, ONE, of those dimpled felloes. I also keep it as a simple wall hanger. I also do not think they would be as safe and reliable as the others (although if the tenon were a perfect fit into the dimple, it should be). I have seen only a few others and have heard of a few people with a set.
Andre V, Good plan.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2
You could think about this two different ways. You could say the dimpled type wouldn't take as much side load as the 'regular' design. But when you think about the spokes being loaded in compression, the entire diameter of the spoke is available to take that load on the dimpled design. On the 'regular' design, only the 'shoulder' area around the tenon takes the compressive load. The center tenon area is not taking any compressive load, as nothing is coming into contact with it. It may be that the dimple design would stay tighter longer. ???????
I have a few of those wheels and would not be afraid to use them if they were re spoked. I don't see how they would be less strong and evidently they were cause the ones I have are well used and loose, you cant even kick the spokes out. KB