Does anybody know where I can get my wheels re-spoked professionally . And what does it usually cost per wheel .
Thanks
Mike Sharkey
http://www.mtfca.com/cgi-bin/discus/search.cgi
Stutzman has a great reputation. I don't know what he charges, but I bought his spokes and installed them myself. Spokes for two wheels, with shipping, came to $156.
Stutzman Wheel
33656 County Rd 12
Baltic, OH 43804
(330) 897-1391
If you want to install your own spokes, see:
http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/257047/302832.html (Pay attention to John Regan's correction of my mistake.)
Mike
My wheels were shipped to Mr. Stutzman after calling him. (330 897 1391) Used UPS. The old spokes were removed, the hubs and rims sandblasted and then painted) before shipping. He respoked the wheels and assembled everything. We drove down to Baltic, Ohio and picked them up. Price was $150 per wheel. He also can do the sandblasting etc if needed. Oh, buy new hub bolts...buy the more expensive ones that are grade 8 if recollection is correct.
The wheels were 25 -26 with steel felloes. Earlier wheels with wood felloes cost more.
Mr. Stutzman's shop is very interesting to see. All kinds of really different woodworking. machines. A very nice car museum is located in nearby Canton Ohio.
Michael, This fellow does nice work and may be closer http://www.calimerswheelshop.com/ His pricing is on his web site. He did a set for me and I am very pleased with his work. You will need to do all the paint work before sending.
I can second, third, and fourth the Stutzman recommendation. Straight shooter, sticks to his schedule, and extremely reasonable. All of this with no compromises in quality. I saw a lot of people saying that about him and I thought it was too good to be true until using him myself. Five star service!
I've done business with Stutzman's Wheel Shop a few times and their work is not only beautiful, but inexpensive. On last occasion, it cost me only $195 to completely re-wood one of my 1915 Touring's rear wheels (non-demountable, wood felloe). And yes, he sandblasted and painted the hub, too. I don't know whether the Amish pay or collect tax, but if they do, it was included in Mr. Stutzman's $195 price. Turn-around time was two or three weeks—ridiculously quick. On top of that, Mr. Stutzman is as honest as the day is long. His reputation is golden.
I haven't done business with Calimer's Wheel Shop, but I suspect their work is at least as good as anybody else's. According to their website, they charge $285 to re-wood a non-demountable, Model T wheel and I'm guessing you can add some tax to that, which would then total out to almost $100 more than Stutzman's price. But if Calimar's shop is closer to your location, the prices may even out when you consider shipping cost. One other thing: Calimar specifies a turn-around time of at least four to six months, which is much, much longer than Stutzman's Wheel Shop takes.
All I can tell you about Calimer's work is that I saw it at Hershey and it looked very good. I didn't ask for details as I'm probably not going to need any wheel work for quite a while.
Calimer's produces a good wheel but they are by no means sanded and ready for finish as Stutzman's wheels are. You might say they're actually quite rough, bordering on crude. That's been my personal experience anyway.
Stutzmans did mine. Great job. They even tossed in a couple of damaged spokes so I could try a couple of different finishes. You will not be sorry.
I had my wheels done by Calimer's Wheel Shop and was very pleased. I actually visited his workshop and it was like going back in time. A gentleman too.
http://www.calimerswheelshop.com
It's worth noting that my experience was different than Jerry's. And by the looks of the other wheels that I saw there, I find the "crude" comment hard to believe.
I have a friend in PA who is a professional restorer. He recommends Calimers. I have never had to have any done and hope I don't, but I don't think that Calimer's will sell spokes to the do-it-yourselfer. It is my understanding that Stutzman's will.
I have had Calimer do wheels for me on my T's and my other early cars. He is not cheap but the work is excellent. However, after seeing what Stutzman's work looks like I would use him in a heartbeat both for the price and the turn around time. I don't know how he is for non T wheels but he has the T stuff down pat!
I just had four non-demountable wood felloe wheels rebuilt by Stutzman's.
The bill came to $1,024 including return shipping ($120 via UPS - boxed individually). A basic re-wooding was $160/wheel, but mine had the rims sandblasted and primed as well as all new hardware (bolts, felloe plates, and inner tube hole "liners"). You can specify what you want done beyond the basic re-build.
Turn around was about 3 week and the results were truly works of art.
With respect to Val's comment about Stutzman doing non-T wheels:
He does anything. After reading all the good reports on here I was skeptical, so I hand delivered my first order, which was four non-T wheels and two T wheels for me. All are equally spelndid.
He gave me a nice tour of the place and he had finished examples of everything from smaller than T wheels to solid tire truck and on up to wheels for a gun carriage (probably about 4ft. diameter). He also does wooden bicycle rims and new steering wheel rims.
Out of consideration for their beliefs, I didn't ask to take any photos. His showroom was full of sample products including wooden bicycle rims with an aluminum extrusion hidden inside that he designed on request. He told me basically if it's wood and round, he will do it.