How do you remove wooden spokes

Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration
Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2014: How do you remove wooden spokes
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By William Goodheart on Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 01:34 pm:

I found two of these wheels in my Father in law's garage. The spokes are solid and tight. Better than the ones on the car. I am not sure how you get the spokes out. Apparently the bolts go through the felloe and
into the end of the spokes. Do these come out first?
Do the bolts through the hub go through the spoke's?
I would like to remove and clean and paint the spokes, also the felloe. Is it important to put the spokes back in the same position?
I think these are front wheels, can they be changed to rear wheels by changing the hub or isn't that feasible?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ted Dumas on Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 01:47 pm:

You can remove the bolts and hub flanges, then knock or press out the hub. Once the hub is out you can carefully tap the spokes and remove them. I would number the spokes and put them back as they came out although this is likely unnecessary.

You can change the hub and make a front wheel a rear wheel or vice versa.

There should be no bolts or screws attaching the ends of the spokes to the steel felloe.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Allan Bennett - Australia on Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 01:52 pm:

William, I would not pull the wheel apart. If it is sound and the spokes are tight, leave them that way. The spokes can be masked and the felloe gently sandblasted. The hub is not difficult to scrape down in place. I use cut glass strips as scrapers on the spokes. Just remember to scrape and sand along the grain.

Hope this saves you some grief.

Allan rom down under.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By G.R.Cheshire on Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 01:58 pm:

they are front wheels the spokes are removed by removing the bolts in the HUB there are no bolts in the felloe. they are pressed in so if they are solid they will not come out easily I am not sure why you would disassemble and then put the same spokes back in but if you do go to
http://funprojects.com/techinfo.aspx and in the document window look for spoke press plans


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 02:01 pm:

I'm with Allan. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Mask the wood with plenty of Gorilla tape and blast the metal parts, then do the wood as Allan says. If you need rear wheels, use these for trade bait.

(Message edited by steve_jelf_parkerfield_ks on November 13, 2014)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve McClelland on Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 02:13 pm:

William
Ted or Allan both have good points on how to restore the wheel, if you are needing a rear as stated above you can just change the hub out.
But keep in mind the hub bolts are different lengths the fronts are a little shorter than the rears I wouldn't recommend using front hub bolts on the rear. Once you do your changes remember to pein the bolts in order to lock them in place.
Don't blast the spokes...! I've used glass to scrap spokes as well, I now have an old junk lock blade knife I use when it dulls I hit it with a file and go back to work.
One more tip... If you suspect that your wheels have bad spokes you can take a screwdriver handle and tap on each spoke if you find a bad one it have a thud sound, the good spokes will have a sharp tone almost a ring.... So check the ones your using before you do all the work of swapping.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Bishop, San Diego on Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 02:16 pm:

William'
I removed mine by turning a corner too sharply and hitting the curb, but I'm pretty sure that's not what you had in mind!
The suggestions above are probably better:-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By William Goodheart on Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 02:17 pm:

I only wanted to disassemble to make it easier to paint, but it sounds like that isn't necessary. The left rear wheel on my car has loose spokes and I thought I might replace both rears with these. A less costly option to having the wheels rebuilt.
How difficult is converting them for use as rear wheels.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan Treace, North FL on Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 02:41 pm:

Unless you make that spoke press as noted in post above with link to Fun Projects, it can be a real bear to remove the center hub by hammering.

That wheel seems to be good, with tight spokes, and getting the hub out without loosening the spokes is difficult, once the spokes get tee-pee shaped up, they are hard to hammer back to the center hub. Only use a press.

Wood spoke wheels are better painted all together, its much easier.




Old rotten loose wood spokes are another story, then you can use a hammer :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John H. Nichols on Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 03:31 pm:

I am with Allen and Steve. But if you do take them apart, you might as well go for a few dollars more and put in new spokes. Do not ask how I know this.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Thode Chehalis Washington on Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 08:14 pm:

If you want to change the hub from front to rear and the hub is tight the easy way is the heat the steel felloe and the hub will slip out easily. I changed some and used a heat gun to heat just the felloe and it worked well. I did not disturb the spokes in the felloe and did not need a press to put it back together.

Jim


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By William Goodheart on Thursday, November 13, 2014 - 09:43 pm:

Jim Thode
That sounds like a good idea, I may try that but not sure if I understand how it works, or exactly the procedure.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jim Thode Chehalis Washington on Friday, November 14, 2014 - 12:22 am:

William,
It worked because or two reasons.

One is he geometry of the wheel. Even if the thermal expansion of wood and steel were the same it would work because the felloe is 3.14 times longer then the diameter. That is if the whole wheel were heated equally, then the spokes would be looser.

Two the thermal expansion of steel is much more then wood. So even if the whole wheel was heated, the spokes will still get loose.

So if just the steel felloe is heated with a heat gun, the spokes will be much looser and the hub will be easy to remove.

Jim


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By William Goodheart on Friday, November 14, 2014 - 07:55 am:

Thank You Jim,
That makes perfect sense, knowing C = Pi x Dia
So, do the hub and spokes come out together?

Bill Goodheart


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By john kuehn on Friday, November 14, 2014 - 08:49 am:

The wheel seems to be in really good shape. It hasn't been outside and gotten weather beaten which is a plus. If it still good and tight that's another plus.

Good wheels can be hard to take apart which means its still pretty good.

I would clean it up as others have said and give it a good paint job.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Strange on Friday, November 14, 2014 - 08:54 am:

You can press the hub out after removing the bolts and the outer face plate, leaving the spokes and felloe intact:

wheel


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By William Goodheart on Friday, November 14, 2014 - 08:59 am:

John Kuehn,
I agree with what you and others are saying but I need rear wheels, so am trying to find out how difficult it is to change them. I may or may not try to change them. I could just look for a set of rear wheels. But, I thought this might be a good winter project. My garage is not heated but my basement is.
Bill Goodheart


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By William Goodheart on Friday, November 14, 2014 - 09:17 am:

Mark,
Thanks for the photo, that clears up all of the questions in my (rather weak) mind. You can tell how much of a newbie I am by the dumb questions I ask.
They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but at 74 I am trying to learn.
Bill Goodheart


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Charlie B actually in Toms River N.J. on Friday, November 14, 2014 - 10:03 am:

Numbering the spokes and putting location marks on the hub and plate to re-locate them exactly might be a good idea. There could be very slight differences in the hole locations from spoke to spoke.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan Treace, North FL on Friday, November 14, 2014 - 10:15 am:

Won't take apart a good wheel by hand tools again.

Be sure to use a press or build one.

My first T when 15yr old decided to remove the spokes to clean them and paint, mistake.

Once the hub came out, the spokes became free, and could not get the wedge ends to lay back in the hub section. My Dad did tell me to number each wedge end with a punch, so they would go back together in the same relation. That is a must as the holes are drilled 1/2 way on each side of corresponding spokes.

Tried and tried to hand force, using a bottle jack in makeshift attempt, never got that wheel together. Went off and found another wheel.

Now all spoke wheels if not solid, go off to be re-spoked by the experts.

This old dog learned that trick :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Karlsson, southern Sweden on Friday, November 14, 2014 - 10:16 am:

When I've tried to remove a face plate without damaging the spokes or the square holes it didn't turn out so well.. Rust is different in different climates - here old iron stuff rusts really tight and usually needs more heat than the spokes can take to be removed.

If your rust is the same as over here, I'd recommend a swap meet or an ad at this website to find someone who has rear wheels in similar or better condition and wants to swap. Taking good wheels apart is asking for trouble. They can be cleaned and painted while together - though when cleaning up rear wheels I remove the bolts and the brake drums.

(Message edited by Roger K on November 14, 2014)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rodney Aspenson on Friday, November 14, 2014 - 10:45 am:

I re-did mine a few years ago and reinforced them by boring a hole through each one and putting a steel screw/rod through the length of them...


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By keith g barrier on Friday, November 14, 2014 - 10:53 am:

I have had good luck in bead blasting wheels by using worn out glass beads, low pressure and going slowly. This is the way I will always do old wheels from now on. Also the bead blasting will reveal any bad wood. If the wheel is tight and sound I see no reason to dismantle it. MHO. KGB


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Christopher Vasconcelos in Fairhaven, MA on Saturday, November 15, 2014 - 08:44 am:

Here is a great video of how the spoke assembly fixture is used...it is only 3 minutes long.

http://youtu.be/UKZ7WrfHdf8


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Strange on Saturday, November 15, 2014 - 08:52 am:

Here's another great video on wheel building:

http://www.cimorelli.com/wheelrebuilding.html

Here's a thread from earlier this year showing my first attempt at building wheels:

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/411944/454203.html?1404960383


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By William Goodheart on Saturday, November 15, 2014 - 08:53 am:

Great video I enjoyed it. I have looked at the Fun Project plans for building the press, pretty easy. I have built the engine stand from fun projects and am using it to store my engine, transmission.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Charlie B actually in Toms River N.J. on Saturday, November 15, 2014 - 10:28 am:

Is the 8 sided set-up really necessary? I've seen 1 or 2 4 sided beds here. It's a hell of a lot easier to build for one thing.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Christopher Vasconcelos in Fairhaven, MA on Saturday, November 15, 2014 - 11:25 am:

Awesome videos!

My T came with a few broken spokes and some that look like they are ready to turn into dust.

Eventually I will be building that fixture. I'm sure there are folks in my area that have one but then I won't have any fun building one!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Gregush Portland Oregon on Saturday, November 15, 2014 - 12:30 pm:

Even after reading this still I am thinking about swapping the front hubs in a set of 21 inch for rear hubs. Looking for a little more tread on the ground for stopping. :-)


Posting is currently disabled in this topic. Contact your discussion moderator for more information.
Topics Last Day Last Week Tree View    Getting Started Formatting Troubleshooting Program Credits    New Messages Keyword Search Contact Moderators Edit Profile Administration