Wood Spoke Removal

[telecros]

I'm stuck... Getting ready to send my 21" demountable wheels to Stutzman's for new spokes. What's the secret to removing the old spokes so I can sandblast all the metal parts?

[Steve Jelf]

Try this: Remove the bolts and the hub plate. Lay wheel down with the spokes on wood blocks to raise the hub off the floor with the back side of the wheel facing the floor. Put a large socket inside the hub, just large enough to fit. Hold a wood block on top of the socket and drive the socket and hub down with a BFH.

[DHort]

After removing hub bolts and hub plate, put the wheel on a couple of 4 x 4's, and step on it. Keep one of your free hands on a wall or you might fall down.

[Mark Gregush]

If you are replacing them because they need replacing, just cut them and use for kindling.

[Dan Hatch]

Sawsall will make quick work of the job.

[Burger in Spokane]

All of the above work. The use of the BFH has the added satisfaction of
well, ..... smacking something with a BFH !

[HPetrino]

BFH, huh. It took me a while to understand what that acronym means.

It reminds me of a TV news special aired many years ago. A very attractive young female reporter was following this guy on a tour of a nuclear reactor plant and hanging on every word he said, asking lots of questions along the way. As they were about to go through a door that looked like it belonged on a submarine he said, "Now we are entering the BRT". Of course she asked, "And what does BRT stand for?" The look on her face said she was expecting a complicated technical answer. He took the wind out of her sails when he replied, "Big Round Thing."

[DHort]

Dana

You can take your spokes to a woodworker store and donate them to Turn for Troops. I see there are Woodcraft stores in Phoenix and Tucson. There are woodturners who will turn those spokes into pens that are then donated to our troops. That is where my spokes went. They were thrilled to receive them, and it doesn't cost you a dime.

[telecros]

Thanks for the suggestions! The one that prompted my original post is still not apart. The second one literally fell apart as soon as I took the bolts out. No BFH required! On to the next one. Back in my Navy days we had lots of those BFH references. My favorite was the Navy toolbox. It had two tools: a BFH and a prophylactic. If you can't fix it...........! Thanks again for the help.

[telecros]

And the winner is...... Steve Jelf, for his jump on it method.
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[ChrisB]

.... and y'all know what TLA stands for ..... Three Letter Acronym

Some would consider that a Dad joke.

[Fordwright]

I always wondered why they didn't start out using steel rims. But back in the day, when you hired a wheelmaker, he made it using wooden spokes and all because that's just how it was done.