[SEL] More Pictures of the Iron Wheels

[Curt]

Paul,
All the steel rimmed old wheels I've seen are hammer welded as you've 
noticed. You asked about why not casting the rim......it is a durability 
and cost issue. Picture the kind of ruts and logs these engine carts 
were pulled over a 100 years ago. Steel rims would flex and bend a 
little and continue on. Occasional corrections with a hammer would make 
it all good again. Cast rims are brittle and the only solution is to 
beef the thickness up considerably to compensate and this drove the cost 
sky high. Cast iron must have been cheap in Oz as you see a lot of large 
cast rimmed wheels there.
Looking at your wheels I think I see the remnants of a single large hot 
rivet in the center of the hammer weld. I've not seen this before as 
most are simply hammer welded only.
A while back I was contemplating making some wheels from scratch as I 
couldn't seem to find a pair of 24" Hercules cart wheels after looking a 
couple of years. Dug up some articles on the manufacturing method as I 
was convinced the steel spokes were cast into the hub. Sure enough that 
was the case. It seems the green sand molds would not support the spokes 
well enough so they developed water cooled D2 steel cavity dies to pour 
the cast iron into. (You'd think they would have used H13).
As I recall when IHC moved away from the knobby style wheel hub to the 
zigzig style they incorporated this steel cavity die molding method. The 
spokes were upset (forged) with a "mushroom" on the hub end and a flange 
on the other end about a 1/2" back from the end. The spokes were 
populated into the open hub casting mold, the mold closed, and the cast 
iron poured in.
The rims were made from flat stock and in the case of your rims were hot 
rolled thru a set of rollers to create the sunken area. Spoke holes were 
punched at the correct interval along the proper length piece of steel. 
Then they were cold rolled on a 3 roll rolling machine into a slightly 
larger than needed circle. The hub/spoke assy was married to the rim and 
the rim was closed until it bottomed on all the spoke flanges. The rim 
was then hammer welded. Then they had a machine they put the wheel 
assembly in and it gripped/supported the back of the flange on the spoke 
and a "hammer" device that looked a lot like a chisel came out and 
hammered the end of the spoke, spreading it flat to retain the rim. This 
chisel tool rotated as it hammered, leaving the surface with a radial 
pattern of lines across the face. If you are lucky enough to find some 
really nice old wheels you can still see this pattern.

Glad you found some wheels. What are you going to use for a 5th wheel? 
If you make one from scratch make sure the front axle assy can pivot 
side to side, otherwise uneven ground will put tremendous loads on your 
engine base casting and possibly break it. I've been thinking about 
making a couple of patterns for a generic 5th wheel for small carts (8 
or10" wheels). Missy's New Way engine needs a cart. I have some nice 
cast wheels but don't have the 5th wheel yet. I kind of like the design 
of the Rock Island cart fifth wheel system.
See ya,
Curt Holland
Gastonia, NC

Paul Maples wrote:
> I appreciate the response of those who have wrote in and assured me that these forged welds are original for early made wheels. For those who have not seen any like me here are a couple of more pictures of the wheel.
>
> http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g36/wheelterrapin/Ironwheel1.jpg
>
> http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g36/wheelterrapin/IronWheel2.jpg
>
> http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g36/wheelterrapin/IronWheel3.jpg
>
> http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g36/wheelterrapin/IronWheel4.jpg
>
> Paul
>
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