[SEL] More Pictures of the Iron Wheels

[Gary Epps]

Curt,

Thanks for the education on how these old wheels were made.

Gary
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Curt" <curt at imc-group.com>
To: "The SEL email discussion list" <sel at lists.stationary-engine.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2007 8:26 AM
Subject: Re: [SEL] More Pictures of the Iron Wheels


> 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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>>
>
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