I first started English wheeling in 1986 at my home based shop. What tools do I need ? was the first question that needed answering. My situation was the same one that almost everyone faces. I had limited funds, limited space, and I couldnt make too much noise. Ron Fourniers first book was out and in it there was a fabricated steel square tube wheel. I copied the design but I changed it to a top adjuster. I used that wheel everyday until 1993, in the process I figured out all of the limitations of the design. In the next town over there were three large scrap yards filled with steel bits for sale at 5 cents a pound. I would go to the scrap yards at least twice a month, dragging home hundreds of pounds of steel scrap every trip. I made a collection of steel, and a rough plan in my head for the English wheel that I would never grow out of. I used materials that most people will tell you to never use- I-beams. I started out with the main bottom beam, I notched it with a torch to accept a large round steel tube, making a mechanical joint, that I figured would be better than a welded butt joint. The machine just grew designing itself in the process. Everything was not planned except for the top wheel holding mechanism. That component was also sourced off the scrap pile a few years earlier. I knew it would come in handy someday. It had a rack and pinion movement plus large aluminum locks. I added a few other features to the mechanism as it all came together. From my experience using my first English wheel I had figured that wider top wheels and anvils would work a lot better- I was right. The top wheel also came from the scrap yard, what a great find that was. Cast tool steel all hardened to 60 plus rockwell. I later found out it was originally a mould for a Norton Abrasives grinding wheel that had been scrapped by Nortons located in nearby Worcester, MA. I made the throat 56 so I didnt have to turn panels too often. The lower arm is actually a steel fabricated section of a thread insert machine called a Permsetter. After I finished the machine I was nervous about it being too top heavy, so I found some ballast in the form of a flame cut solid large C shape scrap of steel that weighed 300 lbs or so that I welded low on the back. I boxed in the I-beams and tensioned them with adjustable strut rods. The large throat permitted mounting a standard four foot light on the underside of the upper arm. I have used this machine everyday for that last 21 years, I couldnt be more happy with it. - Wray
Posted on: Thu, 30 Oct 2014 23:04:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015