[Chris@whiterhino]

I have been working on my English Wheel and been posting on other forums. I had forgotten about this one, GASP!!! I know how could i!?!?!? I will copy and paste what I've done so far.

[Chris@whiterhino]

Ok for 8 years or so I have been DIEING for an English Wheel. I've draw up CAD files of them and changed it here and there etc. Well today I happened to be at Oneal Steel and they had a 4' x 47" drop of 5/16 plate. So I got it at scrap prices and only paid $80.00 for it, WOW!! So I had a friend come help me load it on the table and while we were loading it there was a small booboo....



Thats a 1.5" gash in my hand.

I had my friend handle the camer because I could pinch the skin and you can see everything in here. I thought it was kinda cool, Angela however does not.




Anyway, so I start cutting the main part of teh E Wheel out.



Here are a couple others when its done.






layed out on the floor.




This is 4' x 4', ok ok more like 47" x 47". Now that I have that and the 1/4" x 2" x 2" Steel tube all I need to do is weld it up and order my dies.

I'll keep this updated.

[Chris@whiterhino]

Ok so in between working on orders I got some more done on the English Wheel. I have to say though, this this is literally kicking my butt!!



Late time I didn't yell scream or cuss, this time I did because it was a stupid mistake!

Anyway! Back to the project. My thought was instead of cutting holes and welding flat plate in I will machine down some tube then connect all the tube together like an inner skeleton system. So I machined down a bunch of tube to be exactly 4 inches. This will do two things, help me keep it evenly spaced and help it be rigid.



Then I cut a bunch of tubes and will mill them down to be the exact same length as well so all the tubes are evenly spaced. Here is what it will look like.




Then I cut some 2" x 2" x .25" square long just to see where it will be going. I will pick the outer tube up tomorrow.

Also you can see my 6" x 1" ACME thread with 2 nuts. That was the shortest length I could buy at $70!!



So tomorrow if I have time I will finish fish mouthing all these tubes.



The long tubes in the picture go to something else hehe.

[Chris@whiterhino]

Well I got more done on the Wheel tonight. First I welded all the tubes together then I started plating the out side. I planned to plate it with 1/4" but I wussed out and had 3/16" and just used that. Enjoy

[Chris@whiterhino]

Wow, I got a LOT done tonight. More than I thought I would get done. Can't find the camera but as soon as I do I'll post pictures.

Last night I cut all my UHMW and my upper tool assembly, drilled and tapped the holes.

Tonight I welded the bottom carrier of the upper tool assembly and sanded it down. Then I welded the upper part on that holds the 8 bolts and top. I also drilled holes and tapped the internal plates that hold the UHMW and bolted them together. I counter sunk the bolts in the UMHW so they do not hit the guild.



Then I took my 1" fine thread and stuck it in the end mill and milled an eight inch flat spot on two sides. After I did that I took a piece of 2" cold rolled solid and machined it down. I put a 1 1/32 hole on the inside. Once down with that I put it in the mill and machined 2 more flat spots on the outside. I found teh center and drilled and tapped two 1/4" holes and put two set screws in it. Tomorrow I will cut my 2" tube to length and build the box to keep the bushing I just machined down and weld it to the 2 x 2 square. I have my upper wheel plates cut already and I will attach them to the tool post as well. Once that is down I will work on my lower arm.

[Chris@whiterhino]

Ok as I was saying before.


This is the part that will house the part I machined down last night. I realized I need to machine another flat edge on it so it would fit hehe.

BEFORE



AFTER





And this with the top on.

[Chris@whiterhino]

My Next goal was to work on the Handle that actually moves the shaft. As you have most likely guessed, with the part inside of the 2x2" square it can't spin. Most English wheels I see as you turn the adjuster wheel it moves up and down. I wanted my wheel to stay in place and just wanted the threaded rod to move. Here is how I plan on fixing that.

First I took a piece of solid 4" cold rolled and machined down one side then bored a hole through the middle.



Orginally as you can see the black sharpe marks I was going to machine down both ends. I changed my mind because I didn't really need to on the other end and I kinda changed plans through the 4 hours it took me to machine it done the way I wanted it.... Yes 4 hours total. I took one of the nuts I got for the threaded rod and machined it down until it was round. Then I machined down the fat part of the piece more then flippedit over and started boring it out with my boring bar. Once it was bored out enough for a very tight fit I pressed it in and welded it up.



With a nut beside it.



With a nut on top so you can see how it was going to be.




I did go back and machine the tig weld down so it was smooth. Next I cut some square piece of UHMW traced a circle in it and started machining it down.



I did two piece like this but one will have a MUCH larger hole. The bottom piece I did put a place for the machined down weld as it was raised a bit. Here is how the pieces go together.

[Chris@whiterhino]

Ok I got more done today. First here is a better picture of the raised edge I was talking about last night. You should be able to see how I made a pocket in the UHMW for it.




Now I took a piece of 3" x 1/4" tube and machined it down to be exactly 2 7/8".



Then i welded it to the upper plate assembly. By the way this piece




Goes over this piece.







Next I got another piece, yes I said ANOTHER piece of cold rolled solid and machined it down to fit over the smaller end of this part...



Here is what it looks like.



Then of course I drilled and tapped it in three places.



Then I put two pices of tube and bend 180* in them then welded them together. I then went to the CNC machine and put out a piece that welds to the tube so it looks like a stearing wheel.



Now you can see the complete assembly put on and working.



Now I can turn the wheel and the threaded rod actually doesn't turn at all. It works even better than I thought it would.

[Chris@whiterhino]

Its getting CLOSER!!!! I so EXCITED!!!






As you can really see in this picture I cut off the front part and made some plates to bolt it up with. Yes I know I have to put a small fill plate on the top and bottom. I just wasn't sure how much I needed to plate in until tonight =)

[dinger]

Looking good! I'm not trying to throw a monkey wrench into the works, but will it be heavy enuff to work properly?

Also, will you have an adjustment lower on the wheel? Most I have seen the user can lightly kick the wheel for adjustment.

Keep posting the updates, this looks to be an interesting project, well worthy of adding to the wiki site.
Dan

[Chris@whiterhino]

Yes, it is very heavy just as it sits now. It take everything I have just to drag it. If you look at the first pictures I origanally was going with the kick style old school adjuster. Thats how I drew it up. Then talking with more experienced E Wheelers I started getting the pro's and con's of both. It was MUCH more work to change the design mid stream but from what I understand it is well worth it. Also my vertical and horizontal stiffness is the most important thing. The actual weight just helps keep it from moving all over the floor or needing to be bolted down. There is a chart/spread sheet on the web that will help you get the numbers you want. The stiffer the better. Anything over 20 for vertical and 10 horizonal on this spread sheet is considered very stiff. My numbers are 32 and 16. I didn't write this formula so I don't know much about it, I just happened to find it while doing research.

With a lower kickwheel you have to shift your weight to one foot, reach under the panel, find the kickwheel and give it a whack, all without losing your balance and yanking a dent in the panel. With a upper adjuster, you keep both feet flat on the floor and reach up with a precision instrument (your hand) and make an adjustment that is EXACTLY what you intended. No more guessing how much pressure your off balance kick gave you. Your hand knows. After all, they built a lot of engines using the torque wrench capabilites of the human hand, and some still do.

[dinger]

That's looking good, also some excellent information. Thanks for sharing and keep us posted on the progress please. This is excellent wiki material, if you get a chance, add all of the info you've provided. Thanks again, Dan

P.s. buy some gloves.... Saves on the blood loss.