So, about ten years ago.. when I first started the boat building project, I had gathered some cherry wood out of the back yard from limbs that I had cut off an overgrown cherry tree and had planned to make them into a ship wheel with a new lathe. I churned the spokes and then sealed the end with wood glue and packed them away in a box with shavings for a future use.
The center of the wheel was a piece of birch that had been sourced when a neighbor cut down their tree.
The spokes sat in the box, as other projects took precedence.
The original wheel was a little larger in diameter than I wanted for the Mystnx project, so I needed to cut down the spokes.
To make the wheel, I drew the outer rings using a compass, I then sectioned off the circle in increments of sixty degrees in six sections. the idea is the sections screw together in offsets. I made a "templated" out of a single section to cut the other sections. I also used a forstner bit to drill a hole that was sized up to the spokes.
In the center, to secure it to the Teleflex I added a billeted aluminum low profile steering shaft adapter with a keyed center, designed for Teleflex steering from Hardin Marine -https://www.hardin-marine.com/p-13342-billet-aluminum-34-low-profile-steering-shaft-adapter.aspx securing it with three bolts from the back side and epoxy it into place. I filled the holes with wooden plugs.
After dry fitting the wheel spokes with the segments and the hub, I then attached it to the morse steering and made sure it rotated evenly . I used Titebond III, to secure the whole wheel.
I made a centre cap out of cherry. I enlaid a metal plated in the centre as a decoration. I started with a sheet of copper coloured aluminum, and then transferred the celtic compass rose work. I lightly etched the design out and then Karen used her fordom jewelry tools, and engraved it further.
If you etch it enough, you can work through the copper to bring through the silver aluminum. The cap fits in place using friction with a rubber grommet to hold it in place.
Milling the wheel spokes
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