Scottishish Wheel Build

[Burdekin]

My Scottish Wheel build with a touch of English, American and Aussie thrown in; laser cut in England, wheels and adjuster from the US and welded and assembled by an Aussie living in Scotland. It's a 30" and the plan is it will get well used when she is finished.

I'm going to make this photo heavy and try not to rabbit on too much with words. I started last night and a little tonight with getting it all to fit together which involved filing the slots and tabs which locate it all together.

I'll just post as I go along but hopefully it will be a short build...

 

[gavuk]

Looks an interesting build ,not so sure about the aussie plugs above the bench .... ...

 

[Shox Dr]

Did you design it yourself

 

[Burdekin]

It's based on the Imperial Wheeling machine from the US but a laser cut frame rather than joined RHS which they use. A mate and I worked on the design and came up with this and my mate drew it in autocad to get it laser cut.

 

[chunkolini]

Aussie plugs had me confused for a few seconds.
Impressive plan, and home interpreted. Nice.
Keep us posted.

 

[Burdekin]

Not a very decent update as I got a bit engrossed with what I was doing and didn't take pics as I went along.

I've ground up the weld preps, tacked in all the internal dividers and tacked in the curved guides on one plate. But I was a bit of a dill and only tacked along one edge and the centre holes of the curved guides and the curved guides on the outer edge of the side plates have caused it to turn over the edge of the side plate so I'll need to straighten this out before I go any further, pretty basic mistake on my behalf but shouldn't be much of an issue to sort. I'll tack both sides of the remaining guides for the other plate and add a bit of resistance. Good thing is everything else is still okay.

Also attached some pics of the adjuster, top wheel, anvil and holder. They're Hoosier Profile ones so very nice indeed.

 

[cardiffrob]

Very nice looking piece of equipment.

Soooooooo...two things spring to mind. First, have you got an idea of what it cost for the various components and, second, are you perhaps thinking of selling copies of the CAD files???

 

[Burdekin]

The project started with me just wanting to buy an English wheel but there's not much available with a decent frame, wheel, anvil and adjuster in the UK at a reasonable price so decided we'd design one and build it myself. This wheel is for my workshop but it's become a bit of prototype as well to see if the design is okay. If it is and if there are a few people interested my mate would be up for getting a few cut for people. Cost wise no idea at this stage, the most expensive part for me by a mile is the wheel, anvils and adjuster, the frame isn't expensive and if we got a few made they'd be very reasonable and much better than the rubbish Chinese ones for sale and even with the Hoosier stuff it's still half the price of other decent wheels in the UK. At this stage all I can say is if we get the frame spot on, if there are a few people interested in a laser cut frame to fab up themselves we'll cost it up, if not I'll get on enjoying my wheel. I should say we're not a company, just a couple of amateur metal shapers and car bodgers.

If you want to see the cost of the wheels etc look at the Hoosier Profiles website, it is run by Joe and Peggy and they normally have deals so always ask for their best price. Joe's stuff is the best out there.

 

[Burdekin]

Only got to spend half a day on the wheel this weekend and I'm not as far along as I thought I'd be, a bit too much plodding along. I got one of the outer edge plates bent up and tacked in and the guides in and tacked in and I also put an additional wee stiffener in. I've bent up the other side curved edge ready to fit. I'm away to England for work later this week so hopefully will get a couple of nights working on the wheel before I go. So far so good I think and am happy how it's looking.

 

[Burdekin]

That's the other outer curved edge done last night and all of the remaining inner structure.

Thought last night I might tig weld the frame for a bit of tig practice. I really haven't done much tig for about 20 years, just the odd bit so please no laughing at my welds. I'll do a wee bit of practice first before I weld the frame proper.

 

[Burdekin]

That's the inner curved edges completed tonight, she's starting to look sexy. Off to Englandshire for work tomorrow so no more on the wheel for a few nights. I suppose when I get back I'll also need to spend some time with my wife rather than just at my workshop...

 

[Badger1bear]

isnt that magnet a tad over the top for picking up nails ?

 

[Epicyclic]

Had you thought of filling the voids with anything? Dry sand or lead shot perhaps, It will make it heavy but will stop it from "ringing" and may stabalise it when in use, more like a cast iron version.
Loving the build though...

 

[Burdekin]

Thanks, no didn't think about that, will have to see how it goes. But the design is stiffer than anything on the market and has a fair amount of mass to it so fingers crossed should be okay. I've also got a stabile stand to come which should help stabilise it as well I hope.

 

[Burdekin]

Annoyingly life and work got in the way this weekend but I got the captive nuts for the stand welded in, tacked the frame together and started welding the frame. I just kept using my mig after tacking, it's only a cheap Clarke welder but it does the job. Annoyingly the frame is still about 1.5mm out of alignment due to the curved guides and the way I welded them, I was using the tig to help pull it back into shape as can be seen in one of the pics of the weaved tig run. But I then ran out of gas so if I get time I'll have to do a run to the BOC shop across town tomorrow lunch. I've welded about half the frame and will hopefully finish it off this week. Attached a couple of pics of a few of the welds, haven't bothered with grinding down the tacks before I welded as the welds are getting ground anyhow later so didn't see the point.

 

[Shox Dr]

I'd be moving about more

 

[Burdekin]

Type of finish for welds?

Hi Guys,

What finish for the welds do you think? Smooth or left as welded? The welded would be a weaved tig weld. I'm going to go for an old school machinery colour for the wheel so thought a welded finish might be fitting, or am I just being lazy?

 

[Burdekin]

The mrs came over to the workshop for dinner tonight, what a treat, Scotch Broth and baked spuds with beans and cheese, now that's living.

Getting there with the wheel, plenty of grinding and have been playing about with a tig finish for the welds. If I can get the same consistency all the way round then I think that will look the bit.

The milling machine colour is what I'm thinking of getting it powder coated, nice and old school.

 

[MattF]

The milling machine colour is what I'm thinking of getting it powder coated, nice and old school.

Personally, I always think that's the most bland industrial colour to use on machinery. Closely followed by yellow and that mid blue which seems quite common. Whatever happened to Brunswick Green and the like?

Tidy job you're making of that. Looks good.

 

[Burdekin]

Brunswick green? Now that's a bit racey isn't it. ;-)

I'll see what the wife thinks, she is normally in charge of colour.