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MG TD TF 1500 - Wheel project - almost done...

The wheel is nearly finished. It just needs final touches and fine sanding before polishing.

I'm posting this now because I'll be gone for the next couple of weeks and won't have a chance to finish the wheel or check the forum for a while.

FYI... this is a long series of posts. It's intended to help someone who is considering doing this project. I'll be posting sections, each with a photo, until its done. I hope my explanations are clear.

I went through three iterations before the final product. The first one I abandoned when I realized too late that an octagon was going to look weird with a three spoke wheel... so I changed to a hexagon approach.
My first hexagon made it nearly to the end before suffering from a router malfunction which left an irreparable gouge.
And finally, the latest.
Using paduak for the wheel and Honduras rosewood for the fillets around the spokes, it remains about 1 1/4 in diameter so its fatter than a normal wheel; but I like that.

What follows is the best description I can give for the construction, intended for those thinking about doing this very, very rewarding project. I should have taken a lot more photos during construction, but I will use what I've got and just describe it all as best as I can.

Step 1. Build the hexagon jig. Using a piece of 24x24 3/4 MDF, I drilled a center hole and then scribed a circle, then marked out a hexagon. Size was 3 inches wide by 3/4 thick by 10.25 long. I made the jig about 1 inch wider than the hexagon all the way around so that I could use clamps around the edges easily.

Geoff Baker

In the center hole of the jig I inserted a 3/8 threaded rod about nine inches long. This was used for the router trammel which was needed to cut the circles. I mounted the MDF on two pieces of 2x10, creating a stable base with plenty of room above and below the MDF board for clamping. It also mounted nicely in my table saw between the saw table and the extension, and could be locked securely.

To keep the 3/8 rod stable, I drilled holes through the two base 2x10 pieces and drove a steel bushing with a 3/8 ID through both 2x10s. The 3/8 rod slides through that bushing, and is bolted on either side, creating a very secure hold for the rod which will not develop 'play' over time.

Then I built the trammel itself, which was just 2 3/8 threaded rods which mount to a single steel square tube and slide through holes in the router base. Using nuts and spacers I could solidly lock the router to any point and rout a perfect circle.


Geoff Baker

I created a conical (or tapered) spacer piece of metal which the inside of the wheel hub sits on tightly, keeping the wheel true and centered on the rod. I made this using my Sherline microlathe, and it is essential to keeping the wheel perfectly centered. You can probably make do with the proper sized straight bushing if necessary.




Geoff Baker

I used three wooden clamps I made all of which mounted on the rod, which let me quickly tighten down with one bolt all six points around the hexagon for gluing and holding. Each clamp was simply a piece of wood with a hole through the center, and each had legs of a different height.

Geoff Baker

I HIGHLY recommend if you haven't done a lot of woodworking (I hadn't) build a wooden dummy out of pine first so you can figure out the process.

Making the 30 degree cuts for the hexagon was easy, but multiplied by six joints, the slightest inaccuracy will leave you with one joint that's not going to be tight. So I made two different pine hexagons till I got the angle just right, then cut the paduak in a single step. I found that if you still don't get it perfect, never fear... you can take a fine backsaw and cut through the joint carefully and then when you reclamp and reglue it and it will be perfect.

I used a $8 web clamp to wrap around the hexagon and press tightly on all the joints; and then used my three clamps to make sure it remained straight and flat.

Once the hexagons were made I had to rout out the inside to hold the wheel. Because my MG ebay wheel was not perfectly round, what I did was carefully trace the inside and outside of the wheel contour onto the hexagon, then set up my router in the trammel. I would cut a few inches, and then as the router started cutting into one side of the pencil line or the other, I would adjust the router, and cut a couple more inches. I used a 1/8 cove bit which cut a perfect curved channel which fit the wheel as closely as possible.
Once both top and bottom were routed out on the inside, I had to cut the areas that would hold the fillets.

A word about fillets. Some people used simple covers of wood or metal on the front, others may have made other choices. I decided I wanted to completely enclose the spokes with a wooden 'box' fillet which would fit into the wheel. Probably this is the most complicated method, but the result is very pleasing. The biggest problems with the fillets is the fact that the spokes slope at a slight angle, which means the cutout for the fillet had to follow that angle; and that the back and front halves would need to be mirror images of that angle. Here's what worked for me: I used a 1x6 board about 20 inches long and cut a rectangle through it that would fit the fillet dimensions. Using a pattern bit on my router (one with a ball bearing ABOVE the cutting section, I could now rout as many rectangles as I needed with perfect repeatability.


Geoff Baker

To handle the angle issue, I made some tests and found that by simply raising the board 1/4 inch across its six inch width I could match the angle. (I just cut boxes in a dummy wheel till I got it right and used dummy fillets till it all fit perfectly). So now I had a little jig using two pieces of wood (the 1x6 and the 1/4 inch support) which allowed me to cut the fillets into the wheel at the right angle. To cut the back side, I simply reversed the jig, putting the 1/4 riser on the front underside of the fillet jig.

Geoff Baker

By carefully clamping it into place, I could accurately cut the fillets at the right size and angle to match the spokes.

Geoff Baker

Initially I had been planning to just make the fillets wrap around the spokes as two 'U' channels which I would glue together with nothing at the ends. I considered filling the void with epoxy or other filler, but then I decided instead to go for broke; instead of two 'U' channels I used two solid pieces of rosewood which I carved out on the inside to fit around the spokes. To do this, I turned to my microlathe, which has a milling attachment. I milled out one end of the fillet, leaving about 1/4 solid at the other end; then using a drill bit I cut grooves for the spokes across the remaining 1/4 of solid wood, at angles to match the spokes themselves. With the drill bit mounted in the milling head, I moved the fillet across the path of the drill bit rather than the other way around, which gave me accurate lines to match the lines of the spokes.

Then I used small round files to widen the grooves to fit the spokes.

A couple days of adjustments later, it was all done and I could put together the wheel and the six fillets pieces with a pleasing 'snap'.

I had a couple of other adornments to add: I wanted to put a 1/4 disk of 3mm Australian mother of pearl, inside a brass rod, at the points of the hour, around the wheel. Gluing the pearl disk into the rod and then drilling 9/32 holes at the points of the hour around the center of the wheel, I tapped the pieces in with a mallet using an epoxy-like polyurethane glue to hold them.


Geoff Baker

At the three points where the wheel meets the spokes, I had a final adornment... I had made an MG logo out of wooden strips glued together. Using dark cocobolo wood for the letters MG and white maple for the outer hexagons, the result was pretty good. It's a kind of 'marquetry' I guess - the result was a nine inch rod of wood which I can cut into dozens of little 'rosettes' each bearing an MG logo of contrasting woods. (In the picture below I was going to surround the logo in brass but decided against that)

Geoff Baker

I cut a shallow 3/4 hole using a forstner bit into the wheel at each fillet and then cut a 1/4 inch thick rosette and glued it into the hole. The holes are not deep enough to meet the routed channel holding the wheel.

Once all this was done and cleaned up and sanded, I was ready for the final shaping of the wheel.


Geoff Baker

The last step is routing the curve on the outside; that gave me a small headache because in cutting away the curve, I was also reducing the top and bottom by 1/16 of an inch which could cause a problem because when the router circled around a full circle; it would drop 1/16 of an inch ... so how could I keep the router from dropping while cutting away both the side and some of the top?
The answer lay in using the trammel again, but raised on wood so that the router height never changed and the router was locked into one position with a 'fence' of wood which would not allow the router to cut too deeply ; I then simply slid the wheel under the router and cut the third quarter away.

Adjusting the height for the last cut, I followed the same process and it was done, bar a LOT of finishing!



In a few weeks I will post pictures of the final product, here it is at the early sanding stage...

Geoff Baker

And another picture...

Geoff Baker

And a final photo... for now!

Geoff Baker

...a similar process using laminated dark and light wood...


http://www.gblandco.com/oldwheel/oldwheel.html

gblawson(gordon- TD27667)

Great work Geoff! I'm an amateur woodworker and I'm particularly impressed with the MG logo rod. I can thnk of several places to use the rosettes. Very clever and I'm going to make one if for nothing else just for the fun of it. I'm thinking oak and dark cherry. If it works and isn't too embarrassing I'll post a pic someday.

Thanks for the tour.

Jud
J K Chapin

Norm Abram would be impressed! Looking forward to the finished product.
Ed
efh Haskell

This thread was discussed on 15/11/2013

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