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About 15 years ago I built my own English wheel ( for some strange reason they are known as a Wheeling Machine in the UK I believe. ) I didnt have the money to buy a complete one or even a complete kit, so I only bought the radiused lower wheels, and scrounged & made the rest.
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I built the frame out of 4x4 thickwall tubing, with 4x2 strengthening braces and triangulation.
Its a monster.
It's about 6.5' tall, and weighs a lot ( never weighed it, but it must be several 100's of pounds)
To locate the lower wheel I modified a tailstock out of an old lathe, and the top wheel is a drive pulley out of some machine that I cut the belt grooves off of.
To make it a little easier to move around I put it on casters ( I had those laying around because I removed them from my toolbox, because I thought that was a good idea at the time )
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Before mine was done, I'd never used an English Wheel.
So I had to guess what was needed to make it a good one.
Where I guessed right was that it is ridged and strong, so it doesnt flex all over the place.
But I made some mistakes too.
The tailstock and the plate it was mounted to was too high in the frame opening, so with small radius domes there were clearance problems.
The caster didnt lock 100%, so that made it move sideways slightly when you used it.
I never took the time to put in a kick wheel.
The pillow blocks were wide and chunky which means you cat get too close to the edge when there is a flange on the sheet.
And I wanted a quick release ( to quickly get the rollers apart, to switch out a roller or to take out the sheet )
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Measuring and planning.
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This will be the new upper bearing holder & quick release. Made out of a piece of 3/8" wall 2.5" dia. aluminum tube, and the part that holds the bearing is machined out of a block of aluminum. The upper wheel will be mounted on a halfshaft out of a 8" ford rear axle.
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The bearing holder slides in a 4X4 piece of square tubing that has machined ends bolted to the top and bottom. And on the top of the bearing holder there is a plug that is a positive stop against the top slider.
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Ritchie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 765
Club RR Member Number: 12
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English WheelRitchie
@ritchie
Club Retro Rides Member 12
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Good effort there, you wouldn't want that running over your toe.
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The halfshaft wasnt 100% true and straight.
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And it needed to be lengthened. ( I used some DOM thickwall tubing for that ) At the end I welded in a plug that holds a large Heim Joint that will be that sides bearing.
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slater
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,390
Club RR Member Number: 78
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English Wheelslater
@slater
Club Retro Rides Member 78
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Elaborate!
Got much tooling for your Pullmax? Looks like it's got a flanging tool set up in it? One thing I need to make!
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I have a thumbnail shrinker , a flanger and a louver die with the pullmax. And some misc. ones I made myself... Its an amazing machine.
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Support for the shaft at the far end. Checking the outside flange for straightness.
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Top wheel mounted. Open position of the quick release. And closed.
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I put on a kick wheel ( made out of a chain link steeringwheel ) And a rack for the radius wheels.
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Its done now. I've made a little test piece, and it has a totally different feel to it than it did before. More solid, more precise. All the modifications were done with stuff I had laying around. So although I payed something for those at some point, the total amount spent right now was zero. Just plenty of time...
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So does the top wheel +shaft have a means of locking it in the down position?
I'm assuming it can't be relying on the weight of wheel + shaft to do the wheeling?
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Yeah, the handle goes over center to lock the slider against a positive stop to accurately lock it in exactly the same position every time.
In the up ( open ) position, the stock Capri E-brake handle ratchet keeps it in place so it wont fall down and crush fingers...
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