Wood wheel Question

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lorenzo26
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Wood wheel Question

Post by lorenzo26 » Mon May 18, 2020 3:08 pm

Wood wheel Question about a repair for a steel fellow wood spocked wheel: "Is it a good idea to replace a worn out spoke nipple with a wood dowel [''for a low use wheel no touring ] the spokes are otherwise in great conditions
and yes i know new spokes are a better ,but every time i open a sellers book BANG another dollar ..and no one besides sells spokes anymore

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Humblej
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Re: Wood wheel Question

Post by Humblej » Mon May 18, 2020 3:40 pm

Good idea? No.


Wayne Sheldon
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Re: Wood wheel Question

Post by Wayne Sheldon » Mon May 18, 2020 4:31 pm

NO NO NO!
I KNOW people have done this. And I KNOW most of them have worked out okay. And, in theory, IF the right epoxy type glue were used, AND the spoke was otherwise hard and solid, it would probably be alright. HOWEVER! The tenon replacement, being a separate piece of wood from the rest of the spoke, has NO continuous grain running the length of the spoke. The separate piece, inside the "shell" of a spoke, has leverage under force, regardless of the quality of glue and gluing, to split the outer shell of the now hollow spoke just like splitting firewood from a log.

I do know they are out there. People have done that. I have heard people say they have done that. And I will admit to often using parts other people have said they would never use! But I look at things from an engineer's eye. What are the likely "failure modes"? Dowels in a marginal spoke? (It must be marginal because otherwise the tenon would still be good!) That I would not do.


Stephen_heatherly
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Re: Wood wheel Question

Post by Stephen_heatherly » Mon May 18, 2020 5:56 pm

The amount of money it costs to fix the wheels properly is considerably less than what you will pay when they fail.

Stephen

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Steve Jelf
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Re: Wood wheel Question

Post by Steve Jelf » Mon May 18, 2020 8:49 pm

Chair, OK. Wheel, no.
The inevitable often happens.
1915 Runabout
1923 Touring

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Mark Gregush
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Re: Wood wheel Question

Post by Mark Gregush » Mon May 18, 2020 10:12 pm

Unless they are out of stock (?) Lang's Snyder's etc carry them.
I know the voices aren't real but damn they have some good ideas! :shock:

1925 Cut down pickup
1920 Dodge touring
1948 Ford F2 pickup

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