new spokes

[Philip]

my 24 touring has 21 inch wood spoke wheels. i need to replace the spokes. the rears have the 5\8 tang
the fronts are hard to measure and i dont want to tear them apart yet it seems reading langs catalog
most us cars had .530 spoke ends. any thoughts

[Craig Leach]

Hi Philip,
I'm guessing you have 21" steel fellow wheels? To the best of my knowledge and experience there are two sizes of tenons ( tang)
5/8" & 1/2". I purchased 36 5/8" spokes from a gentleman that I assume had second thoughts after assembling one wheel? And 12
from one of the suppliers 1/2" only to find out my fellows where all 1/2" I'm sure glad I didn't take my wheels apart. I have since
located the 5/8" wheels but have not pulled the trigger yet to assemble them thinking I will get all the parts to make a complete
set of ready to install wheels. I have very limited space to have a car tore down in.

All things considered have you thought of having Noah Stutsman do your wheels? I have never heard anything but good words and
praise of the work they do. The price of spokes now days I don't think I would have considered taking this on. ( I got some real
good deals on my spokes)
Craig.

[Distagon2]

I would second the idea of sending your wheels to Stutzman. Top notch work and very reasonable pricing. Unless of course you actually want the experience of doing it yourself and the joy of pressing in the spokes. But by the time you buy the spokes, build a press of some kind, etc. the cost difference is somewhat of a wash.

[Stephen_heatherly]

I would send the wheels off and get them done. There are many variations in model T wheels and the spokes you get from the vendors are not always the proper length for your wheels. I know some people will disagree or say they've never had a problem, but twice while assembling wheels I found the supplied spokes to be too short. This with the longer of the two lengths offered by the suppliers also. Stutzman's prices are very reasonable and you will end up with a perfect, brand new wheel that runs perfectly true.

Ste

[Steve Jelf]

...by the time you buy the spokes, build a press of some kind, etc. the cost difference is somewhat of a wash.

Maybe it would be a wash without the cost of shipping, but there's enough of an overall difference to make it worthwhile for me to press my own steel felloe wheels. Making the Regan press doesn't require any exotic materials, and was especially cheap for me because I happened to have most of the needed stuff on hand. If you decide to press your own wheels, measure the old spokes carefully before ordering new ones. I'm a little surprised to see Lang's catalogue refer to Kelsey-Hayes wheels. Kelsey and Hayes were two separate companies until the end of the Model T era.

When I needed wood felloe wheels I sent all the metal parts except the valve stem tubes to Stutzman and he provided the tubes and made the wheels, which are excellent.

If you prime the metal parts, use black primer. I used gray, and inevitable scratches from installing tires on the finished rims were pretty glaring.

[speedytinc]

I would send the wheels off and get them done. There are many variations in model T wheels and the spokes you get from the vendors are not always the proper length for your wheels. I know some people will disagree or say they've never had a problem, but twice while assembling wheels I found the supplied spokes to be too short. This with the longer of the two lengths offered by the suppliers also. Stutzman's prices are very reasonable and you will end up with a perfect, brand new wheel that runs perfectly true.

Ste

For metal fellow wheels, you would do well to contact Dave Seiler in Ca. He is real reasonable & does a great job.

[Oldav8tor]

I agree with the other posters. When you consider the individual cost of the spokes and the need to build a Regan spoke press, sending the wheels to Stuzman seems a good deal. I have visited his shop and he has a truly quality operation. This is one he did for me after I stained it. I had him leave the hub out as I was using it to replace a wheel that had been modified for floating hubs and disc brakes.

[Philip]

our club chapter already has the press and some guys that have done the wheels. philip

[dykker5502]

If you are not living in the US, Stutzman is hardly the solution due to cost of shipping.

[Distagon2]

True, but the original poster lives in North Carolina, United States. Yes, shipping to Denmark would be quite expensive for such large and heavy items.

[otrcman]

Question for Tim Juhl:

I like the way your spokes are finished under the hub. Did you put some sort of sealer or preservative in the areas where the spokes come together at the center and on the end grain at the rim ?

Thank you, Dick

[Don ellis]

What Phillip is not telling you is he is a hands on guy. He has done everything on this car his self from the body and paint to pouring his own Babbitt. He is a accomplished machinist and makes his own parts. Respoking his wheels is the last part of this car he hasn’t rebuilt or repaired and he is very capable of getting it done. Sure it’s easier to send them off but some of us enjoy the accomplishment of doing it ourselves.

[Jerry VanOoteghem]

Philip,

I think that if you contact the suppliers and tell them what you need, they'll be able to source for you, spokes with the correct size tenons. In the past, Stutzman would sell loose spokes to individuals, made to your needs. My understanding is that they no longer do this, but I suspect that they would for any of the suppliers, like Lang's, etc. It's worth a phone call to ask anyway.

BTW, a spoke press is certainly a handy device, but you don't necessarily need one to assemble a wheel. I have always done it this way. Install all but the last 3 spokes. Install 2 of the remaining spokes, one on each side of the "3 spoke gap", BUT have them rotated out, about 45 degrees. Insert the tenon of the last spoke in the felloe and lay the tapered end into the "V" created by its 2 neighboring spokes. Having the 2 spokes rotated out will create a sort of funnel effect to guide in the last spoke. With the tapered ends of all the spokes firmly supported on their bottom side, place a piece of hard wood over the last spoke. At this point, I have always used a large hammer, but a press would be nice. Hitting/pressing the piece of hardwood will push the last spoke into the gap, with its 2 neighbors aiding by rolling inwards and guiding the last spoke down. To be honest, I've always feared shattering the tapered ends of the 2 spokes, but it's never happened. A few final smacks will bring all the spoke faces even. But, all that being said, if you have a Regan press, by all means, use it.

[browning]

As an option: I posted a while back about wheels I did for my '19 roadster where I oven dried the spokes to shrink them before assembly and then re-humidified them afterward. The wheels run more true than any other that I have done and went together without all the fuss. The process didn't receive much comment so I won't go into detail but you get the general idea.