1:12 1932 Cadillac V-16 frame and engine

[Roger Zimmermann]

That huge tube is now over. When the outside diameter was OK for me (it's larger then necessary, it will be turned down when I'm doing the rims), I did deep grooves into the cylinder.



As my tool is not allowing to go deep enough, I went further with a hand tool and finish the job with a saw blade, one by one.



Now I have 6 rims to machine, will be busy for some time!



The reason about the smaller diameter of the wheel hubs is now known: the frame I measured and took pictures is from 1933; the wheels are 17" and not 18" like 1932.

The rims are in work. As the shape is what it is, there is a lot of work. One is almost ready; the second one is in work. One side is ready, I have to do the other one by using a different chuck to grab the part at its outside diameter.

[Roger Zimmermann]

The remaining 5 rims are machined on one side. On the picture, the machined side is shown on 3 rims, the other ones are "upside down" to show what I have to do on all rims.



Recently, I ordered brass rods to make the spokes. Then the real fun will begin!

[Roger Zimmermann]

A few days ago, I began to machine the other side of the rims, hoping that my calculation was correct and that enough metal is still there!



Apparently, all went well. The zone where the spokes will be installed at the rim is rather thin, maybe .5mm or less. As my caliper is too wide for the central groove, I had to rely on the sketch I did.
The second picture is showing how the rim is machined with a hand tool.



The problem to machine the other side of the rim was to have as concentric as possible; I hate when machined parts are turning like eggs! For that, some imagination is required; this time a bit of paper was needed to have both sides turning true.



Now, the rims are done, the wheel hubs are done, the spokes must go in! Well, before I'm drilling both parts with 40 holes each, I have to make a jig to install the spokes. From Dan, aka Propeller, I got a good idea which I modified for my needs.



Basically, the rim is held on the jig with 3 clamps and guided bat the inside diameter of the rim. The wheel hub is attached in the center with 4 bolts and positioned by the central hole from the hub.



The next step: drilling the holes for the spokes at the rims (rather easy) and at the hubs which will be more difficult because the holes are not perpendicular to the surface. How many drills will be broken until I'm finding the right way to drill?

[MODEL A MODEL]

Oh, a contest?

I’m going to guess four drill bits on average per rim and hub!

[MODEL A MODEL]

I have sometimes drilled 90% with one bit, but then things just go bad!

Anyway, I hope you have lots of success!

-if you buy too many drill bits, let me know and I’ll reimburse you!

[Roger Zimmermann]

The answer will come soon!

[Roger Zimmermann]

The rims are drilled without problem, but it was the easy part because the holes are perpendicular to the surface. I predrill anyway all the holes with a stronger drill and did the holes with a more flexible drill; it's more work but the safe way.
The next will be a lot of fun as the angles are compounded.

[Roger Zimmermann]

As I anticipated, drilling the wheel hubs was not as easy as the same operation for the rims. I used one afternoon to evaluate the correct angles and for the set-up of the machine. As there are angles on both axis, I had to imagine how I could get the second one without too much trouble: a rigid piece of cardboard was put at the back of the drilling press, used as a reference line; with that, I could put the arm at the angle I wanted with another piece of carboard as a guide. As the holes are a bit larger than the spokes, a 100% precision is not needed.
As you can see from the pictures, the holes are drilled at a daunting angle. To avoid drilling waste, each hole is done in 3 steps: first a tiny milling cutter diameter 0.5mm is used to have a flat surface for the next step. Then, a pre-hole is done with a rigid drill diameter 0.7mm (installed on 2 pictures) and finally the hole diameter 0.6mm is done with a flexible drill. If I had the same type of drill for the final hole as I'm using for the step #2, I could spare one operation. On the other side, the larger pre-hole is allowing some movement for the spokes during the installation.
I had some trouble with the second set of holes at the back of the hub. As the machine is too small, I had to do another set-up and I saw that I'm doing the second set of holes at the same direction as for the first set. I could correct the error before it was too late.
I'm still not sure if I will be able to drill the holes on the small diameter of the hubs as the angles are quite different but the machine still the same size…

[MODEL A MODEL]

Hello Roger, that’s quite a steep angle, do the spokes have any bend to them to aid construction?

[Roger Zimmermann]

Yes, Don. Have a look at the answer #13, there are 2 pictures from a real wheel, front and back.
The spokes at the front are worse! I'm doing the set-up to drill their holes; it's not easy at all!

[MODEL A MODEL]

Will you be making individual spokes, or will you be using fishing line like Jo?

Perhaps countersinking the holes would
Allow you to drill at more or less 90’

[Roger Zimmermann]

I'm planning individual spokes, the method used by Jo or even Gerald Wingrove are not suitable with that wheel design.
When you are in front of the parts, it's easy to understand that countersinking the holes is not THE solution.

[Jo NZ]

I think my next wire wheels will use brass rims and hubs, and brass spokes soldered in. Two weeks per wheel (it averaged out to) is a little too long!

[Roger Zimmermann]

If you are selling your models for a living, yes, 2 weeks per wheel is too long. If you are just building them for you, is that so important?

[Jo NZ]

Hi Roger
It's not the time, but the fact that I can make them more easily. The fishing line is Ok, but mistakes aren't discovered until the end of the spoking process and that is very frustrating....