# Re-building 28" Wood Rim Wheels



## Bikephreak

Does anyone have any advice about re-building 28" x 1 1/2" wood rim wheels? My rims appear to be sound, but not round. They are warped laterally as well. Are there any suggestions as to how one may straighten these? I am thinking of some degree of dampening, then pressing between boards to flatten, but still would be out of round. I will need to fabricate some spokes to replace Col. Pope's ball-end spokes. Any advice will be most appreciated.
   Thanks,
     Jim


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## walter branche

*wheel work*

some of the new hubs lace up with straight spokes similar to the ball end spokes ,.. when i worked at the schwinn museum ,paul grimshaw and i found a bundle of original spokes ,,in 1991 ..they really sold fast.. jacques graber in california ,,has worked out the kinks in many wood rims ..thanks pb


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## Bikephreak

*Contact?*

Walter,
   Any idea how I may contact either of these people (Paul or Jacques)? This search is a challenge. I haven't been able to locate any 17 gauge spoke wire (to fit the flangeless hub), swaged at the nipple, or straight that is long enough to fab some spokes (with appropriate 3/4" nipples). I'm thinking I may be able to apply some pressure on the high spots of these rims with my wood working table to bring the hoops back into round. Hopefully someone will have a workable, and hopefully affordable solution.
   Thanks for your help!
      Jim


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## sam

I think you had better contact or join the wheelmen.They have the knowlage on re-truing wood rims.


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## walter branche

*jacques graber   google search*

and his information is on there ,,paul and i sold those spokes over 15 years ago, good luck ,walter branche i saw a thick piece of plywood ,with a 28 inch circle ,they placed dowel holes around the circle, with the movement of the dowel pins the wood rim could be brought back . the rims need to soak , they also had a set of boards ,to clamp down on a wood rim in different places .. ,,if i remember anything else i will post it,, usually it is better to get a set of wheels that have not been stressed,out ,,.. pb


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## Bikephreak

*Spokes...*

I have found a machinist that is fabricating some spokes for these wheels. Should have them next week so it looks promising that that hurdle will have been met. Looking for rims, but will try to straighten the originals as well. They are not horrible, but won't roll nicely in their current condition. Thanks for the advice!
   Peace,
     Jim


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## JAcycle

*28" wood wheels*

I have found that just lacing and careful truing of the wheel will force them into submission


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## olevince

*spokes*

Hey Jim,
Would you be kind enough to pass along the info on the guy making your spokes?  I have been trying to find spokes for a gear drive Pope Columbia and I am ready to give up. Thanks, Vinny


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## pelletman

There is information on this if you search the Wheelmen website


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## Bikephreak

*Gear Spokes*

Hey Vinny,
   At this juncture this is all he is going to do. There should really be a second attempt to refine them a bit. The stainless is expensive, but drilling the bearings to braze on the wire is really time consuming. I am still trying to solve the nipple end of the spoke problem... Needs a bit bigger gauge to be easy. No swaged wire available. 
Once I get the whole project done I can ask what it would cost for others if he is willing to do it. 
   Peace,
     Jim


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## Andrew Gorman

I saw something on the web (just mentioned in passing) about making ball-end spokes by melting the end of standard or direct-pull spoke in a TIG welder arc until the metal naturally formed a ball.  This is obviously a home-brew technique, and you might have a hard time finding a shop willing to do it for you.  You could always rent a TIG welder yourself, or track down someone who would let you use it. Maybe try local metal artists?


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## Bikephreak

*Old ball-end spokes*

Thanks for the advice. I have heard of this technique (building a ball with a TIG welder), but there are no spoke blanks long enough on the current market. I have the hub end solved, just need to complete the nipple end....


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## Aporky

Hello all,
This shop sells double butted chrome spokes
"http://stores.shop.ebay.nl/WONDERCYCLES__W0QQ_armrsZ1'"
several lengths  The chroom i have removed at the nickel shop.
Groet Hans


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## Bikephreak

Thanks for the suggestion, but again, none are long enough for these old flangeless Pope Mfg. hubs... Working on nipples for now...


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## Pinche

Have you ever checked out Buchanans? They do alot of motorcycle wheels but they make their own spokes right at their shop. They do anything with spokes though...automotive, motorcycles...you name it.
http://www.buchananspokes.net/
It doesn't hurt to give them a try.


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## MrColumbia

*Ball end spokes*

The ball end spokes can be fabricated by cutting off the bent end of regular spokes and having a good welder "TIG" weld a ball on the end. This is what I have been told anyway. I have not yet tried it myself. The spoke can then be replated if you want.


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## Bikephreak

*Modified spokes for flangeless Columbia hubs*

I have looked into modifying modern spokes. There are none long enough that are currently manufactured that would end up being long enough. THe original spokes were single swaged wire that had little drilled out bearings brazed onto the wire at the hub end. There is a short protrusion past the ball to keep the spoke engaged with the hub key hole slot radially. I am still working out the, hopefully, last engineering problem with the spokes... I will know in the next few months.


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## all riders

this thread has me thinking of tools for these problems and I thought it might be a good idea, if you have a set of wooden rims that are straightish but you're not using them, to make something like an old tennis racket press to store them in. easy enought to weld a couple of matched squares for this purpose. as for the out of round issue, I think I would try force from the inside diameter of the hoop. Something like four doubled up pieces of MDF cut with the arc of the inside dia. three screwed to a board so that they touch the inside diameter line at three of the quarter sections and the fourth mounted on a large bolt that you could turn thus sliding the fourth outward to the diameter line. kind of of hard to see without a drawing but maybe you get what I mean


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## Bikephreak

*Spokes...*

Okay, 
   About a year of efforts have gotten me to this point. The only viable solution to spokes for this old Columbia is to take these custom, hand made stainless spoke blanks, re-created as on the original spokes with little bearings brazed on, including the correct protrusion. These fit the flangeless hub key-hole correctly. But, the only way to get the rim end up to the needed 2mm for rolling threads (on a Phil machine) to fit the nipples, is to tig the 2mm wire on at the correct length, & carefully hand shape a taper... Okay... I am officially out of my mind... I have figured out how to straighten the rims just a bit so the spokes don't have to do it, just hold them. Hopefully, I will have the wheels ready for some new tires for summer...


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## Bikephreak

Spoke wires off to welder... 1.7 to 2.0 to be welded so wired fit into hubs at ball end (1.7), and will fit nipples & phil spoke machine (2.0). These will be low tensioned and should work fine for the riding I plan on doing. I want to ride it this summer...


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## Kelpie3

Great effort there to preserve the wheels!


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## balloontirecruiser

Wow, what an awesome read! Glad to see you making such a valiant effort to keep this old beast rolling on it's OG rims...


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## pelletman

How much do you have in the spokes?


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## Bikephreak

This is a project that is simply interesting for a very talented fabricator and a very good friend. It would likely cost hundreds of dollars, but so far, just shared a nice pint... Should finish it off with some very fine single malt... The spokes should be ready to roll threads soon... This project is at other's convenience... I have some time in June to hopefully finish the project, then ride it along the river in the sun...


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## Bikephreak

Whew!!! I just picked up the spoke wires for this old Columbia. Now I need to relax a little before I ruin something.We are going to roll the threads on a Phil Wood spoke machine. I need to remove the original spokes & replace them with the new ones. To do so, I need to figure out the optimum spoke length, so I can get some wheel tension. Hopefully, this will all work out... The machinist was super cool to help out with this. I want to ride this bike...


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## vuniw

Reviving an old thread. I need to make some of these spokes and I do have access to a TIG welder. Does anybody know how long one of these spokes is from ball tip to threaded end for a 28" wheel on a Columbia chainless?


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## highwheel431

See this thread on a way to make these spokes
http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showth...ia-Chainless-Spoke-Advice&highlight=chainless


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