If the pattern consists of two, or say three, courses, the glue will be sufficient to hold it to the chuck while turning, but if there are more courses a screw should be inserted through the chuck and into each segment of the first course. The cylinder must then be turned inside and out ready to receive the spokes. These are made of pieces equal in length to the internal diameter of the rim, or a trifle longer, so that the ends may be let into the rim. A line is then marked along the edge of the rim, dividing its thickness into two divisions, and in the centre of the length a recess should be cut out from the face to the line, the width of the recess equalling the width of the arm, so that one arm will let into the other, forming a cross, of which the flat surfaces lie in the same plane. This cross is let into the rim of the wheel and fixed temporarily with brads. The lathe may then be started and the centre of the arms (and therefore that of the cylinder or pulley) be found by a pencil point moved until it marks a point and not a circle when the lathe revolves. The arms may then be marked to shape and a recess turned at their centre to receive the hub. The arms being marked to their respective places and their outside faces being marked with a pencil so that they may be replaced in the same position in the wheel, they may be removed and shaped to the required dimensions and form, and then replaced and glued to the rim.
Fig. 2791.
If the wheel is to have six arms they may be constructed as follows:—
Instead of taking two pieces of the diameter of the rim, as in the case of four arms, three pieces are necessary, and in this case the thickness of the edge of each piece is divided by two marked lines which will divide the thickness of the edge into three equal divisions, as shown by the dotted lines 1 and 2 in [Fig. 2791], which will divide the thickness of the edge into three equal divisions of thickness. From the centre of the lengths of each of the three pieces we mark on the flat face a circle whose diameter will equal the width on the flat face of the pieces themselves.
With an angle square having its adjustable blade set to an angle of 60°, and set so that the back is fair with the edge of the piece, and one edge coincident with the perimeter of the circle, lines tangent to the circle and crossing each other are drawn on the pieces a c. On the piece b four of such tangent lines (two on each side) must be drawn. The piece a is recessed between one pair of tangent lines to the depth of the second lines on its edge, or, in other words, to a depth of two-thirds its thickness, and between the other pair to a depth of one-third, as shown, the two-thirds at d, the one-third at e. The piece d must be recessed between its tangents on each side to a depth of one-third its thickness, as denoted at f f, while on c the whole space between the tangent lines must be recessed to a depth equal to two-thirds its thickness, as shown at g. The pieces may then be put together so that the two diametrically opposite arms will be in one piece. If an odd number of arms is employed this form of construction cannot be followed; hence each spoke will be a separate piece, extending from the rim to the centre and jointed at the latter, as in [Fig. 2792], which is for five arms.
Fig. 2792.