# Making Big Wooden Wheels



## HuntleyBill (Dec 9, 2009)

The other day I submitted a post asking for help on how to make wooden wheels for toys using a router. I got a lot of responses from several people. You guys are just the best! After reading through all the responses, I realized that I really was not clear on what I wanted to make.

I know that one way to make wheels is with a hole saw, but I wanted something a little more substantial so I am attaching some pictures of what I wanted to do.

PLEASE …if there is a better way to do this, PLEASE tell me. As always, your feedback is most welcome.

Here is a rough sample of what I want to do. This example is a 4 inch wheel. This is just a test wheel using a peice of scrap.










So…I made a jig! All out of scrap wood. I put a 1/4" dowel in the center and slide a 4" square blank on the dowel. Sorry, I used my test wheel instead of a 4" block. I made this wheel using this jig.










I made a center round piece to size the hub and a template with a large hole sized to fit the outer part of the recessed area. The 4 dowels sticking up are to align the top template.










Now, with a straight bit in my router, I set the depth I want, rout all material between template stops, then flip the wheel blank over and repeat for the other side.










I then drilled out the 5 holes in the recessed area. At this point I could round over all the corners…or not..then sand and finish. With this jig, I can make up to a 5 inch wheel. All I need to do is cut more templates with different hole sizes.

Please let me know what you think. *If you have a better way, I'd love to hear it*. Ideally, I'd like to be able to make consistent wheels as easy as possible.

My next post, hopefully, will be what I'm making with the wheels!

Thanks
Bill


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

That's a neat jig for larger wheels. Neat wheel, too.
How do you guide the router in the template? Do you use a collar?
How is the outside diameter achieved? 
Thanks,


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

Looks like a good solution to me. Thanks for posting this!


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## HuntleyBill (Dec 9, 2009)

Hey Gene:
Yes, I use a collar in the router and then use my disk sander to round out the wheel.


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## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

why dont you use a circle cutter…do you have a drill press…if so…ive made wheels that way, and they have turned out really nice , perfect for what i wanted…..just my 2 cents…


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## HuntleyBill (Dec 9, 2009)

Yes, I have a circle cutter. How do you cut the inner recessed area with a circle cutter?


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## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

yea i forgot about that…i was thinking of using the cuter but the area to be cut out is large…i was just thinking of a single cut..does it do any good to use both..is it any faster to cut out the circles with a circle cutter , then do the rest with your router…maybe not..just an idea not thought all the way through…..


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## HuntleyBill (Dec 9, 2009)

I know Grizz. I tried several ways to set up a jig to be able to make these wheels straight and consistent. That is one of the reasons I posted it here. To see if there is a better way.


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## grizzman (May 10, 2009)

ok..if your not making a lot of them all at once, could you use the cuter and just keep moving it in closer to take out what you want gone…..but if your wanting to make a bunch that process would be to involving…i wonder if you were going to always make the same size wheel, could you get a custom cutter made for the drill press…, but if your wanting to make all different sizes, then i guess the right jig with the router is probably the right way….


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## twokidsnosleep (Apr 5, 2010)

Ok, wow that is awesome!
I think we should be asking you to do a video and show us that jig in action


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## cranbrook2 (May 28, 2006)

I use a jig from Oak Park to make my wheels . These wheels are 12" diameter . The jig is very easy to use even for me  Made in Canada too EH !


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## HuntleyBill (Dec 9, 2009)

John:
I went to their website. I find NO jig for this application. Do you have more info?


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## cranbrook2 (May 28, 2006)

I went and looked it up and no luck so far . It looks like they may of stopped selling them .I am looking into it here !! http://www.routerforums.com/jigs-fixtures/12287-oak-park-wheel-jig.html
I guess they had 10 different ones .I have 2 of them


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

The copyright date on this, if I read it correctly, is in the 1900s, they may have dropped it from their catalog.
I notice they still have several circle cutting jigs.


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## cranbrook2 (May 28, 2006)

Ya the copyright on mine say 1992 , I got these jigs about 5 years ago from Oak Park in a contest . I would of ordered them all if i knew there were going to discontinue them .


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## cranbrook2 (May 28, 2006)

I just talked with someone at Oak Park and i guess they have stopped making them . They did have 12 different designs and sizes but they weren,t getting enough orders and the people making them only wanted to sell them in bulk to Oak Park . 
At least i managed to get 2 of them ;-)


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