I ran across an ad for an English wheel on Craigs list last night for $15. I knew it'd be homebuilt, which was what I had planned on doing at some point anyway. Hard to go wrong for that price. The frame is made from 2" pipe, with steel castors for the wheels. The rounded one looks like the radius may have been done in the guy's shop at home, very nice job on that part. It's crude, but should be something to play around with and learn on. Just in time to try making body panels for the Fiasco too... I'll post pics later. The guy had a couple of scraps around he'd messed with, looks like it'll put a decent shape in the steel. This could be fun...
Hey, Pipe isn't the best material for an e wheel frame, to much twist in all the wrong places. What's the wall thickness of the pipe. Maybe you can wrap the pipe in U-channel steel and "beef" up the design. This wheel may be a good choice for small patch panels in thin gage sheet. Anything thicker than 20 gage is going to require a much stronger frame for high crowned work. Good luck, have fun, Swankey Devils C.C.
I figured it might not work for heavier steel. What about 2" x 1/4" wall square tubing, or even 2 1/2" x 1/4" wall? The wheels were worth the $15 to me to learn with. I have enough scrap to build a decent frame.
ide try it first if you have problems then fix it. too many people say "it should be" or "that wouln't work" and......Suprise usually it works just fine!!!!!
15$ sounds great, try buying the wheels for that! Best show us how good it DOES work for that price AND its not HF!
If it does what you want it to do for $15 bucks it's a steal. Why over engineer it with unnecessary modifications?
He showed me a couple of pieces he'd messed with, it did a great job for him. I tested a piece of 18 gauge, it's very slow making it do anything, but seems to be working.
The wheels look like steel casters. The small one has been machined to get the radius needed. I need to make a wheel for the tension adjuster, it requires a wrench to tighten it right now.
For $15, it should be good enough to learn a little, and smash a couple of finger tips. We'll see how it works out.
you do know theres a guy in Edmond that makes kits and wheels ..sometimes you'll see them on E-Bay... but for 15.00 you can paint it black put a flower pot on it and call it garden art. Frank
WTG on the wheel. It's funny how the naysayers come out to say it won't work. I made mine outta a homemade headache rack from a dodge dakota, a strut compresser for the tensioner and a two car jack wheels, one crowned, one flat. It works really well and it was free. Great score!
Hey, I've seen some very usable e wheel frames made from lighter square tubing. They've all incorporated space-frame design principles-it's a question of do you turbo charge a four cylinder, or relie on a big block to get the job done? The caster type anvils should hold up fine, providing you don't wheel over any welds. Swankey Devils C.C.
Depends on the size of the throat. 2 x 2 x 1/4" wall might be fine for a small frame, or no where near close on a larger frame.
Yeah, finally... It's made to clamp on to a bench. I have a '68 Chevy truck with a flatbed parked right beside the garage, works great to clamp it to.
About an 18" throat. It's sch. 40 pipe, .154" wall. I have plenty of square tubing that's 1/4" wall, it I need to, I'll just build a better frame.
Generally,the vertical member wants to be heavier than the rest of the frame. Some people add gussets to the corners,but that doesn't stop the vertical from flexing in the middle.
I have to get the camera from my daughter and post some pics. I like yours should work. Pretty doesn't mean performance.
the frame will be fine.. some flex is OK. however.. try to shim the lower wheel (caster) so that it doesnt move left and right as you move the material through the wheels. also.. it appears that the lower wheel is cocked to one side. IF you can make the axle of the lower wheel parallel with the axle of the upper wheel.. the tool MAY be more predictable.. heres a shot of what I was working with.. but I've recently upgraded to better wheels (the new upper wheel I have is a VERY LARGE ROLLER BEARING..)
Good eye, I didn't notice the lower wheel not being straight until I took the pics. Should be easy enough to shim and fix the axle.
have you tried using your wheel yet?, what have you made?, the little wheels i have made out of bearings, i just use to take the dents from forming the part with a piece of wood and gas bottle top with a piece of pipe welded to it for a handle. i have two nice bearings i'm going to use as upper wheels on my next wheels. i need to make a radius cutter for my lathe so i can make different lower wheels.
Hey, If you polish the upper wheel, and the lower anvil with 180, 220, 320 paper on a DA sander , they will leave your finished panels looking like a mirror. This is probably not a biggie for rough-formed patch panels that will be "mudded in", but if your going for little or no filler this will be a big help. Too, a mirror surface on the panel will help to spot bad tracking patterns "row crops" and misshapen areas on the panel. Turn the wheels on their axels by spinning them with a drill motor that has a rubber wheel/axel chucked in place, clamped to the frame of the e wheel. Once polished, keep them well oiled when not in use to prevent rusting. Swankey Devils C.C.
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