Gday Guys Inspired by a neat steering wheel I saw in Rolls n Pleats Im trying to make my own out of a couple of old flathead conrods. You can see the idea in the picture. I bought a 1970's collapsible column (need em by law here) and cut up the wheel from it to get a suitable spline. QUESTION: I need a 15"diameter steel 1" tube bent up to make the wheel. Is it possible to do this myself with basic tools. What about a Harbor Freight type bender? I dont want any kinks or stretch marks on it. Thanks Steve
In my opinion, the bender won't give you a suitable result. It's just too hard to keep a constant radius. When building handlebars, we used to fill the tubing with sand, heat it up to a nice cherry glow, then bend it around a pipe, or something the size of the radius we wanted. I'd think that would work. Find a round object the right size, tack it to the table, then bend the tubing around it.
Verry cool!You could heat them up and put a 90 twist on them so the hoop fits into the ends.I really like it!
There's a machine that's made just for a job like that. It rolls the tube (like a sheet metal rolls) instead of bending it. I saw one on that T.V. show from down south with the guys building choppers. I think they call themselves Milwaukee Iron (or something like that). You might try them. They have a website. Good luck !
a tube bender won't work for ya, it's impossible to kep the radius going, as someone said. do you know what you're planning on making it out of (material wise?) because if it's a mild steel you could probably get a decent result by buying a length of material, and getting a mate to hang onto one end while you walk around a telephone pole. keep going till you've gone around twice, then take the middle 360° of your coil and weld it into a loop. seriously, it works. if it crushes the tube, fill it with sand - TIGHT - as suggested. you may also need a little heat, depending on the spec of material you're planning on using. a length Ø22mm × 1.6 mild steel ERW costs three fifths of fuck all anyway, so just buy some and play.
If you decide on bending the tubing using the sand method, be sure you use only sand that has no moisture and that you provide relief holes in the tubing! Otherwise, when you heat the tubing to facilitate the bending you are effectively creating a bomb. Very bad things can happen to you and those around you when the bomb explodes. What happens is that when you fill the tubing with sand, if the sand has any moisture at all, the moisture will turn into steam which then expands. We all know what happens to steam when it wants to expand-it does and it doesn't give two hoots what is trying to contain it. That's the reason for providing small holes in the tubing. It allows the steam to escape without catastophic results. Ron Covell, a very respected and well known metal worker has addressed this very situation in his books and videos. If possible, try to get a copy before attempt any bending. I'm not trying to be a know-it-all-ahole, just trying to provide a little bit of guidance on what looks to be a very cool steering wheel. Good luck. John....
Rocky made the wheel in the 33. He heated and bent it around an old small manhole cover he had in the shop.
The ideal tool for making hoops out of tubing is called a ring roller. They are adjustable to allow you to make any diameter ring. There are some moderatly priced hand crank units for sale, but the electric ones are major cabbage. Call around your area to see if a fab shop has one. Another thought. Many of the aftermarket steering wheels have steel hoops under all that foam and pleather. You could strip one of those down. Look at some of the circle track steering wheels. These are usually right around 15". chris
[ QUOTE ] Inspired by a neat steering wheel I saw in Rolls n Pleats Im trying to make my own out of a couple of old flathead conrods..... [/ QUOTE ] Very cool idea, BTW. [ QUOTE ] I need a 15"diameter steel 1" tube bent up to make the wheel. Is it possible to do this myself with basic tools. [/ QUOTE ] Tom Brawner at metalshapers.org built his wheel. On this page he says [ QUOTE ] Can't get the size I wanted so I made one. The rim is 5/8" o.d. tubing. I split 5/8" i.d. heater hose and taped it on. I will get it covered with leather to finish. Wheel is mounted on special fabbed column w quick release hub. [/ QUOTE ] He doesn't say what tools he used, though. If you want to contact him and ask, you can do so here: http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/moreinfo.cgi?userid=9990120412248
i made a whell by heating the tube and bending it around an old wheel. i made 2 halfs then welded them together. I also took a chisel and made dinples every inch on the back side.
If you can find an old steel tube bar stool, many of them had a ring around the bottom that is just the right size, made of 1" tubing
flattie steve Tall Paul and i were gonna build one of those.. till he moved back to the mainland.. heres a link to the process I use.. I have built several of these so far.. Your gonna need 16 gauge 1 inch od tubing.. IT WILL NOT kink and you WILL NEED NO HEAT..sawzall
[ QUOTE ] bent it around an old small manhole cover he had in the shop. [/ QUOTE ] of all people, Rocky WOULD be the person having an old manhole cover laying around haha, cool idea and Mr. Zall, you sure hid that link well, I cant find it! haha
You roll the tube the same way that you use a triple element roll for sheet metal. The only difference is there is a die like a tubing bender. Here is the one I did for my coupe. I used old dodge 6 cylinder con rods.. sorry this is a bad and old picture. Aaron
May I make a suggestion......3/4" tubing(as opposed to the 1"), and rolled (as opposed to bent....) as this will give you a better finish & consistency. I'm in the process of making my r/p/u's steering wheel from stainless (old news, but no time of late to finish), see attached pic..... I'f you like, I'll be up your way next weekend visiting a friend. He rolled mine, and I'm sure he could help you out.....email me for details. Cheers, Drewfus
[ QUOTE ] The ideal tool for making hoops out of tubing is called a ring roller. They are adjustable to allow you to make any diameter ring. There are some moderatly priced hand crank units for sale, but the electric ones are major cabbage. Call around your area to see if a fab shop has one. [/ QUOTE ] Here's a shop built one: http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/communityalbums.cgi?action=openalbum&albumid=9980182273134 It's probably not worth the effort/price to try and build one unless you are doing a fair bit of this, though.
Drewfus, that stainless wheel is going to be beautiful. Smokey made an awesome banjo wheel and posted pics here once upon a time. I don't know what size tubing he used but I remember that he bent it around a plywood "wheel" he cut out with a jig saw. Sadly, Smokey doesn't post here much anymore. I hope he is OK. JH
my latest "homemade" wheel.. with vintage parts thrown in.. I may chrome the hoop.. (which again is 3/4 tubing bent around an old wheel) this is for "sticks"
this wheel is now identical to a 52 olds Accessory wheel.. the small round "item" below the horn button is a clock.. the steering column is a tilt TELE unit from a caddy.. and it is fully functional.. the clock even has a second hand..
Hey Guy I made a home made steering wheel for my t bucket. I used two old ford FE 390 rods without caps bolted together for center. To make the round tubing for the wheel I just got an old vented disc brake rotor with outside diameter I wanted. Tack weld to table, then proceeded to gently heat the tubing and bend it around the rotor in the space for the vents. Cut tube to length then weld together. DON'T WELD TUBE TOGETHER ON the rotor you will not be able to remove it. Hope this helps and good luck.
Great concept for the bars in the wheel - I will look great - I built my own whell for my 25 dodge - heres a pix
OOPS my bad, I was just looking around and thought it was current. Me rain was left out in the brain. SORRY 'BOUT THAT But the idea still works.
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