Wheel Jig
I plan to make wooden wheels for a wagon. They will be about 250mm (approx. 10 inches) in diameter, and about 40mm (1 1/2 in.) thick. I want to use a rubber tire made of old inner tube glued to the rim with contact cement. I want to cut a profile into the sides of the wheel.
My plan calls for the following steps:
Cut the wheels roughly to size from the blocks.
Cut the wheel to a rough circle with a saber saw.
Cut the profile with the jig using various bits. (see below)
Cut the wheel to final finished size with the jig.
Here is a rough drawing of the idea I have for a jig for making a wooden wheel. The jig is nothing more than a dowel attached to the router table slide with a small bolt. I plan to hold the slide in the proper position with a large clamp so that I can adjust it easily. The drawing is only a schematic of the idea and is not to scale.
The dowel is mounted on the slide which fits in the slot on the top of the router table. The dowel is the same size as the axle (a sliding fit for the axle hole in the wheel). First, I will adjust the router bit to the height of a full cut and clamp the slide at the proper radius for the cut. Then I will place a number of washers on the dowel to act as spacers for making shallow cuts in the wheel. I'll then mount the wheel on the dowel, make a cut, take a washer off and make another cut until all the washers are gone. I'll repeat these steps for each wheel. I can change bits, re-adjust the radius, and repeat the process until I have the wheels cut to the profile I want.
Finally, I will use a straight bit to cut the outside diameter of the wheel. After that, I'll sand the wheel in preparation for finishing and finally mount the tire.