Continuing work on the Mail Wagon. With the front and rear axle assemblies started, it was time to work on the wheels. Most instructions tell you to read through the whole process before starting. This is to familiarize yourself with the parts and process. In this case, the instructions indicate it was noticed during the prototype stage, the manufacturer found it was easier to sand the spokes after assembly. That saves a lot of initial prep work on individual fiddly parts.
The wheels are made from laser cut wood parts, aluminum hubs and a jig.
I used MiniGraphics Wallpaper Mucilage to apply the paper patterns to the wood base. Here is the smaller wheel pattern. The larger wheel pattern is on the reverse, but in reality, you would work on one wheel at a time so it’s not an issue.
Another nice thing is the intact inner circle and middle “wheel” waste pieces. I saved those in my stash. Never know when I might need pieces like these. :]
I decided to use the recommended nails to hold the wheels in place while assembling. The paper pattern did not match up with the wheel size, so I centered as best as I could. Using the nails also helped keep the circular shape while working whereas clamps might not have.
Even though I will be doing the final shaping after assembly, I did clean the laser char from the edges of the spokes beforehand.
I did the same for the wheels to have a cleaner gluing surface.
That’s when things went off the rails. The spokes fit well into the hub, but overall the wheels, hubs and spokes simply did not work together. (These will have a snug fit, but I was just testing parts at this point and didn’t trim the spoke ends to fit all the way into the hub groove.)
The wheels are larger than the jig pattern as noted, and the spokes are too short. I am putting the parts together as instructed and have removed the parts precisely from the laser cut sheets without removing any length from the spokes.
I could use the “scrap” wheels between the two true wheels with the longer spokes, but that would give me only two wheels instead of four.
Luckily, this kit is made by a company still in business, so I sent them these photos and told them about my issues. They checked their production, and what they have now is correct. Mine must have been an errant batch. They sent me a new wheel sheet, another spoke sheet and four hubs just to make sure it all worked well together. It’s fantastic when a company will stand behind its product. :]
Now, I need to prep the new parts for assembly. Back soon….
