6 May 2009
Within the past couple of years it seems that anyone with a welding machine and access to a lathe is building English wheels,some are good quality many are junk. Here are some of the things to look for in a quality English wheel.
A) FRAME STRENGTH: The way the English Wheel works is to compress the metal and thin the metal, thus making the shape. Too many of these out there are made with frames that are too thin walled and too small of tubing, causing excessive flex and making your job both harder and slower.
B) TOP WHEEL: Many of the English Wheels out there cheat by using a caster wheel and use a wheel that is way too big. Most caster wheels are cast iron and are softer than the metal they are trying to thin [stretch]! As far as size, bigger is not better! The larger wheel tends to obstruct your view when working the metal, also a larger top wheel is heavier thus creating a flywheel effect which wants to fight you when you want to stop and pull back or push in the work.
C) BOTTOM WHEEL PROFILE: Many of the lesser quality English Wheels have a straight radius profile,which means that face of the wheel has no flats thus making you work harder. YOU NEED FLATS ON YOUR LOWER WHEEL!!!! .
D) RUN OUT, FINISH, HARDNESS: This is where I see the difference in the throw away English Wheels and the quality wheels. When you are looking at an English Wheel, turn up the wheel so it barely touches the top wheel and spin the wheel, there should be consistent contact with no loose tight situations. I have seen as much as .060" run out in lesser quality wheels, which leads to a poor finish on your piece.The finish of the wheels is very important. Any imperfections in the wheel will mirror itself into your piece. Your wheel faces should be polished smooth and maintained as such. I have seen some lesser quality wheels where the lathe turning marks are so pronounced that by running your fingernail across the face you could could actually file your nail down!This will greatly affect the quality of your finished piece.
E) TOP AND BOTTOM WHEEL ORIENTATION: Both the top and bottom wheel must be parallel to each other. The way to check this is to place a dead flat wheel in the bottom holder and run up the wheel to contact the top wheel. They should touch completely across, if not you will get poor results. In many wheels I have seen this is a problem and they do not have adjustability to make it right.
F) TOTAL MACHINE SIZE: This is where bigger is not better ! In my shop I have 4 English wheels, one of which has a 44" deep throat and the others being 30" and 24". The 44" machine does 1 thing better that the others, IT TAKES UP WAY TOO MUCH SPACE!!! This machine will work to the center of an 88" piece, but unless you are working on a school bus this machine is overkill.
Norm Campeau
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