Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)
This was a really fun project and my favorite model – so far; and I have made a few. This is a Forest Street Designs plan and has a lot of challenging parts, and I love this model. I of course added my own “fingerprints.” The wheels were a major part of this build, as you can imagine, but not as difficult as I thought they would be. I used 3/16 baltic birch ply for the wheels (for strength) and made a fixture to drill the 1/16 inch holes for the spokes per the plan. I first used a 3/16 inch brad point bit on the drill press and mounted jig to just drill a slight pilot hole using only the brad of the bit, which subsequently helped keep the 1/16 inch bit from wondering when drilling the through holes. The plan suggested using an awl to mark the holes but the brad point bit was more precise than I could do with an awl, especially in keeping centered. The spokes are 18 gauge copper wire; almost 30 feet of it. And yes I had to strip all of it, and straighten it by pulling about 6 feet at a time with pliers with one end in the vise. Installing the spokes was a bit tedious but once I got the hang of it it went pretty fast. I did one side at a time which seemed to go faster than alternating front and back of the hub. The finished wheels are more sturdy than I had imagined. The plan suggested painting the spokes black (as original) but I just could not paint those fine looking copper spokes! The engine flywheel was cut with a scroll saw using a bit of double bevel technique to fit the outer maple and inner walnut rings. The wheels and some engine parts all rotate. The front wheel also turns and steers.Wood types: Frame and floor slates are Mahogany, wheel hubs are walnut, bloodwood for springs and front fork/frame. Seat frame is maple with applied copper on sides. Seat is leather over a pine base and a bit of foam, with brass pins. The seat back is Cocobolo. The steering pieces are cooper on holly. Engine is a combination of Sapele, Maple, Bloodwood, Walnut, and brass rods, some brass applied to maple, and some brass tube. I painted some parts, Wheels (black), and some engine parts. lacquer finish.Thanks for looking and comments are always appreciated. (Next up is a stand for the marble machine.)