This wheel was part of an old elevator system in a mill building I work in and dates back to the 1850-1860's. I thought the wheel with it's combination of steel and wood might make a good project so I got permission to dismantle. It was a bit tricky to get down because of the sheer weight but it all went rather smoothly. I got the wheel home, put it on my workbench and started to carefully brush off and clean the century of grease & oil. I was really psyched to see this reddish patina underneath. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to do with it and with the help of my wife we came up with this upright table design.I originally was going to try and make some type of a wood base for it and went through a bunch of design options. One day I was looking at a project of Christian Becksvoort's on IG and saw some beautiful metal hinges he had forged by Dereck Glaser, a metalsmith from Winthrop Maine. I check Dereck out on IG and was really impressed with his work and that led me to his Etsy site (DGForge) where I purchased a few items and wrote him about working on this project with me. We started the collaboration back in July of last year and with the travel restrictions it was all by email that we worked. The wheel is a beast at 85lbs and the Jatoba table top I made is another 40lbs so Dereck had to take my final design to have the wheel suspended by a curved base and also build a support for the table top. I think his work on this was just perfect…strong, simple and just a bit decorative with the curved legs.So after almost 8 months of planning and collaboration, I met Dereck up in Freeport Maine last weekend to pick up the base and it was really great to meet him and see this “thing” we've been emailing about for so long. I can't say enough about Dereck and his work….a real pleasure to work with him and see the project through.I got home that night and immediately dry fitted the wheel into the base and put the table top on and it fit like a stone in a pyramid…perfect!The steel parts of the wheel I put a linseed oil mix on to give it a sheen and protect it. The outer part of the wheel which is all wood, I lightly sanded and put a coat of clear oil on. The Jatoba top is 15 1/4×45 and just under 2” thick. I bevel cut the ends just a bit and used Tried and True varnish oil as a finish.This project was a really special one for me…not my usual. thanks for looking and here's a bunch of photos throughout the process.
This wheel was part of an old elevator system in a mill building I work in and dates back to the 1850-1860's. I thought the wheel with it's combination of steel and wood might make a good project so I got permission to dismantle. It was a bit tricky to get down because of the sheer weight but it all went rather smoothly. I got the wheel home, put it on my workbench and started to carefully brush off and clean the century of grease & oil. I was really psyched to see this reddish patina underneath. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to do with it and with the help of my wife we came up with this upright table design.I originally was going to try and make some type of a wood base for it and went through a bunch of design options. One day I was looking at a project of Christian Becksvoort's on IG and saw some beautiful metal hinges he had forged by Dereck Glaser, a metalsmith from Winthrop Maine. I check Dereck out on IG and was really impressed with his work and that led me to his Etsy site (DGForge) where I purchased a few items and wrote him about working on this project with me. We started the collaboration back in July of last year and with the travel restrictions it was all by email that we worked. The wheel is a beast at 85lbs and the Jatoba table top I made is another 40lbs so Dereck had to take my final design to have the wheel suspended by a curved base and also build a support for the table top. I think his work on this was just perfect…strong, simple and just a bit decorative with the curved legs.So after almost 8 months of planning and collaboration, I met Dereck up in Freeport Maine last weekend to pick up the base and it was really great to meet him and see this “thing” we've been emailing about for so long. I can't say enough about Dereck and his work….a real pleasure to work with him and see the project through.I got home that night and immediately dry fitted the wheel into the base and put the table top on and it fit like a stone in a pyramid…perfect!The steel parts of the wheel I put a linseed oil mix on to give it a sheen and protect it. The outer part of the wheel which is all wood, I lightly sanded and put a coat of clear oil on. The Jatoba top is 15 1/4×45 and just under 2” thick. I bevel cut the ends just a bit and used Tried and True varnish oil as a finish.This project was a really special one for me…not my usual.
