Conversations with a Wheelwright

In this age of automobile and jet travel,  handcrafting wooden wheels is still an important trade at Colonial Williamsburg. Master wheelwright  Karl Gayer talks about this time-honored craft. Because I grew up in Austria in an area where  there was still a need for horsedrawn vehicles, I had the opportunity to serve the apprenticeship  in the Wheelwright craft. I always enjoyed working with wood. Even as a youngster, I always  whittled away on a piece of wood, making my own toys mostly. What fascinated me about the  trade was that a wagon or carriage apparently so light in structure could carry such tremendous  loads and the road conditions were terrible. As you serve an apprenticeship, learn the use  of hand tools rather than machinery for the simple reason that the benefit of being able  to become very familiar with your materials, you can detect slight variances  in densities in the materials which you need to apply later on to have  control over the outcome of the wheel. A wheel expected to last for a few  years on a wagon or carriage can only be produced from quality materials  such as uh hickory and ash or white oak for instance. And of course even the  grain has to be selected carefully six. By using a round tool called a traveler,  measuring the circumference, rolling that wheel on the outside of the wooden wheel structure, you get  a very very accurate circumference measurement. You use the same tool to measure the inside  of a metal band, which then is cut and welded, let's say a/ inch or 5/8 of an inch smaller  in circumference than your wooden wheel. This metal band then is heated in a fire to  expand enough to overcome this measurement difference and it's placed on the wheel in  a heated stage. The cooling with water and careful setting as the shrinking force is applying  onto the wheel. If you can control this action, the outcome should be that you have an equalized  pressure achieved on all the connecting joints plus a slight forced arching into the spokes  of the wheel which then become wooden springs or shock absorbers. With this achieved, the  wheel can be functional for many many years. Well, as the heated metal ring is cooling and  contracting, it will naturally apply pressure to the wheel. At that point, you have to apply a  greater or lesser blow to equalize this pressure on the wheel structure. By doing this you help  control the shrinking action as it is occurring. The question may arise who needs a wheel ride in  this day and age. There are remote areas where horserawn vehicles may be more economical and  practical on a very small scale. say even today.