Decorative Wagon Wheels

[Alan MacHardy]

I can not figure out the cutting angles for making several straight boards into the wheel shape. I would like to make several (decorative) wheels between 24 and 30 inches in diameter. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks
Alan:confused:

[ray hampton]

I would recommend drawing a circle on a sheet of construction paper and cut it out , lay the circle on your planks

[Tim Janssen]

Allan,
It depends on how many segments you want to use to make the wheel rim.
I am making a decorative ships wheel and the outer rim is made from 8 segments.
Draw a circle and draw 8 lines out from the center, dividing 360 degrees into 8 gives 45 degrees. If you connect the points where lines intersect the circle with a straight line, the angle made between this line and the radius lines will be 67.5 degrees. So each segment will be cut at 67.5 degrees in my case. The length of each segment depends on the diameter of the wheel.
The cut angle must be very accurate or the segments will not meet properly. Remember any error will be multiplied by the number of segments in the wheel.
If for instance you use 12 segments, each radius will be spaced 30 degrees from the adjacent one, 180 - 30 = 150 divided by 2 is 75 degrees. This means that each segment will be cut at 75 degrees.
I hope all this makes sense to you, it's the best way I can explain it. If I knew how to include a drawing in a post, it certainly would have been easier to explain.
Good luck,

Tim

[Whit AndersonIL]

Take a look at this thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?190807-segments

--Whit

[Bruce Page]

Alan, your question, at least to me, is pretty vague. It would help if you could post a picture of what you’re trying to make.