CNC carved wheel
I have some friends who are interested in replicating some old metal cart wheels out of wood. I decided to see what I could do with my Carvewright CNC router.
Mirrored wheel halves in the carver software
I spent an hour or two playing with the software. I actually draw the shapes up in AutoCAD then import them into the Carvewright software. This allows me to assign cutting tools to the individual lines. I made two versions, one is double-sided and will need a 1-3/4″ thick blank. Since I didn’t have one at hand, I ran the second version. Basically I split the wheel in half and mirrored it. When the carver is done, I will just glue the two halves together.
Ripping the blank
I cut a blank of red oak down to size and loaded it in.
Loaded up in the CNC
First hub
The program ran for about five hours. I left some tabs to hold the center plugs in place. There is really no point in carving them away, that would only double the time spent carving.
Finished carving both halves
Dremel cuts away my tabs
I simply cut away the tabs with a small cutting bit in a Dremel tool, and removed the plugs.
Plugs removed
Bandsaw to cut away the rims
I didn’t put tabs on the outside edge, just cut most of the way through. It was easy to make the final cut-outs on the bandsaw and clean up the remaining wood on the scroll saw.
Cleaning up with the scroll saw
Applying glue
I applied some wood glue and clamped up the two halves for a couple of hours.
Clamping the two halves together
Final step was to cut a 3/4″ hole, in the center, on the drill press. I programmed the CNC to place a pilot hole in the center, but it was way faster to drill it out myself.
Drilling out the center of the wheel
Side by side with the original
While the wooden wheel is the same dimensions as the steel one, it is significantly more brittle. Future versions will probably have to be thicker for strength, but this test piece definitely shows that the wheel can be replicated.
Stacked wheels
Midnight Woodworking 