So the process of setting hub bands is the same as is a wagon tire or a buggy tire.
On a wagon tire we're going to use a traveler to measure the outside circumference of the wood and the
inside circumference of the tire. But when we work with hub bands obviously the traveler is
too big, it's not going to fit inside. so what we need to do is to build a smaller traveler
So what we need to do is build a smaller traveler.
and that's what I've done. I just have taken a metal disc it doesn't matter what diameter it
I just have taken a metal disc, it doesn't matter what diameter it is.
I've taken a cold chisel and I've highlighted it.
I've imprinted it and then I painted it with
white so that I can see that starting point.
This will fit inside our hub bands
And if you work on some some light carriage wheels, buggy wheels,
some of those bands are smaller yet, and we just
need to make a smaller little traveller.
So what we'll do when we set hub bands is we'll take a
pencil and we'll make a little mark. and with our our highlighted starting point we'll start
And with our highlighted starting point, we'll start
there and we'll just travel around the hub
and wherever we stop, we're going to put that mark
our little homemade traveler here. That's why it doesn't really matter if we have increments. We
don't have to have measurements. All we're looking for is relationship, hub to iron. so we make that
little mark there, then we're going to take our hub band and we'll we'll put a little starting point
then we're going to take our hub band and we'll we'll put a little starting point
there with our with our soapstone and we'll line up our starting point on our traveler,
go ahead and measure that around and we're our second mark on our traveler is we'll transfer
that mark over to the hub, cut it out, weld it, reshape it, and and all that that's necessary to
set it back on. So the principle is the same, with just little smaller circumferences,
We're going to start first by marking our hub, a starting point, a
and with our little traveler
line that up and then measure the circumference of our hub.
Want to be careful that we don't let it slip.
and where we come back around here and where we line up with our pencil mark on
the hub that's where I'm going to put our second mark on our little traveler.
And our hub, the band itself,
we have a mark there that we're going to start on. we're going to start with our chiseled
We're going to start with our chiseled staring point,
measure the circumference there, and we'll add our second mark and
and we'll add our second mark,
and in this particular case we only have about an eighth inch, which will be about
a saw cut, so we'll make that saw cut and then bring it back together and weld it up.
Now oftentimes when you cut these bands you'll end up with a space
in there maybe you've cut out to have a certain portion, or oftentimes there's just
an internal pressure in this iron and it'll kind of open up. So what what I do is I just
work on the cutting shelf here of the anvil, between the horn and the face, and we can
just work on the inside diameter of that and kind of just bring that back together.
It saves having to work with with clamps and such when we're welding. so I'll go ahead and
So I'll go ahead and,
you can see that came back together, I'll go ahead and weld this back together and go from here.
Normally when I'm working with any iron that I'm going to set under pressure, like a
wagon tire, buggy tire, or even these buggy hubs,
I'll take a torch and I take this welded spot
and heat it up to where it's kind of a cherry red. It helps stress relieve that joint,
and it minimizes the problem of possibly breaking when we set that on there because
they are under a bit of pressure. So we'll heat that up and kind of anneal it out.
Now that we've kind of taken the stress out of this, when we work on it, reshaping it, after
we've cut it, oftentimes these bands will be come out of round
and because were working with such small tolerances we like to make sure that we get this back into round
again, so I use a mandrel here and it will go ahead and kind of bring this back into round.
So now that we're back into round I'll put it back in the vise we'll
take the torch and warm it back up and I will go ahead and put it on.
Okay, it doesn't bring it down plumb cold. There's still a little heat on
that but that will just go ahead and cool by itself so this is how we set
up bands and we'll go through and just do the other three just like we did this one.
There we have our our last hub band set. It'll go ahead and cool on its own here.
You can see as they
go on with a fair amount of resistance. Even if we get them kind of equal size from the metal to the
wood but that's a good thing. There's little heat. They'll go ahead and continue to cool down.
This is what actually holds the hub all together when we push in the boxing. Sometimes we're working
with a 15 - 20 ton press and that's what keeps the hub from blowing apart. So now
we'll take it back to the metal lathe. I'll chuck it back up, kind of do some finish sanding, clean up.
Get some of this charring that happens off of there, and we'll be ready to push in boxing.
We have our hub just about finished, have our boxing bored. Small end comes out flush with the
wood for our wagon nut to come up against. The only thing we have to finish now is to put our
little nails into our hub bands, on each outer edge of the spoke band will be a small brad.
I use about a 16 penny finish nail and I cut it off to an inch long it's just a real close
copy of the old originals. So we hope this has been helpful and clear, the process of
building wagon hubs, and just another aspect when it comes to the art of the wheelwright.