wooden rim repair

[Nightrider]

Anyone know where i can have an old non-metal clad rim repaired?

 

[gcrank1]

Dont know just what kind of repair you need, but you might take a look online at the marine epoxys used for classic wooden boats and see if it looks like a way to go. Ive used it for boats, and other wood repairs, and it is great stuff.

 

[Nightrider]

it has about a 3 inch warp spanning one third the circumference of the rim.

 

[gcrank1]

Ouch!
Well, marine epoxy, as good as it is, wont fix that!
Do you have an Amish community nearby? Often they have some craftsmen who steam bend wood for furniture, etc., and they are used to wooden wheels and their care. They may be able to take a look and give some advice.

 

[highship]

There is a ton of information on line about bending wood. I used to help a guy build canoes and he would steam his would to bend it.
I would think if you used the proper technique you could get it back close and then true it up the rest of the way with the spokes.

 

[user 135]

Edited. Look down below under ADDED first. Found after some additional searching.

Have you tried truing the wheel using standard techniques? Here are some links to really old articles about wheel truing.

http://books.google.com/books?id=5ZtaAA ... le&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=604oAA ... el&f=false

By the way there are some very cool books from way back when,
http://books.google.com/books?id=6fFYAAAAYAAJ

ADDED
Try this technique first.
http://thecabe.com/vbulletin/showthread ... -split-rim

http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveyates2 ... 766163273/

 

[Nightrider]

Thanks for the cabe link. I think it might work. Cant hurt to try.

 

[gcrank1]

I am no wheel authority, but from my limited experience, if a wheel is pretty wracked the spoke tensions to get it pulled into shape are way out of equalization, which causes all kinds of pain. On a wooden rim I could see that causing spoke pull throughs/breakage way before it would on a metal rim. IMHO, you need a rim to be pretty true to start with and you fine tune tweek it into perfection.