Hardwood wheels for toys are expensive, not well sanded and do not come in many varieties of wood. I tried making my own, but the work was prohibitively time-consuming until I came up with the modified screw center I now use. With it I can turn out a wheel every four minutes on production runs.

I started with a standard morse-taper screw center (Sears) that I modified in two ways. First, I drilled and tapped the tail of the screw center to accept a 1/4-in. drawbolt, which holds the tapered shaft tight from the back of the headstock through the spindle. The drawbolt is simply a length of threaded rod with a washer and wing nut. The second modification was to remove the screw center. This leaves a 1/4-20 threaded hole for attaching the work.

I cut the wheel blanks from scrap using a hole saw with a 1/4-in. pilot bit. Then I mount a blank on the modified center with an ordinary stove bolt. It takes about a minute to shape and sand each side. I try to completely finish one side before I turn the wheel around. While shaping, make sure the hub area is slightly thicker than the wheel rim for clearance.

For axles on the toys, I use 1/4-in. stove bolts screwed into a hidden nut mortised and epoxied in the vehicle’s side. This is stronger and longer-lasting than wooden axles and allows the owner to take apart the toy and put it back together.

George Pilling, Springville, Calif.

Fine Woodworking Magazine, October 1981 No. 30

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