How To Build A Bessler Type Wheel

[johnny874]

  Saw a used table saw today. will buy it Monday if they can hold it for a couple of weeks.
Also watched rough Cuts and will give some thought to how they curved or warped boards. it might make for a much better build.
I watch most of the wood working shows on PBS which also include Wood Wright Shop and Woodsmith Shop. because of my background as a machinist and using a wide variety of tools, I take the time to consider how what they know might benefit me with my pursuit of a Bessler wheel. Helps to make things easier seeing experienced professionals using different tools and techniques in wood working. Of course, with those guys, they make it look easy because they have practiced their trade for a while.
With myself, I'll have to practice on something like pine so I can learn the techniques I'll be using a little better before using more expensive wood.

                                                                             Jim

edited to modify a verb

[johnny874]

   Not sure when I will be able to get back to this. As things are, to open the door to my shop (it's an overhead door), it
could undo my latest surgery. That wouldn't be of any help.
I may just stick with the tools I have. Missing work and not being sure how things will be going for me in a couple of weeks means I should keep my money in the bank. Even with this uncertainty, when my doctor clears me, I can still build a routing table. Something that would be about 48 inches by 48 inches. I need somethng flat to route a wheel on, especially if it's about 40 inches in diameter.
The sections that would compose the wheel could be made using what I already have. And with what I saw on Rough Cuts, I am still considering how a router table might help me to do have a more professional go of it. So having some down time isn't such a bad thing, it allows for a review of what i want to do, see what's really necessary. In a build like this, if Bessler did it as I believe he did, then it has been about 300 years since soemone did something like this. Custom Build all the way.
And since I am a machinist by trade, it will take me a little getting used to working with power tools and equipment that I haven't used before. Watching the pro's on PBS doesn't make a pro, it does help me to know what I need to learn though. And it's that first part that I think is most important, realizing what I NEED to learn. Other wise, if I don't take the time to learn, then I can't progress, can I ?

                                                                                                                                           Jim

[johnny874]

  @All,
Will probably start making the mols for my weights tonight.
Still, when I get finished building, I probably won't make it known.
AB Hammer hararrssed me for the last few years because he thought it was
something I could do. Why he refused to work with me and kept me from
finding someone to work with on it that did not have my medical issues
always causing problems.
Still, would be nice to know if my surgeon took care of my primary problem.
Don't know but would like to. My job depends on it as my employer has had the
legal right to terminate my employment any time they like. But they have given
me the opportunity to try and get it across to my surgeon that my medical issues
need to be resolved.
I think being involved in a build where the engineering itself is boring to people
kind of makes me wish I grew up in a different environment. After all, if what I
am working on proves correct, there really won't be anything for me to discuss. It
would be pretty obvious why it works.

                                                                                                Jim

[johnny874]

  @All,
Watched the pros on woodsmithshop and is interesting.
They also made some curved pieces. I think I'll stay with what i have.
I did see a clamping technique they used which will be helpful. That and
they did show how to use laminates for curved pieces which wheels seem to use a
lot of. I'll be off line until Tuesday. Maybe I can show a start on this. It has
been a long time coming.

                                                                   Jim

[johnny874]

   @All,
Have ordered the wood I'll be using to build the wheel with.
This weekend, I'll start building the form I'll be using. Then,
when I recieve the wood (it's special order basically), I'll
have to prep it (sand it) and then cut it into sections for
gluing together.
When I have the form built, as simple as it will be, I'll post
a pic of it and how I'm assembling the different parts of the
wheel.

                                                             Jim

edited to add; 
  If a wheel of this type has 22 pounds of over balance at 78 inches (6.5ft.) or 10kg's @ 2 meters, how much torque is that ?
In SAE (American value), it's about 143 foot pounds of torque. How much energy could be harnessed from a generator with that much free energy being supplied to it ? I don't know myself. Maybe someone who knows electric motors can answer this question.
Bessler's 12 foot wheel would have had this potential for producing work. I think in seeing the intelligence shown in his drawings let's me understand he was someone who was ahead of his time.
                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                      Jim