42 Skidoo

[Wildcat]

I'm in, but have no shop to work in, just the kitchen table and just enough tools to get by. So, this won't be too involved.
I'm using my 1942 Hawthorne and hope to have a one or two speed klunker style bike when it's done. It's got a 3 speed Nexus now but I don't want any cables except for a front handbrake.
I'm working on getting a wheel set that's more to my liking. I gave it a quick red crappy paint job to see if that color looked ok, and it'll get powder coated a darker red.
I'll probably keep the cream tires (Continental retro rides).
I'll lay down a skid 42 feet long when it's done, hence the name 42 Skidoo and also the year of the bike. I'll post a photo of that, maybe a video.
I have a Hawthorne head badge but it's not wide enough, I'm hunting for a larger one with horizontal holes.

 

[Scribble]

Always enjoy Wildcat builds !

 

[LukeTheJoker]

I'm in, but have no shop to work in, just the kitchen table and just enough tools to get by. So, this won't be too involved.
I'm using my 1942 Hawthorne and hope to have a one or two speed klunker style bike when it's done. It's got a 3 speed Nexus now but I don't want any cables except for a front handbrake.
I'm working on getting a wheel set that's more to my liking. I gave it a quick red crappy paint job to see if that color looked ok, and it'll get powder coated a darker red.
I'll probably keep the cream tires (Continental retro rides).
I'll lay down a skid 42 feet long when it's done, hence the name 42 Skidoo and also the year of the bike. I'll post a photo of that, maybe a video.
I have a Hawthorne head badge but it's not wide enough, I'm hunting for a larger one with horizontal holes.

View attachment 95068

Nice! Glad you are in!

Always enjoy Wildcat builds !

 

[Wildcat]

The task at hand first is to find some decent wheels, or even rims if I can find them. I can get a good 2 speed hub easy enough, but have never successfully built a wheel. I think the bike shop will charge at least a hundred bucks plus all the parts. A good red band Bendix one speed wheel would be acceptable.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Building wheels is easy if you take your time, I put it off for years, but love doing it now!
Plenty of good tutorials and videos out there, but I have found the best thing is to have a built wheel with the same pattern in front of you to reference as you go.

 

[SpikeFC]

+1 on that!

Building wheels is easy if you only maintain the consistency of the method that your using, and remembering to not change any of the rules implied like putting the spokes to the right or changing sides after each quarter of the wheel

 

[Wildcat]

Ok, I've got plenty of time so I'll give it a shot. I'll stop by the local bike shop and see if I can get a couple wide rims, and ss spokes (what size? I'll ask them when I have the hubs) and front and rear hubs. It might be cheaper to get ready built wheels from them but I want a large flange hub on the front and a good coaster or two speed on the rear. It's easy to ship hubs in the flat rate boxes so I'll check the for sale threads here.

 

[OddJob]

Welcome back Wildcat! Love the name of this build.

As Luke said, it's good to have another wheel of the same holes so you can reference the pattern as you go. Keep the spokes just threaded on, not tightened, until you get them all in place. An old fork mounted in a vice, or a couple of pieces of conduit with slots for the axle cut out and set into holes in a 2 x 4 stack will work too. I use zip ties on the pipes to gauge the bumps as I go.

RaT oN~!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Welcome back Wildcat! Love the name of this build.

As Luke said, it's good to have another wheel of the same holes so you can reference the pattern as you go. Keep the spokes just threaded on, not tightened, until you get them all in place. An old fork mounted in a vice, or a couple of pieces of conduit with slots for the axle cut out and set into holes in a 2 x 4 stack will work too. I use zip ties on the pipes to gauge the bumps as I go.

RaT oN~!

What spoke calculator would you recommend for Wildcat OJ?

 

[GuitarlCarl]

The Sapim spoke calculator has given me perfect results every time. It's easy to use and is able to calculate for different size flanges left and right if needed. My guess with any calculator, your results will depend on the accuracy of your measurements.

Carl.

Sent from the edge of an alternate universe...

 

[Wildcat]

Gauge the bumps on the pipe?

Spoke calculator?

No way will I be allowed to have a vise attached to the kitchen table. "That's not a vise Honey, that's a nutcracker!" I made my own truing stand using the rear triangle from an old Emory that worked great back in Florida but I think the wheels will go to the bike shop for truing and a check to make sure they will hold up. Cheaper than letting them build the wheels.

But I do have the old rusty wheel set from my wife's bike that is 36 hole and one speed to get an idea of what mine should look like. The tires are holding air so I'm going to try that wheel set on my bike first to see how a one speed will work out.

 

[toro1978]

The spoke calculation is what confuses me - does the wheel have to be dished and how much? How do I determine this?
I am sure it is not a rocket science, but I gotta read some on the matter. I have always postponed trying it myself, fearing that a miscalculation will cause a delay, money spent on nothing and a double purchase of spokes + more waiting time.


By the way that hub with those yellow stripes in the yellow frame looks awesome!

 

[SpikeFC]

The Sapim spoke calculator has given me perfect results every time. It's easy to use and is able to calculate for different size flanges left and right if needed. My guess with any calculator, your results will depend on the accuracy of your measurements.

Carl.

Sent from the edge of an alternate universe...

I used it to make wheels for my Class 1 build, and for the front one the lenghts were "kinda" correct - 295mm & 293mm. Since i new that spokes come only in even numbers, so I took 18x 296mm and 18x294mm. Good thing that I work in a bike shop, since, the lenghts came out wrong - the wheel had to be made on 294mm & 292mm. And whe it came to the rear one Sapim calculator gave me a number of 295mm on both sides, so made a wheel with 294mm and it came out that they where also too long

The wierd part is that used it several times for making wheels for the customers and they always came out good - maybe that's my luck...

The spoke calculation is what confuses me - does the wheel have to be dished and how much? How do I determine this?
I am sure it is not a rocket science, but I gotta read some on the matter. I have always postponed trying it myself, fearing that a miscalculation will cause a delay, money spent on nothing and a double purchase of spokes + more waiting time.


By the way that hub with those yellow stripes in the yellow frame looks awesome!

The calculator tells you that. In most cases the wheel has shorter spokes by only 2mm on one side. That's the best thing about Sapim calculator - you choose your hub type - Front/Front w. Disc Brake (works for roller brakes also)/Rear/Rear w. Disc Brake (Also works for roller brakes).

 

[toro1978]

Oh, that makes it easier. Thanks, I will have a look!

 

[Wildcat]

Well, with no truing stand or jig to work with, and the fact that I'll need the shop to do a final truing up, along with the cost of rim, spokes, and hub, I'm rethinking the building of wheels. The cost of the powder coating has priority in this instance. I can't even paint anywhere here without spending a small fortune to rent a paint booth at the auto hobby shop on base. This place is very environmentally conscious. If I come across a shop I can use at a reasonable cost, then I'll be set. I've been looking for the last couple of years, nothing feasible has popped up.
This is the color I'm going for:

 

[LukeTheJoker]

That will look nice!

 

[SpikeFC]

That color is great! Too bad that Poland and Hawaii are so far apart. I could make you a set of wheels just for the cost of the spokes.

 

[Wildcat]

In order to invest in the powder coat I want, I decided to get a set of replacement wheels for an Electra from the bike shop. They gave me a military discount and I can go to them if the wheels have a problem.

 

[OddJob]

You made a wise decision on the wheels, Wildcat. Those wheels will hold up nicely, have the right look for your build, and the shop will stand behind them.

Wheel building, from scratch and without a 'template' (another set to look at) can be frustrating and often require more specialized tools (spoke cutter, tension gauge, etc) to get the results you want.

Now you can focus on your frame paint job and the next step!

 

[Wildcat]

The cream tires stayed with the wheels that went to my wife's bike, because they matched. So, I tried out the new wheels with her old tires, which only have a few miles on them. It's got a black and red theme. I took it for a ride on the Ravine path. With a 42/19 drive train set up, that's 58 gear inches which I thought might be a little too low, but turns out to be just right. I can handle the slight inclines fairly easily and still do 15 mph if I have to.

Now all that's left is to take it apart and get it powder coated.