Penny Farthing Big wheel Antique Bike

[Porsche930dude]

I have wanted to do this for a while . Who hasnt?! But just a few days ago I saw a video on U-tube that confirmed my theory. He made is front wheel by stretching out two normal wheels. I had tried it once before and it didnt seem to work so I gave up. I tried again this time with more confidence. I gradually bent a 26" this time a little at a time in the vice. It worked. Second half went better. I saw the wheel profile of the second was slighlty different so i searched my stash for another one of that style. It went great. I cut a couple inches out of each wheel to end up with a 46" wheel. A bit small for a farthing but from my calculations I dont think I could go too much taller. Guys back then muct have had looooong legs :laugh:
So for the tire I used two wheelchair tires wolid urethane. Unfortunately they are 24" wheels so i came up like 4" short. I plan to fill that extra bit with a reshaped piece of rubber from an old lawnmower wheel and glue it in place.

 

[Porsche930dude]

The next challenge was the hub. not much of a challenge if youve got a good imagination and a bunch of parts on hand. Ony hickup was I counted 68 holes in the wheel and drilled 68 holes. Per side lol well i can just put the spokes in every other hole but that was alot of drilling for nothing. the cranks are removeable and i got some bearings that fit nicely between them and the hubs. For the spokes im going to try and simply thread two together. they will be a bit long i think so i will have to cut and thread the ends. I think that will work fine. For the back wheel Im going to use this old golf caddy wheel. I like it because its solid and old tyme like the front. but i had to paint it. It was white. Im concerned about the paint coming off and the white rubber showing through again so I colored all the rubber with permanent marker before i painted it. I was going to dye it black but i figure ill try this first and see how it does. I have more if I need to start over. I have a really cool old leather seat for it but I may make spring mount for it that looks old. Ill probrobly paint the whole thing gloss black with gold accents. Nothing much just here and there very subtle.

 

[deven_science]

Interesting project!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Nice work so far!
Watching and following!

Luke.

 

[Porsche930dude]

thanks ! iv made progress getting the wheel strung up so thats almost done. here is the seat i will probrobly be using

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

Neat stuff. Very creative.

 

[CCR]

Very cool Good luck on the wheel man !!!

 

[Porsche930dude]

good day today. I got the wheel pretty straight less than 1/8" runout side to side and up and down. i will work on it more and probrobly get it a bit better . also got the frame pipe bent and i think im going to use a slightly bigger rear wheel and make a tire for it. lookin good sofar

 

[Porsche930dude]

forks frame and bars are done. im going to add a gusset on the neck. im workig on the spoon brake now . then iv got to try and turn some wood handgrips on my crappy lathe. still need to get the seat figured out and the step for the back . lookin good though

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Seriously nice work so far, inspiring...

Luke.

 

[flemrasm]

just a few days ago I saw a video on U-tube that confirmed my theory. He made is front wheel by stretching out two normal wheels.

I´ve been searching for this, can you link to it please

regards
Flemming

 

[K-dregg]

Cool project!

This site sells repro wire wheel by the foot, could be usefull..

http://www.hiwheel.com/parts/index.htm

 

[Porsche930dude]

just a few days ago I saw a video on U-tube that confirmed my theory. He made is front wheel by stretching out two normal wheels.

I´ve been searching for this, can you link to it please

regards
Flemming

Here it is. his description of the build is in the comments
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSnlaeoepm8

 

[Porsche930dude]

lots of progress im almost done with the fab work. just have to attatch the seat somehow and fiddle with the brake a bit more. Also i will probrobly make all the exposed nuts and bolts have a square head instead of hex. i made the handles from maple. that went a bit easier than expected. i even drilled the 7/8" hole down the center after they were lathed down to size and they didnt split. I like maple :mrgreen:

 

[LukeTheJoker]

You do some nice work Sir!

Luke.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

That is awesome. Cool thing is, that it'll be around for a hundred(s?) years, passed down because its art.

 

[rickpaulos]

i made the handles from maple. that went a bit easier than expected. i even drilled the 7/8" hole down the center after they were lathed down to size and they didnt split. I like maple

Just a question, would it be easier to drill the 7/8" hole before turning the grips?

rick

 

[Porsche930dude]

i dunno but at the time it seemed easier to do it afterwords because they wernt cut to length and my lathe setup is so hokey it tends to jump around sometimes and i didnt want to keep track of where the bore is. got the brake finished up today and now i just have to work on the seat mounting and then tear it down

 

[Carbon]

Wow, that's pretty awesome. Though, I've always wondered why no ones ever made or modified one of these with the seat positioned lower, more in the center of the down tube so it would be more stable and look hot rod.

 

[rickpaulos]

The 1880s versions had a nearly vertical fork with the seat as far forward as possible. This allowed for the largest possible wheel size for a rider. Bigger wheel = faster speed. That was the entire reason for the big front wheel before chains were invented. The wheel size was limited to a riders leg length. I had a 48" wheel which corresponds to a 48" gear on a modern bike. Think of a 47 tooth chain ring with a 25t sprocket on a 26" cruiser. That's a pretty low gear. Most cruisers came with 47x18 which is a 68 wheel equivalent.

Today's modern replicas have a bit of fork angle added to get the center of gravity farther back. This reduces the likely hood of a header which is very bad news.

Roads today are far better than in the 1880s. Back then they were mostly dirt and totally rutted from horses and wagons. All those ruts (and horses) were just waiting to toss a rider for a header.