Practical Carriage Building
Compiled by M.T. Richardson, Vol.1. 1891
How to Make a Wheel for a Wheelbarrow
I will describe my way of making a wheelbarrow. I make the wheel of iron, all except the hub, which I make of locust or mulberry, four inches in diameter and twelve inches long, with an inch hole, through the center from end to end for the axle, and put two strong bands one inch apart in the center, lay off and bore eight seven-eighths-inch holes with an ordinary brace bit or auger for the spokes between the bands.
I then cut my spokes from rod iron, seven-eighths-inch diameter, nine inches long, and shape them as in Fig. 178. I make the tire of one and a half by three-eighths-inch iron, and drill eight three-eighths-inch holes for the spokes. I then put it together as in Fig. 179, and cut my axle six teen inches long and one inch in diameter, and sharpen one end like a pencil, as in Fig. 180, and drive it through the hub, which forces the spokes out through the tire. Brad them on the outside in a counter-sunk hole. Saw off the sharp end of the axle, and the wheel is complete.—By J. M. W.
