Enlish wheel tune up

[larry mullen]

Hello MM
I was wheeling a panel yesterday and noticed that wheel was not tracking correctly . after an hour of adjustment I got the flats on the lower anvil in full contact of the upper wheel, and turned the lower yoke 1/16 inch so bottom and top axles were in algnment.
How important isthe alignment of the uppers and lower anvil?
Larry Mullen

[Rick (madera)]

VERY important!

[Pete's Metalshaping]

If you have flats on the lower wheel, then it is important. There are several things that come into play here. The centerline of the axle has to be concentric to the OD of the wheel, for both upper and lower. If this isn't the case you might have problems. A way to check this out would be to use a dial indicator, to check runout of the wheel/anvil. If the wheel/anvil tolerance is within reason, the next thing would be the flats lining up. If it is off , you may experience a squeezing on one side of the anvil; which may or may not be a problem.

One thing to keep in mind, if you have a stout E-Wheel frame, you will probably notice more of a problem. If the frame in whimpy, then it might not be as noticeable.

[larry mullen]

Yes the anvils are joe andrews that speaks for itself . the 8 ' 'wheel is from another source ,but is good also . after thinking about it , working in auminum sheet would be more critcal , would it not ? also on a large panel such as a door skin or hood .
Larry

[Jim Stabe]

One quick way to check vertical alignment of the wheel axes is to clamp a steel ruler between the two wheels. If the ruler is not horizontal they are out of alignment. This is an old machinist's trick to check tool height on a lathe only on the lathe the ruler is vertical. You want the ruler to tip slightly toward you at the top which means that the cutter is just slightly below the centerline of the work.

[captainkirk]

Remember to check the alignment with metal inserted and a bit of pressure as your frame will miss align as the pressure increases (the frame will try and open up)
Depending on how much pressure you apply you might have to align the wheels at the wheeling pressure in order to reduce the marking.

The stiffer the frame the harder it is to wheel out the "walnuts" the weaker the frame the easier it will wheel but the alignment will cause more marking.

To my knowledge there has only been one wheel ever designed that doesn't suffer from these compromises regardless of pressure applied to the wheeling surface.
That wheel is called "The American Wheeling Machine" not to be confused with the traditional English Wheel.