Wheeling Techniques

[Jacob]

I was watching a You Tube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsUBJo4UMng

The presenter said that wheeling is only done in one direction. This is the only place I have heard this stressed.

I have seen people wheeling in different directions depending on the shape they are trying to achieve.

Ron Covell wheels in multiple directions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHndI9Izywg

I would like to hear from the people on the forum what they think.

Thanks!

[Kerry Pinkerton]

Originally Posted by Jacob

....I would like to hear from the people on the forum what they think.

I think that while it CAN be done that way, it isn't the way I choose to do it, or teach people how to do it, or how anyone I know does it. Metal flows in the path of least resistance. The wider the contact patch, the more stretch is front to rear, the narrower the contact patch to more radial the stretch.

It would be a lot harder to get the shape were you want it if you only wheel in one direction imo.

[longyard]

There is a school of thought that suggests only wheeling in the "line of sight", or for instance, down the length of a car panel front to back. However, this is often impractical and most wheelers wheel in the direction of the longest run which is easier. Wray Schelin calls it "jazz wheeling". Geoff Moss is fond of saying, "Wheel it where it needs it."

[crystallographic]

Wheeling Techniques

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I was watching a You Tube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsUBJo4UMng

The presenter said that wheeling is only done in one direction. This is the only place I have heard this stressed.

I have seen people wheeling in different directions depending on the shape they are trying to achieve.

Ron Covell wheels in multiple directions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHndI9Izywg

I would like to hear from the people on the forum what they think.

Thanks!

Jacob,
Wheeling can be done in only one direction, lengthwise, and it can be done by going several directions. It also can be done crosswise, in one direction.

I have used 1.5inch flats at two tons of measured pressure to make a deeply-shaped polished 8foot long aircraft skin in 2024T3 .032 by going in only one (lengthwise) direction. It is simple when planned out mathematically : "make a plan, follow the plan, stick to the plan."

I believe mastery of an art as that level of practice which has fewer limits, and many more possibilities.
Sometime a practical limit denies our convenience and imposes another direction upon us, and we are thus forced to learn a different approach - which then opens a new door of understanding.

(ps, I try to gently discourage my students from doing the "jazz-improv" methods of metal working - as it lengthens their time to finish, adds a level of non-clarity and disorganization to their journey, which creates frustration, decreasing their joy. )

[trailhead]

And, from the same video, what about the comment "never do it dry" (always oiled)?

[Jacob]

Thanks for the replies!

Kent, when you do the piece going in one direction, is it correct to assume that you do all the shaping in one direction? Do you do any "blending" going in a different direction?

I assume this works best on something with a long sweeping curve like a door skin or fuselage. For something like a lower cowling, you would "wheel where needed" right?

[crystallographic]

Originally Posted by Jacob

Thanks for the replies!

Kent, when you do the piece going in one direction, is it correct to assume that you do all the shaping in one direction? Do you do any "blending" going in a different direction?

I assume this works best on something with a long sweeping curve like a door skin or fuselage. For something like a lower cowling, you would "wheel where needed" right?

All in one direction. 100%
Zero in any other direction. 0%

I met a couple of guys from Canada, back in 1996, I think. They made replacement top forward skins for the 747's as a team. 10ft panels. All in one direction.

[RockHillWill]

I am clearly a novice metal shaper, and using the English wheel has been a particularly difficult challenge for me to understand, until Peter Tommasini spent some time with me at Oblong last year where he 'turned the light on' for me. He was careful in explaining how to determine how much pressure to use, or not to use, in conjunction with the full radius lower anvils and advised that using the wheeling in one direction only, resulted in a subliminally more pleasant visual appearance when completed, and the shape was arrived at in a much shorter time frame. He further suggested that for automotive panels that the one direction would be 'line of sight', i.e. horizontal. He further pointed out that by using the full radius lower anvils, and lower pressure in combination with close control of hand positions required fewer changes of the lower anvils. My only experience with a large cast iron machine is a big Frost machine, and it arrived with only three anvils.

In the two videos presented, the two gentlemen are going about two different approaches. One is initiating a smooth shape and the other is smoothing an erratic surface (returning to shape).

Again, this is just the opinion of one old man!

[Peter Tommasini]

Using an English wheel is an art ,it takes a long time to master it and a lot of mistakes on the way . You can wheel many ways and make many shapes.
You can use many kinds of wheels....fabricated or cast, but the better and the more precise the wheel is.. (little or no run out at all, and very steady and solid, no left to right movement on lower cradle, be able to adjust pressure with little as possible turning of the adjusting thread etc.) The faster and less frustrating the learning curve is, and a better result will be achieved. (my prefered wheel would be a good cast wheel). Depending on the shape you are creating, you can wheel many ways ...BUT! Most of the time you wheel on the ''line of vision'' and just like Jeff Moss said.... wheel only where it's needed.
With the wheel you can put bulbous shape in a panel and make return curves (stretching), you can take shape out, (flattening) you can iron out ripples and imperfections (wash over) you can put lines in and turn an edge over at most angles. With the right pressure applied and right lower anvil (preferably full radius) you can make and finish a panel to look like glass whether it is steel, ally, Brass Copper etc
I hope to be able to show some of these techniques in my next dvd
Peter

[Bluchip]

Originally Posted by crystallographic

Wheeling Techniques

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I believe mastery of an art as that level of practice which has fewer limits, and many more possibilities.

(I believe you meant IS that level vs. "as that level")

Whatever anyone may retain from this thread, please commit that statement to memory.
That is not your belief Kent. That is fact and life in general.

Brilliant!
Bravo Zulu