Wheelwright

A wheelwright (or wainwright) is a person who builds or repairs wheels. Making and balancing a wheel is skilled work.This occupational name eventually became the English surname "Wheelwright".

Historically, these tradesmen made wheels for carts and wagons by first constructing the hub, the spokes and the rim/fellows segments and assembling them all into a unit working from the center of the wheel outwards. Most wheels were made from wood but other materials have been used, such as bone and horn, for decorative or other purposes. Around the middle of the 19th century iron strakes were replaced by a solid iron tire custom made by a blacksmith who first measured each wheel to ensure proper fit. Strakes were lengths of iron that were nailed to the outside of wheels to hold wooden wheels together. Strakes were replaced around the mid-1800s by more dependable iron tires that were fastened to the wooden wheel by both the tight fit of the tire/band as well as tire-bolts. Tire-bolts were less likely than tire-nails to break off because they were flush with the wheel's outer surface. During the second half of the 19th century the use of pre-manufactured iron hubs, and other factory-made wood, iron and rubber wheel parts became increasingly common.

In modern times, wheelwrights continue to make and repair a wide variety of wheels, including those made from wood and banded by iron tires. The word wheelwright remains a term usually used for someone who makes and repairs wheels for horse drawn vehicles, even though it is sometimes used to refer to someone who repairs wheels, wheel alignment, rims, drums, discs and wire spokes on modern vehicles such as automobiles, buses and trucks. Wheels for horse-drawn vehicles continue to be constructed and repaired for use by people who use horse-drawn vehicles for farming, Equine (horse) competitions, and presentations of historical events such as reenactments and living history.

The three books commonly accepted as authoritative on the subject of wheelwrighting are "Wheelwrighting : A Modern Introduction" by Bruce Morrison and Joyce Morrison, and "Wheelmaking: Wooden Wheel Design and Construction", Don Peloubet (Editor), as well as a difficult to acquire book called "The Secrets of Wheelwrighting: Tyres" by M.C. Hendrikson.

ee also

* Wheelbuilding
* Cartwright
* Traveling Forge

References

cite book
last = Morrison
first = Bruce
authorlink =
coauthors = Joyce Morrison
title = Wheelwrighting : A Modern Introduction
publisher = Cottonwood Press
date = 2003
location -
pages = 371 (Spiral-bound)
url = http://www.astragalpress.com/wheelwrighting.htm
doi =
id = ISBN 0973194707

cite book
last = Peloubet (Editor)
first = Don
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Wooden Wheel Design and Construction
publisher = Carriage Museum of America
date = 1996
location - KY
pages = 248 (paper)
url = http://www.carriagemuseumlibrary.org/booksale.htm
doi =
id = ISBN 1879335735, ISBN-13: 978-1879335738

cite book
last = Sturt
first = George
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Wheelwright's Shop
publisher = Cambridge University Press
date = 1923
location -
pages =
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-521-09195-0

cite book
last = Hendrikson
first = M.C.
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = The Secrets of Wheelwrighting: Tyres
publisher = M.C. and P. Hendrikson. Kariong, N.S.W.
date = 1996
location - Australia
pages =
url =
doi =
id = ISBN 0-646-31201-4

cite book
last = Wright
first = John
authorlink =
coauthors = Robert Hurford
title = Making a wheel, how to make a traditional light English pattern wheel
publisher = Natural England Countryside Agency
date = 1997
location - UK
pages =
url = http://www.countryside.gov.uk/LAR/archive/publications/makingawheel.asp
doi =
id = ISBN 1869964578