Homemade wood rims

[Nabeaquam]

If anyone is interested I can post the method I used to form these rims from outdoor stainable flexible marine epoxy. It’s formed around a standard alloy rim. No more worrying about the spoke tension getting soft as the nipple head washers sink into the wood. It’s a slow process as each coat has to dry and the stain takes several days to dry. It has a paper fiber underliner. The main lamination is made from wood flower reinforced epoxy and is easy to sand and stain. It didn’t chip when I mounted the 700c x 38 tire. It’s a thin coat so the tires were pretty easy to mount. Next I’ll lace them up with vintage hubs. Someone with more skill and patience could do a much better job. Since I’m skill less I thought I just go for faux old. I didn’t do any research, I just tried it.

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Crackin result! I did wonder of doing something a little similar but like I always do more complex! Actually bonding thin veneers on...
But this technique looks simple and ace
Top work !

 

[Gtpulse]

Awesome! Brings back a memory of my Grandad trying to source a set of wooden rims back in the early 1990s for a very early French bike he had with rotten wooden rims. Before the days of internet he ended up travelling from the UK to the Netherlands to buy a set. This would have been much easier!

 

[Nabeaquam]

Crackin result! I did wonder of doing something a little similar but like I always do more complex! Actually bonding thin veneers on...
But this technique looks simple and ace
Top work !

I tried twice, bonding two different types of thin veneer on. It isn’t flexable enough as it’s been kiln dried and steaming doesn’t soften it enough, it cracks and comes loose. So as good as it sounds, it won’t work. I also tried thin basket weaving wood that can be steamed and softened. That was also a failure. It’s just too hard to get even and tight clamping. For the basket weaving wood you need to laminate two strips together to get a wide enough piece. I think if you steamed the basket wood and you had a round 2 piece mold that matched the wheel profile you could get this idea to work. You could use a ratcheting tie down to hold the mold in place and apply clamping pressure. I can’t figure out how to make a mold and you would need a different one for each different rim profile. The edge by the tires would show the original aluminum if you tried glueing on thin strips.

 

[Mickeyspinn]

I tried bonding two types of thin veneer on. It isn’t flexable enough as it’s been kiln dried and steaming doesn’t soften it enough, it cracks and comes loose. So as good as it sounds, it won’t work. I also tried thin basket weaving wood that can be steamed and softened. That was also a failure. It’s just too hard to get even and tight clamping.

I have vacuum press but it would still be a ball ache tho trial error try again etc why I haven't bothered!..your technique is a winner! So simple

 

[Nabeaquam]

I have vacuum press but it would still be a ball ache tho trial error try again etc why I haven't bothered!..your technique is a winner! So simple

Steaming wood inside the house is messy. I used a 3 meter long piece of pvc pipe that was placed over the spout of a large a aluminum kettle. Rags were stuffed around the spout and fabric tape secured the whole thing. The other end was placed over a bucket on a chair so the condensation went slightly downhill. The wood was placed inside the pvc pipe. I turned on the stove and got it boiling. I used a beach towel to mop up because the steam and condensation went everywhere. Do it in secret when no one is home. This works well but is messy. The wood gets too hot to touch, but you have to take it out several times until it flexes well.

 

[Imlach]

My god that's a thing of beauty. I love lacquering stuff and I'd feel a breeze of overwhelming happiness if I could stand in front of the house, as the cycling purists go past, sanding and lacquering my rims. As they go by, I'd shout "How'd ye like the grain?!", loudly, proudly - and they'd gawk intently, with a hint of jealousy in the back of their mind. Ah, what a day it would be.

Very well done.

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Steaming wood inside the house is messy. I used a 3 meter long piece of pvc pipe that was placed over the spout of a large a aluminum kettle. Rags were stuffed around the spout and fabric tape secured the whole thing. The other end was placed over a bucket on a chair so the condensation went slightly downhill. The wood was placed inside the pvc pipe. I turned on the stove and got it boiling. I used a beach towel to mop up because the steam and condensation went everywhere. Do it in secret when no one is home. This works well but is messy. The wood gets too hot to touch, but you have to take it out several times until it flexes well.

Shame you can't get really big microwaves yes that works !

 

[Nabeaquam]

Look at my third picture in the above series of photos. The black magic marker line and the place where the black alloy are showing is where the wrapping wasn’t glued and made a hollow sound when tapped after the flex epoxy dried. You have to use a razor knife to slice through the wrapping, lift the paper, squeeze in some epoxy and wrap tape around the bandage. It’s important that the paper is well glued to the rim with no bubbles. Here is the photo again.
Here are the patches held down with tape while the glue dries.

 

[Nabeaquam]

Use a box cutter and old hack saw blade to clear paper and glue debris out of the rim hook.