The
English Wheel, also known as a
wheeling machine in Britain, is typically a manually operated
metalworkingMetalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewellery. It therefore includes a correspondingly wide range of skills,...
apparatus, that allows a craftsman to form smooth, compound curves from flat sheets of metal, such as aluminum or
mild steelCarbon steel, also called plain carbon steel, is steel where the main alloying constituent is carbon. The AISI defines carbon steel as: "Steel is considered to be carbon steel when no minimum content is specified or required for chromium, cobalt, columbium, molybdenum, nickel, titanium, tungsten,...
. It is used in coachbuilding, car restoration, racing car construction - (especially,
NASCARThe National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is a family-owned and operated business venture that sanctions and governs multiple auto racing sports events. It was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1947-48. As of 2009, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of the late Bill France Sr...
spaceframe chassis racing cars that have to have sheet metal panels made to resemble mass production vehicles), prototype car production, low volume sports car production (
AC CobraThe AC Cobra was a British built and designed sports car that was produced during the 1960s.-History and development:Like many British specialist manufacturers, AC Cars had been using the smooth, refined Bristol straight-6 engine in its small-volume production, including its AC Ace 2-seater roadster...
for example), and aviation amongst other uses. When used on thicker sheet metals such as boat or ship hulls the machine may be powered and be much larger than the one described here.
The process of using an English wheel is known as
wheeling.
Construction
The machine is shaped like a large, closed letter "C". At the ends of the C, there are two wheels. The wheel on the top is called the
rolling wheel, while the wheel on the bottom is called the
anvil wheel. (Some references refer to the wheels by their position:
upper wheel and
lower wheel.) The
anvilAn anvil is a basic tool. In the simplest terms it is a block with a hard surface on which another object is struck. The inertia of the anvil allows the energy of the striking tool to be transferred to the work piece. In most cases the anvil is used as a forging tool. Before the advent of modern...
wheel usually has a smaller radius than the rolling wheel. Although larger machines exist, the rolling wheel is usually 8 cm (3 inches) wide or less, and usually 25 cm (9 inches) in diameter, or less.
The rolling (top) wheel is flat in cross section, while the anvil (bottom) wheel is domed.
The depth of the C-shaped frame is called the
throat. The largest machines have throat sizes of 120 cm (48 inches), while smaller machines have throat sizes of about 60 cm (24 inches). The C stands vertically and is supported by a frame. The throat size usually determines the largest size of
metal sheetSheet metal is simply metal formed into thin and flat pieces. It is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and can be cut and bent into a variety of different shapes. Countless everyday objects are constructed of the material...
that the operator can place in the machine and work easily. On some machines, the operator can turn the top wheel and anvil 90 degrees to the frame to increase the maximum size of the work piece. Because the machine works by an amount of pressure between the wheels through the material, and because that pressure changes as the material becomes thinner, the lower jaw and cradle of the frame that holds the anvil roller is adjustable. It may move with a hydraulic jack on machines designed for steel plate, or a
jackscrewA jackscrew is a type of jack which is operated by turning a leadscrew. It is also known as a screw jack, and are commonly used as car-jacks.A jackscrew's compressive force is obtained through the tension force applied by its leadscrew...
on machines designed for sheet metals. As the material thins, the operator must adjust the pressure to compensate.
Frame designs are the most significant element of this simple device. For the most part however, wheels have changed very little for since the 19th century. The early English machines (as opposed to the American versions), such as Edwards, Kendrick, Brown, Boggs, and Ranalah, etc., had cast iron frames. These wheels, made during the 19th Century, had
Babbitt metalBabbitt metal, also called white metal, is an alloy used to provide the bearing surface in a plain bearing. It was invented in 1839 by Isaac Babbitt in Taunton, Massachusetts, USA. The term is used today to describe a series of alloys used as a bearing metal...
plain bearings in them, making them a little difficult to push and pull the metal through when operated at high pressures. Later, when ball-and-race bearings came into use, the machines became more suitable for hard and thick material, such as 1/8” steel. Despite the immense popularity of cast iron in England (where even bridges were made of it) one drawback is that it is less stiff than steel, and therefore, sometimes must be replaced by thick steel when a stiffer frame is needed. Steel frames made of solid flame-cut plate, or frames built-up of cut-and-welded plates, are common designs. Steel tubing, generally of square section, has been used for wheeling machine frames during the past 30 years, in the US particularly, where sheet metal shaping has become a hobby as well as a business. Tube-framed machines are reasonably-priced and are available either as kit-built machines (or can be built easily from plans). The stiffest tubular frames have a fully triangulated external bracing
trussIn architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight slender members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and...
. They are most effective on thinner or softer materials, such as .20 ga steel or .063 aluminum. Cast frame machines like the one pictured, are still available.
A properly equipped machine has an assortment of anvil wheels. Anvil wheels, like dollies used with hammers in panel beating (which are also known as anvils) should be used to match the desired crown or curvature of the work piece.
Operation
The operator of the machine passes the sheet metal between the anvil wheel and the rolling wheel. This process stretches the material and causes it to become thinner. As the material stretches, it forms a convex surface over the anvil wheel. This surface is known as crown. A high crown surface is very curved, a low crown surface is slightly curved. The rigidity and strength in the surface of a workpiece is provided by the high crown areas. The radius of the surface, after working, depends on the degree that the metal in the middle of the work piece stretches relative to the edge of the piece. If the middle stretches too much, the operator can recover the shape by wheeling the edge of the piece. Wheeling the edge has the same effect in correcting mis-shape due to over-stretching in the middle, as shrinking directly on the overstretched area by the use of heat shrinking or Eckold type shrinking. This is because the edge holds the shape in place. Shrinking the edge prior to wheeling, aids the formation of shape during wheeling, and reduces the amount of stretching and thinning needed, to reach the final shape.
Strength and rigidity is also provided by the edge treatment such as
flangingA flange is an external or internal rib, or rim , for strength, as the flange of an iron beam or I-beam ; or for a guide, as the flange of a train wheel; or for attachment to another object, as the flange on the end of a pipe, steam cylinder, etc, or on the lens mount of a camera...
or wiring, after the fabrication of the correct surface contour has been achieved. The flange is so important to the shape of the finished surface, that it is possible to fabricate some panels by shrinking and stretching of the flange alone, without the use of surface stretching or shrinking at all.
The pressure of the contact area, which varies with the radius of the dome on the anvil wheel and the pressure of the adjusting screw, and the number of wheeling passes determines the degree to which the material stretches. Some operators prefer a foot adjuster in order to be able to maintain a constant pressure over the varying sheet metal thickness for smoothing, while using both hands to manipulate the work piece. This style of adjuster is also helpful for blending the edge of high crown areas that are thinner, with low crown areas that are relatively unstretched. A drawback of the foot adjuster, is that it can foul very longitudinally curved panels, such as cycle type mudguards (wings/
fenderFender is the US English term for the part of an automobile, motorcycle or other vehicle body that frames a wheel well. Its primary purpose is to prevent sand, mud, rocks, and liquids from being thrown into the air by the rotating tire. Fenders are typically rigid and can be damaged by contact with...
s), as used on pre-WW2 sports cars and on the Lotus / Caterham 7. To address this problem, there are wheeling machines that have a hand adjuster close beneath the anvil yoke in order to allow such panels to curve underneath unobstructed. This type of machine typically has a diagonal lower 'C' shaped frame, that curves lower to the floor, with a hand operated adjuster close to the anvil wheel holder, instead of the horizontal and long vertical hand adjuster shown in the picture. A third type of adjuster moves the top wheel up and down with the bottom anvil wheel left static.
The operator needs a great deal of painstaking patience, to make many passes over an area on the sheet in order to form the area correctly. He may make additional passes with different wheels and in different directions, (at 90 degrees for a simple double curvature shape, for example), in order to achieve the desired shape. Using the correct pressure and appropriate anvil wheel shape and pattern of accurate, close to overlapping wheeling passes, makes the use of the machine something of an art in order to produce a piece of steel, aluminium or other sheet metal with a particular physical shape. Too much pressure results in a finished product that is undulating, marred and stressed, while too little pressure causes work to progress very slowly. High crown panels/sections may need to be
annealedAnnealing, in metallurgy and materials science, is a heat treatment wherein a material is altered, causing changes in its properties such as strength and hardness. It is a process that produces conditions by heating to above the re-crystallization temperature and maintaining a suitable temperature,...
due to work-hardening of the metal.
Typically, only small high crown panels, (such as repair sections) or large low crown panels (such as roofs), are made in one piece. Large low crown panels need two skilled craftsmen to support the weight of the panel.
Five key limitations of the machine are:
- The thickness of the sheet that the machine can handle.
- Fitting the work piece in the 'throat' depth of the machine.
- The size of work piece that the operator/s can physically handle.
- The risk of over stretching/thinning an over-large high crown panel/section - it is no good having the correct contour if the metal is just too thin and weakened to be serviceable.
- As the size of the panel/section increases, the work involved and the level of difficulty increases disproportionately.
These limitations are the reasons why large high crown panels such as wings/fenders are often made in many pieces. The pieces are then welded together usually with one of two processes.
TIGTig may refer to:*TIG Welding, a metal welding process.*Tig Notaro, an American stand-up comic** TIG, abbreviation of Triennial Inter-varsity Games, held by the University of Hong Kong, the National University of Singapore, the University of Malaya and the University of Indonesia every three years...
welding (Tungsten Inert Gas) produces less heat distortion, but produces a harder, more brittle weld that may cause problems when planishing/smoothing by hand, or in the wheeling machine. Oxy-acetylene welding joints don't have this drawback, provided they are allowed to cool to room temperature in air, but do produce more heat distortion. Panel joints may be achieved using
autogenous welding - that is welding without filler rod, this is useful when finally smoothing the
weldingWelding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...
joints as it reduces the amount filing/grinding/linishing needed or almost eliminates it altogether. It also, more importantly reduces heat distortion of the surface contour, which has to be corrected on the wheel or with hammer and dolly.
At every stage during fabrication, constant reference needs to be made to the shape that the operator is trying to reproduce. This may involve the use of
templateTemplate may mean:*a stencil, pattern or overlay used in graphic arts and sewing to replicate letters, shapes or designs...
paper, section templates (made using paper or thin sheet metal), station bucks, formers, profile gauges, profile templates and of course an original panel. Wheeling machines that feature a quick-release lever, which enables the operator to drop the anvil wheel away from the upper wheel, so the work can be removed and inserted quickly without losing the pressure setting, are great time savers during this part of the process.
The final process in the fabrication of a panel, after the correct surface contour has been achieved, is provided by the edge treatment such as flanging (sheet metal) or wire edging, this is to finish and strengthen the edge. There will be too much or too little metal in the flange, this will pull the panel out of shape after the flange has been turned, so it needs to be stretched or shrunk in order to pull the surface shape back to the correct contour. This is most easily done using Eckold type shrinking and stretching, but can be done using heat shrinking or cold shrinking, (by tucking and beating the tucked metal into itself), or by using a cold shrinking hammer and dolly. For stretching or shrinking the flange, a hammer of the correct profile with a dolly of the correct profile is needed - matching the desired flange shape at the point of contact through the flange, (known as ringing the dolly) with the hammer.
An English wheel is a better tool for a skilled craftsman, for low crown applications than manually hammering. Planishing manually using dollies and slappers, after hammer forming is very labour intensive. Using a pear shaped mallet and sandbag, to stretch the sheet metal, speeds up the fabrication process for higher crown sections. A pneumatic hammer or power hammer, is faster still. The English wheel is very effective when used for
planishingPlanishing is a metalworking technique that involves finely shaping and smoothing sheet metal by hammering it against a shaped surface called a planishing stake. Metal workers use planishing to finish shaping and smoothing an object after roughly forming it with other techniques, such as sinking...
, (for which it was originally patented in England), to a smooth final finish after these processes.
Further reading
- An American's View of the English Wheel by Kent White.
- Advanced Techniques for the English Wheel by Kent White.
External links