Join felloes end to end between the spokes by cutting the meeting faces square and flat and locking each joint with a hardwood dowel drilled across it, then check the assembled rim before the tire goes on. Because a tire forged 1-2 cm short can close at most 1.7-3.3 mm at each of six joints, any gap larger than about 2 mm will not close, so joints are fitted tight at this stage.
Part of Wheelwright Craft
Felloe jointing is the squaring, doweling and checking of the butt joints where curved rim sections meet, so they close into a true circle.
The Tire Can Close Only So Much
The carrier says the felloes meet end to end between the spokes, that a hardwood dowel across each joint locks the sections together, and that the iron tire compresses the joints tight. How much it can compress them is limited. The tire is forged 1-2 cm short of the rim’s circumference, 10-20 mm, and that shortage is shared between the six joints of a 12-spoke wheel, plus any compression of the wood itself:
- 10 mm / 6 = 1.7 mm per joint
- 20 mm / 6 = 3.3 mm per joint
That is the most the tire could close at each joint if the wood did not compress at all. A real joint will close less than that, so joints fitted with gaps of more than about 2 mm stay open, leaving a hinge in the rim. Fit the ends tight enough that no light shows through the joint.
What You Need
- Felloes bent and dried (Steam Bending Felloes)
- A square and a fine saw or plane for the joint faces
- Hardwood dowels and hide glue if used (Hide Glue)
- A brace and bit and a dowelling guide
- A string or traveller for the circumference check
Method: Square, Drill, Dowel, Check
Step 1: True the faces Cut the meeting faces square to the arc and flat. A face that is hollow in the middle or out of square opens a gap on the outside of the wheel.
Step 2: Size the dowel Keep the dowel hole to no more than a third of the felloe’s thickness, borrowing the one-third tenon rule from Woodworking. That is about 1.7 cm in a 5 cm felloe (an assumed depth). It is a rule of thumb applied by analogy, not a wheelwright’s figure.
Step 3: Drill along the tangent Drill into the end grain of each felloe along the line of the arc at the joint. A straight dowel in a curved felloe drifts off the arc: 4.5 cm in from the joint, on a 57.5 cm mean radius, the arc has moved 4.5² / (2 × 57.5) = 0.18 cm, 1.8 mm, from the straight line. So keep the dowel short, about 4-5 cm into each side, and drill from the centreline.
Step 4: Dry-fit the rim Slip the felloes onto the spoke tenons with the dowels in. The joints should meet, and the outer face should run smoothly from one felloe to the next. A bump or gap means a spoke is off angle (Driving & Fitting).
Step 5: Check the circle Measure the diameter across several pairs and the circumference with a string or a rolling traveller. The rim should be within 2-3 mm of round (Spoked Wheels).
Step 6: Mark and take apart Number every joint and spoke so the wheel goes back together the same way for tyring.
Common Mistakes
- Oversized dowel — weakens the felloe end, which already carries the tire load.
- Gluing the dowels before the dry-fit — you cannot take the wheel apart to fix a bad joint.
- Cutting the ends square to the chord instead of to the arc — the two faces meet in a wedge and the joint opens on one side.
- Relying on the tire to hide a gap — it closes 1.7-3.3 mm at the most.
Safety
Drilling and handling
A brace and bit can grab in end grain and twist out of the hand; clamp the felloe and keep fingers clear of the bit’s path. A heavy rim assembly can fall off the bench: support it on a flat base.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Iron Tire Setting — the band that closes the joints
- Combine with: Steam Bending Felloes — making the sections