Shape a spoke by clamping a riven billet on a shaving horse and taking long shavings with a drawknife, then finishing with a spokeshave, until it is a rectangle about 4-5 cm by 2.5-3 cm at the middle, tapering slightly toward both ends, with the thicker dimension in the direction of the load. The rectangle matters: a section 4.5 cm deep by 2.75 cm wide resists bending across its deep face about 1.6 times better than across its narrow one.
Part of Wheelwright Craft
Spoke shaping is the hand-shaving of a split billet into a tapered rectangular strut with tenons, using a drawknife and spokeshave on a shaving horse.
Why The Section Is A Rectangle
The parent article shapes the spoke as a rectangle, thicker “in the direction of the wheel’s load (top to bottom)” and thinner side to side, 4-5 cm by 2.5-3 cm at the middle. A rectangle gives more bending strength than a square of the same area when it is loaded across its deep face. The strength of a rectangular beam in bending goes with b × h² / 6 (b the width, h the depth in the direction of bending). Take the mid-range dimensions 4.5 cm and 2.75 cm:
| Bending across | b | h | b × h² / 6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| the 4.5 cm face | 2.75 | 4.5 | 2.75 × 20.25 / 6 = 9.3 cm³ |
| the 2.75 cm face | 4.5 | 2.75 | 4.5 × 7.56 / 6 = 5.7 cm³ |
The ratio is 9.3 / 5.7 = 1.6. The numbers are a comparison of two orientations of one section, not a load rating, so do not read them as a strength in newtons.
What You Need
- A shaving horse, the clamping bench that holds the work under your foot
- A drawknife and a spokeshave
- A riven billet, air-dried (Spoke Making & Fitting)
- A gauge (a notched stick or calipers) for the three key dimensions
- A template for the tenon shapes
Method: Billet To Spoke
Step 1: Clamp Clamp the billet in the shaving horse with the grain running away from you, so that the knife follows the grain downward and does not dig in.
Step 2: Take the corners off With the drawknife, take long, slicing shavings, bevel-down, working from the middle outward. Take the corners off first to make an octagon, then the faces.
Step 3: Flatten and size Check the size at the middle against the 4-5 cm by 2.5-3 cm of the carrier. Keep the deeper face in line with the load direction.
Step 4: Taper Taper slightly toward both ends, keeping the middle the largest.
Step 5: Cut the tenons Cut the hub tenon rectangular to 3 × 5 cm and 5-6 cm long, and the felloe tenon round, 2 cm across and 4 cm long.
Step 6: Finish Spokeshave the faces to take out knife marks, which can start cracks, and check the grain for run-out as you go.
Checkpoints
- The grain runs the length of the spoke on all four faces.
- No knife dig or cross-grain tear on the faces near the middle.
- Tenon shoulders are square to the spoke’s axis, so it seats flat.
Common Mistakes
- Cutting against the grain — the knife digs in and the cut runs ahead, tearing the face.
- Shaving the faces equal — losing the deeper dimension throws away the bending strength.
- Leaving knife steps — a notch in a stressed face is where it will crack.
- Cutting the tenon oversize and hoping — a tenon cut too large splits the hub on driving.
Safety
A drawknife is pulled toward you
The handles are held with the blade drawn toward the body, and a slip lands the blade at the abdomen or thigh. Hold the work in the horse, never on the knee, keep the blade bevel-down and your feet clear of its path, and put the knife down on the bench with the edge away from you.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Driving & Fitting — seating the spokes in the hub
- Combine with: Mortise Cutting — making the sockets for the tenons