Paddlewheel building

[ijigm]

where can I find some good links on building and assembling
paddlewheels?

[george britnell]

Do you have a particular type in mind or do you just
want general information. There are different types of
paddlewheels, feathering, non feathering, and as far
as model work goes, the scale would dictate the
materials and construction. By that I mean if you were
building a larger wheel you would certainly use
heavier materials than if you were building something
of around 1/48 scale.
gbritnell

[ijigm]

I am building around 1/48. I am trying to find out how they are constructed
and of what materials.

[Joe E Brown]

Most I have seen are built from wood. I built the helical wheel on
the George M. Verity from brass and the Lady Lois has arms I cast
from resin with wood buckets.

[george britnell]

My model Suter is about 1/50 scale and I built the
paddlewheel from several materials. I have a lathe and
mill in my shop so I machined the hubs and
reinforcment rings from brass. The spokes or arms were
made from maple. I cut them close to size and then
made a fixture so that I could sand them all to the
same size. The floats (paddles) were made from
basswood and were fastened to the arms with miniature
U bolts that I made from brass. They had a 1x.25mm
thread. The center shaft was a piece of stainless
steel and the brass hubs were locked in place with
stainless set screws. If you would like I could send
you an exploded view of my paddlewheel from my full
size drawings. Just send me your mailing information
and I would be happy to mail it out.
gbritnell

[TEX]

I'd like to see em also. Can ya post em in the File section an maybe
some close up pics? Please. ... ) TEX