How I Am Building The Wheels For The 6 Inch Scale Little Samson Traction Engine Model

Choices of Wheel Construction Methods

There are basically two choices for builders of the Little Samson Traction Engine model when it comes to wheel types:-

Cast Wheels

The cast wheels are made in cast iron and come in one piece.

They are considerably easier and quicker to complete than built-up wheels and one reason for choosing to built the Little Samson traction engine over other models was the cast wheel option. I wanted a very simple model to build.

There are however several disadvantages to choosing the cast wheels option:-

The castings are huge, particularly the back wheels. This presented me with a logistical problem of how to get the cast wheels home since they were far too large to fit in the Ford Fiesta I used to collect all the castings from Little Samson models. I couldn’t make a second trip because of other travel arrangements.

Because of their huge size I would be unable to machine the back wheels in my lathe. I would have to outsource this machining work.

And last but not least I preferred the traditional look of built-up wheels with steel spokes and steel strakes.

Built-Up Wheels (With Steel Strakes)

So I opted to make the built-up wheels which needed rolled steel rims with flanges welded in, steel spokes and cast iron hubs all assembled with steel rivets.

I was looking forward to this exercise and started by ordering the wheel rims.

Other Wheel Options

There are variations on the above options:-

Instead of steel strakes rubber tyres can be fitted.

Instead of steel strakes there is an option to fit wooden blocks.

I passed on these options. I would have opted for rubber tyres if I knew somewhere in Thailand (where I am building the engine) that I could obtain the rubber tyres and have them fitted.

This may well be a later add-on.

Outsourcing The Wheel Rims For The Little Samson Traction Engine

The starting point to making steel traction engine wheels is to roll up the rims from flat steel plate and weld on the flanges to form T rings.

Rolling the steel plate requires a heavy-duty rolling machine that I do not have therefore I opted to get my wheels rolled up by a local engineering company called Teera Borigaan.

To see what an amazing resource Teera Borigaan is for steel fabrication and machining go to the page at http://retiringinthailand.net/model-engineers-paradise-pakchong-thailand/ where I have posted a description and some walk-round movies from my visit there. Not only useful for fabrication and machining but they are also a supplier of the more difficult-to-find materials such as bronze, cast iron, plastics, stainless steel etc.

I had no hesitation in having my Little Samson Traction Engine steel wheel rims fabricated at Teera Borigaan.

i was delighted with the wheels when they were complete and have written about them and posted photos on the Steel Wheel Rims Received From the Fabricator page in this website.