I am thinking about changing out my steering wheel for a Teak one. How can I tell the difference between an original and repo?
Teak Steering Wheel
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Re: Teak Steering Wheel
https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...72231&uid=9225- Top
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Re: Teak Steering Wheel
I have a 65 with an original wheel, while it has been some time since I had it judged I do remember that one thing the judges always seemed to look for was not only the finger grips but the sharpness or lack of on the edges of the metal spokes coming from the center hub of the wheel. I do also remember two original wheels coming up for sale on e-bay last year and both sold for well over $2000.00, in that way the repros. are looking better and better for around $600.00. Good luck.- Top
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Re: Teak Steering Wheel
I have a 65 with an original wheel, while it has been some time since I had it judged I do remember that one thing the judges always seemed to look for was not only the finger grips but the sharpness or lack of on the edges of the metal spokes coming from the center hub of the wheel. I do also remember two original wheels coming up for sale on e-bay last year and both sold for well over $2000.00, in that way the repros. are looking better and better for around $600.00. Good luck.
Would you be so kind as to post some photos of the machined "chamfered" edges of the center cut outs on each of the metal spokes both at the top and bottom? I'm interested in seeing the chamfers on an OEM original teak wheel as they compare to a repro.
Thanks,
James West- Top
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Re: Teak Steering Wheel
Ed,
Would you be so kind as to post some photos of the machined "chamfered" edges of the center cut outs on each of the metal spokes both at the top and bottom? I'm interested in seeing the chamfers on an OEM original teak wheel as they compare to a repro.......
I understand that many repros (re)use that assembly from a plastic wheel, in which case the repro teak chamfer will be identical to the original plastic.
But maybe some of the early repops machined their own, without chamfer. BTW, this feature only appears on the driver side; the underside is not chamfered.Attached Files- Top
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Re: Teak Steering Wheel
If you can't tell it isn't real, then for all intents and purposes, it IS real.
Then the question becomes,,,, why do some guys say they can spot a REAL one from a Repop, no trouble at all?
I wonder how they can do that?- Top
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Re: Teak Steering Wheel
Here is how I can tell
Yes, the edges on the spokes are sharper usually, and the brushed finish feels "rougher", after all, they are new, not almost 50 years old, but the grain of the wood is different, and the base stock teak itself is very different.
If one was too sharply rap the wheel with your knuckle as if trying to make the rim ring, you would find a very different "sound" or resonance from a real original wheel compared to anyones current or recent reproduction.
Why? The teak wood purchased for the original wheels by the Howard Miller Clock Company came from South America. It was a very hard, dense wood. Had a very specific grain. It can no longer be had at any cost. Legally anyway. All the teak wood available in todays "legal" world is from Asia, its a softer wood, and not as dense. It's a much faster growing wood and in no danger of being "used up" as the South American teak was.
Has a finer grain pattern. So when you rap it, it sounds very different. Once you do it to a real one and a repo it is very easy to tell the difference.
The wheel must be mounted to the column or held only in the center hub as you do this, or it will not work, it would be like holding a bell and trying to ring it.
The repo's, Eric Freeman's in particular are a beautiful wheel at a great price using the best materials currently available.
But the real ones are very different, and have a different character, certainly very hard to find in good shape- Top
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Re: Teak Steering Wheel
Further to Bill Caldwell's description of the "real thing", I recommend digging up the old RESTORER from Summer 1980, (or the CD, I suppose). Article by Joe Clark on the design and fabrication of these steering wheels.
The Miller Company "produced 150 to 200 of these per day during the high demand period. .... Cycle time from rough sawn kiln-dried wood to completed wheel was approximately 6 to 8 weeks".- Top
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Re: Teak Steering Wheel
I have a small collection of 5 original "wood wheels" which came out of GM Engineering in Dayton, Ohio.
There are 2 teak wheels and 3 made of other woods.
Interesting stuff.
On all 5 wheels, the metal cores have a chamfer on the inside of the slots of the spokes. The chamfer is on the front surface (facing the driver) only. There is also a chamfer on the edges of the spokes on both front and back, but it is very shallow on the back of the spokes.
The picture of the dark wheel shows that the core is from a 63 with circular marks on the spokes.
The light colored wheel is on a later core with radial lines on the spokes and a heavy chamfer in the spoke slots.
One of these days I will put together an Restorer article on the wheels.- Top
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