[TheForge] Shrink fitting steel to wood

[theforge@mailman.qth.net]

I remember reading some smith's diatribe regarding hot fitting of 
tires.   It may have been in MT Richardsons Practical Blacksmithing.   
The basic gist was it was unnecessary and would result in a poorer 
fit.   The writer listed a number of reasons why.  He wrote that putting 
it on at a high heat would char the wood. The charred wood would crush 
more readily in use and result in a poor fit thereafter.   Have no idea  
wether it was his own  personal  crusade or  common practice.   I have a 
lot of turn of the century blacksmithing mags that I have collected over 
the years and the letters and articles  in them indicate that 
blacksmiths have not become any more opinionated.   In fact  in the 
charter issue of American Blacksmith circa 1902 (its packed away at the 
moment) there is a letter lamenting the shortcuts taken by modern 
smiths.  A later issue calls the OxyAcetelyne welding process the single 
greatest invention for smiths since the anvil, while others question its 
efficiency vs forge welding.


Charles

Lynn Emrich wrote:

>I hope someone with more math skills that me will
>chime in on the amount of 'shrink' in the steel. I was
>under the impression that the hubs were not fit that
>way, only the 'tire.'
>Please correct me if I have not understood it
>correctly.
>Lynn
>
>  
>