Cast wheel truing?

[Guest]

I have a cast front wheel which has a small "out of round" spot. Is there any way to get this trued?

Thanks to all the knowledgeable and generous experts here!

[Nessism]

Frame straightening shops can straighten wheels although it will likely cost more than a good used wheel from ebay.

[GregT]

I've straightened rims with slight flats a couple of times.
Bandsaw a couple of hardwood blocks - male and female curvature - and start work with a soft - faced mallet.
It helps if you can set up the wheel in a checking fixture so as to turn it against a pointer or better yet a dial gauge.
Last one I did was a Marvic which I could not afford to write off....

Good luck

Greg T

[tkent02]

Hubcap Annie's, or whatever the local equivalent wheel shop in your town.
They can get them perfect.
Might cost more than a used wheel.

[posplayr]

I've straightened rims with slight flats a couple of times.
Bandsaw a couple of hardwood blocks - male and female curvature - and start work with a soft - faced mallet.
It helps if you can set up the wheel in a checking fixture so as to turn it against a pointer or better yet a dial gauge.
Last one I did was a Marvic which I could not afford to write off....

Good luck

Greg T

Got any pics, can you use a c-clamp instead of mallet?

[GregT]

No pics sorry - some years ago now. I don't think it's feasible to clamp/press the rim true but working quietly away with a heavy soft faced mallet persuades the rim back into shape. Use the hardwood former as a backup and beat into it.
I found the best technique was to put the female former (outside of rim) on the floor and sit the rim onto it, beating both direct onto the inside of the rim and also using the male former to spread the impact as needed.
It's a slow process, some rims are softer than others, the Marvic was quite easy as it was pretty thin section Magnesium.

I had watched a friend re - pitching diecast alloy boat propellors using a mallet and sandbag so I was pretty sure I could beat the rim true.

Greg T

[Nessism]

To someone like Greg, with an appropriate measure of technical savvy, straightening a wheel may be a matter of simply "beating it true". But make no mistake for others reading this, this beating process is no trivial matter.

[bwringer]

There are krillions of GS wheels out there and on fleaBay. As a large, easy-to-unbolt part, wheels are easy as pie to find.

There's absolutely no need to fart around with hammers and such, and then live with the fear of a large chunk of the wheel breaking away at some inconvenient point in the future.

Simply disclose what manner of GS you have (a detail you have thus far omitted) and I bet someone will offer up a wheel for cheap.

For example, I have hanging in my garage right this very moment a 19" front wheel from a GS1100G that will fit any 850+ shaftie, and will look correct on any 82-83 850 or 1100 G/GL.