>From a late '30s catalog: "Lobdell Laminated Racing Rims - Made of rock hard maple. Cemented together with waterproof glue. Necessarily light, laminated for strength. Natural finish, highly varnished." There are four rim cross sections shown:
1) V SHAPED - 2 ply, 28" 32, 36 or 40 hole. Suitable for racing use only.
2) LIGHT BASTIDE - 2 ply, 28" 32, 36 or 40 hole. Suitable for racing use only.
3) HEAVY BASTIDE - 3 ply, 28" 32, 36 or 40 hole. Suitable for light bicycle road work.
4) 1-1/8" NATURAL - One-piece, natural finish, highly varnished. Made of hard rock maple. 28", 32, 36 or 40 hole.
They also list "ARMOURED RACING RIMS Made of hard rock maple core incased in a high carbon steel of light gauge. Suitable for any kind of road work. Chrome plated. 28", 36 hole."
...and, finally, a surprise (to me at least) "WOOD CLINCHER - G. & J. wood clincher rim, 28x1-1/2". 36 hole, aluminum finish only."
All rim measurements include the tire so a 28" wheel using a 28x1-1/2" tire would actually measure 25" without the tire.
Martin Needleman Annapolis, MD
jamie swan wrote:
>
> Speaking of woodies; it occurred to me to make my own. The modern
> (relative term) ones appear to be made of 3 laminations with scarf
> joints staggered at 120 degrees. I would guess that they are made from
> ash but other hard woods might be more appropriate. Larry Osborn: you
> got an opinion on this? It would involve making a fixture to glue up the
> layers and another fixture to act as a chuck to hold the rim on the out
> board end of my wood lathe to clean it up and make the correct profile.
> I think West System epoxy that boat builders use would be the adhesive
> of choice. Drilling the spoke holes needs to be done with a fairly high
> degree of accuracy. I can think of several ways to handle this...
>
> Any opinions, suggestions etc.?
>
> Jamie Swan - Northport, N.Y.
>
> scott davis wrote:
>
> > Some of the early bread-loaf shaped Uni brake pads,
> > seem to have fibers (as if made from "recycled car
> > tires") and some don't. I've also seen pads made from
> > cork. Maybe this was due to necessity rather than
> > design as rubber was in short supply during the war
> > years????
> >
> > Since wood and alloy rims were both used in the 30s
> > and 40s I'm not sure if the pads were designed to
> > brake better on wood or if they were simply the only
> > brake pad available at the time.
> >
> > I would guess that softer pads, such as cork, would be
> > gentler on the wood surface. Anyone know if softer
> > pads stop better than hard? Ride Woodies! Scott in
> > St. Paul MN
> >
> > TheMaaslands@comcast.net writes:
> > > > I don't think there was any special attention
> > > given to wood rims
> > > > instead of alloy or steel ones.
> > > >
> > >
> > > In a discussion with Scott Davis about Universal
> > > Mod. 49 (?) brakes, I got
> > > the distinct impression that there was a different
> > > pad for wood rims. I don't
> > > claim to know the answer (because I don't) but it
> > > seems likely that a different
> > > pad would be necessary to work on a varnished rim
> > > than on an aluminum one.
> > > Even if you didn't revarnish and you ran the bare
> > > wood, the coefficient of
> > > friction between the two materials is quite
> > > different. Presuming the enthusiasts of
> > > old were as off the deep end as we are, it would
> > > make sense that the guys who
> > > used wood rims would have figured out the brake pad
> > > thing.
> > > Stevan Thomas
> > > Alameda, CA
> > >
> >
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