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MODERN BLACKSMITHINa 



HOW TO PUT IN SPOKES 



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Jt VERY wagon-maker is supposed to know 

 ■^4^^^'- l^ow-to put in spokes. Still, there are 

 sometimes wagon - makers, especially 

 beginners, that don't know. First 

 clean out the sliver left of the old 

 spoke, and make the mortise dry, and 

 in every case use glue. In a buggy 

 wheel take the rivet or rivets out, if there is any, and 

 be sure to have the right shape of the tenon to fit the 

 mortise in the hub, so as to make the spoke stand 

 plumb. Set the tenon going through the rim. Be 

 sure to have this tenon reach through. This is impor- 

 tant in filling a wagon wheel, because, if the tenons 

 don't reach through the fellow, then the heft will rest 

 against the shoulder of the tenon, and when the tire is 

 put on tight and the wagon used in wet roads, the 

 fellow will soften and the spokes settle into the rim. 

 The tire gets loose, and some one, either the wagon- 

 maker or the blacksmith, will be blamed — in most 

 cases the blacksmith. Of course, the tenon should not 

 be above the rim. After the spokes have been put in 



