Editing Wheelwright (section)

== Parts of a wheel ==
[[File:Felly (PSF).png|thumb|Parts of a wheel]]

The basic parts of a wooden wheel are nave (or hub), spokes, felloes (felly) and tyre (tire).{{r|bulliet|walrond79}}

The '''nave''' is the central block of the wheel. In a wooden-spoked wheel, the nave acts as the '''hub'''. One end of each spoke is set into the nave in a process called [[Mortise and tenon|tennoning]]. In older wheels, the nave had a 6-inch sleeve that fit over the axle to keep the wheel from wobbling; it required frequent greasing. More modern carriage wheels use [[Bearing (mechanical)|bearings]].{{r|walrond79|page1=197|bulliet|page2=232}}

'''Spokes''' are wooden sticks that fit into the nave at one end, and into the felloe at the other end.{{r|walrond79|page1=251|bulliet|page2=233}}

A '''felloe''' is one of several curved pieces of wood that when pieced together make the rim of a wheel. They are fitted onto the outer ends of the spokes. Sometimes spelled "felly".{{r|walrond79|page1=119|bulliet|page2=231}} The number of felloes required to make a circle varied by region, era and size of wheel—with a minimum of two half-circles of bent wood, to multiple felloes per wheel with at least two spokes per felloe.{{r|bulliet|page=83}}

The '''rim''' is the outer edge of a wheel, although some refer to the tyre as rim.{{r|bulliet|page=233}}

The '''tyre''' or '''tire''' is a protective strip that goes outside the felloes. Tyres were make of iron or steel, usually as a hoop and fitted hot around the rim. As it cooled and shrank it tightened the joints of the spokes-to-felloes and spokes-to-nave, strengthening the wheel and making it more rigid.{{r|walrond79|page=158}} Metal tyres are very noisy on hard road surfaces, so many carriages wheels were made with solid rubber tyres fitted into a metal channel.{{r|walrond79|pages=71,162,298}}

Due to age or dry climate, a wheel would shrink and the metal hoop tyre would become loose. Routinely, the hoop would be removed, 'shrunk', heated and refitted to make the wheel tight again. Tools to shrink the hoops were called "tire upsetters" or "tire shrinkers".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wagon Wheel Tire Shrinker |url=https://www.lynmuseum.ca/2019/11/27/wagon-wheel-tire-shrinker/ |date=November 27, 2019 |website=Heritage Place Museum}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=We never "tyre" of history: The Tire Shrinker |url=https://nwcarriagemuseum.org/we-never-tyre-of-history-the-tire-shrinker/ |website=Northwest Carriage Museum|date=10 March 2023 }}</ref>