[net.rec.wood] Squeaky wagon wheels

pls@sortac.UUCP (P.L.Sullivan) (12/27/85)

	8=8-

My brother made his 1 year old daughter a small all-wood wagon
for indoor use only.  The 5 inch wheels are turned from 5/4 walnut
and held onto stationary dowel axles with pegs.  Before installing
the wheels and their pegs, he coated the axles with paraffin.
Upside down on the workbench, the wheels turn smoothly and quietly,
but when his daughter rides in it, they squeak.
She likes this just fine, but the grownups quickly tire of it.

I've always had good luck with paraffin as a wood-to-wood lubricant,
but evidently it's not doing the job here.  The squeak seems to be
coming from the axle and wheel, not from the wheel rubbing on the
pins or the body of the wagon.  Does anyone have any ideas short of
plastic bushings or some such to stop the squeak??

==================================================================
Pat Sullivan - {akgua|akguc|ihnp4}!sortac!pls - voice 404-257-7382

silberma@agrigene.UUCP (12/30/85)

> Does anyone have any ideas short of
> plastic bushings or some such to stop the squeak??
> 
> ==================================================================
> Pat Sullivan - {akgua|akguc|ihnp4}!sortac!pls - voice 404-257-7382

I had a similar problem and solved it with two pieces of teflon tubing.
I cut both pieces just slightly less than the width of the wheel, in-
seted one piece over the axle, and the other (slightly larger diameter)
in the wheel hole.  I secured the whole thing with a wooden cotter pin.
The "bushings" did not show and the squeaks were gone.  Plastic supply
stores usually have this material as scrap. 

Before I resorted to bushings, I tried everything from a teflon spray
that is used as a drawer lubricant, to Vaseline.  The bushings were
the only thing I found that worked.